Help For The Survivors Of Homicide Victims

For the past several years I’ve been dealing with the survivors of victims of homicide through my show Crime Wire on Blog Talk Radio. Over that time, I’ve learned several things that surprised and in some cases, upset me.

For example, there are many more unsolved murders than I had imagined. In some cases a thorough investigation produced a suspect, but there was never enough evidence to warrant an arrest or prosecution. In others, no viable suspects were ever developed. And sometimes the police investigations appeared to the survivors to be less than competent. So for a variety of reasons, there are a large number of cold case homicides out there.

I also found that in most cases the survivors don’t have a clue what to do when they receive the horrible news that their loved one has been murdered. Blindsided and grief-stricken, they don’t know what to do or where to turn. There are support groups that offer grief counseling, but I had wrongly assumed there would be large numbers of organizations—both governmental and private—ready to provide information and guidance about what compensation may be available, what paperwork might need to be filed and how soon, how to deal with the police and possibly the media, etc. Not true. While there is some help available, it is rather minimal and not always easy to find. The situations all too many survivors find themselves in should not be acceptable.

I’m pleased to say that yesterday I joined with representatives of victim advocacy groups on the Shattered Lives Show on Blog Talk Radio. We discussed the possibility of joining forces in an attempt to make it easier for survivors to deal with the murder of a loved one. While we had a great discussion and I am very excited about the future of our endeavor, it was only an initial conversation. We have a very long way to go before we can expect to make a real difference.

My belief is that there is strength in numbers. Therefore, I’m asking those of you who have lost someone close to you to murder and have dealt with the system, to replay yesterday’s show. Please provide your input regarding where improvement is most urgently needed and what you’d like to see done about it.

The link to the podcast is http://www.blogtalkradio.com/insidelenz/2017/06/03/shattered-lives-resources-for-survivors-of-homicide

Tags: cold cases, true crime, unsolved murder