Police hope new playing cards will help solve cold cases

December 18, 2018 6:33 pm

PAWTUCKET, R.I. (WLNE) – New leads could be in the cards for cold cases statewide, thanks to a new playing card initiative at state prisons.

Decks of playing cards featuring cold cases and missing persons will be sold at Rhode Island prison commissaries, in hopes prisoners who know something will come forward with answers.

“Sometimes they may have had a conversation with another inmate years ago or someone out on the street before they were incarcerated,” explained Pawtucket Police Det. Susan Cormier, who is leading this new initiative. “They may know something.”

The cards are expected to be sold at the end of the year, replacing regular decks of cards.

Carl Seebeck is one of the 52 people. He was shot ten years ago while walking to the bus one morning in Pawtucket. Police never found out why.

“We don’t have answers,” his daughter, Kristen Butler, told reporters, following a press conference on the cold case playing cards Tuesday.

“He was a man of few words, but when he talked, you listened,” Butler said. “He would give the shirt off his back to anyone in need.”

Cormier is optimistic about the new program, pointing to nearby Connecticut’s success rate. Police there have solved 20 cases from three separate editions of the playing cards, according to Cormier.

“If we can get one case solved and get answers for one family, then I will consider it a success,” she said.

Seebeck’s brother, retired Pawtucket Police Capt. John Seebeck, recognizes just how important any tip can be. “We’re just hopeful that this will generate the little bit of information that might break the case,” he told ABC6 News.

Cormier expects the cold case playing cards to be sold at the prisons before the end of the year. This method is currently used in 19 different states and three countries, according to Cormier.