Cold case unit to be funded in Rhode Island’s proposed FY 2024 budget

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) — According to the Rhode Island’s proposed FY 2024 budget, the state will give the attorney general’s office $2 million. About $300,000 will fund a cold case unit, diving deeper into the state’s unsolved mysteries.

State legislators unveiled the proposal Friday. Families of cold case victims told ABC 6 the news was a “gamechanger.”

“It just shows the state does care, and your loved ones aren’t forgotten,” said Lauren Malloy, daughter of Lori Lee Malloy who was found dead in her East Providence home in 1993.

Malloy’s case was reopened in 2021. Medical examiners confirmed her death was not natural, and her body was exhumed in February. Malloy and her family await test results from the Medical Examiner.

Like many families left with questions, Malloy said she is reinvigorated to find answers for her mother’s death, investigated as a homicide.

“The state motto is, ‘Hope,’ and I think this cold case unit sort of brings that unit to life. It really does invigorate that fight, and I think it puts the state in a great spot to be at the forefront of a cold case revolution.”

The proposed budget awaits a vote this Friday on the House floor.