Team of Charlotte County detectives take on cold case murders

CHARLOTTE COUNTY, Fla. – Once a murder case goes cold it can be nearly impossible to solve. But the three-man team in Charlotte county said they’ll talk to anyone and go anywhere to find answers.

Mike Vogel and Mike Gandy work cold cases. Back in 2009, they and their third partner were assigned 18 cases. Now, they’re down to 15. Most recently solving the 30-year-old murder of Sharon Gill.

“It makes you feel good that you can help somebody like that,” Detective Mike Gandy said. “It just makes it a little bit easier to live with, I think. I don’t think you really get closure.”

Southwest Florida isn’t the only one noticing the success this team is having. One member of the team was brought to DC to teach others how to solve cases without a body. Like the case of 4-year-old Pilar Rodriguez.

The team said being dedicated to these investigations is key.

“A lot of agencies will assign cold cases to detectives who are working active cases and that doesn’t really work,” Gandy said. “You have to be able to devote all of your time and you have to concentrate. I like to say you just have to sit back and stare at it.”

Staring at it and utilizing new technology can crack open the case. Investigators shared new details first with NBC2 about skeletal remains.

“We’re actually working on another case now,” Detective Mike Vogel said. “It’s called our John Doe number one case. Individual was found in 1994, his remains were found in 1994 and he’s never been identified up until recently.”

An identification is a critical step in finding out what happened to John Doe number one. Next up is finding leads, which is where the public comes in.

“It may seem insignificant to the person that has this knowledge. They may think oh it’s silly, it’s nothing and they don’t tell us. Well that little insignificant nothing to them may be something really important to us and to our cases,” Vogel said.

If you have even a sliver of information about the crime or the person, call these detectives. No tip is too small.

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