SAN MARCOS, Texas — As of 2020, there were more than 20,000 unsolved homicides in Texas. State detectives are now turning to college students to help them solve these cold cases.
The anticipation is mounting for Texas State University student Adrian Arranda.
"I'm very excited. I really hope I get it," he said.
Arranda is one of the more than 100 applicants vying for a spot on a real-life investigative team.
"It's revolutionary. I'm proud to even just be a part of the application process," fellow student Matthew Wyman said.
"I was honestly shocked. Like, 'How did she pull this off?'" Arranda said.
Arranda is referring to internship coordinator Dr. H. Jaymi Elsass, his Texas State University professor in the School of Criminal Justice and Criminology.
"They need the hands-on learning before going to work as practitioners in the field of criminal justice," Elsass said.
The internship partners Texas State students with the Office of the Attorney General's Cold Case and Missing Persons Unit, which Attorney General Ken Paxton established in 2021.
"They can only handle so many cases at a time," Elsass said. "This will allow our students to help with some of that caseload and give back to our state."
"We have the potential to help many people, but it can also open up doors for myself as well," student Crystallyn Bell said.
The one-year internship, which is the first of its kind in Texas, allows students to work alongside skilled investigators and forensic scientists.
"So, they're earning college credit while also learning out in the field," Elsass said.
She said the program has a lot of potential and success can mean anything from excluding someone from a long list of suspects to "being able to reduce the amount of duplicative material in some of these really old cases. Perhaps digitize it so that investigators have an easier time coming at these cases with their high caseloads."
State investigators accept cold cases from across Texas that are submitted to them by local law enforcement. And while they take on as many cases as they can, there's many that they have to turn away.
"They are doing an amazing job, but a small unit trying to help take on 20,000 cases, at least, it is just overwhelming," Elsass said.
Until the final applicants are announced, students like Arranda are crossing their fingers.
"I want to work in law enforcement, and I think being able to immediately step into an investigative role and working with career-long investigators – that'll be invaluable," Arranda said.
All the applications are already in. Soon, the names will be narrowed down and four students will be chosen by May. Background checks and training will take place during the summer and the internship will begin in August.
The internship will take place over two full semesters, and students will receive six credits.
KVUE Daybreak's Yvonne Nava is shining a spotlight on several Central Texas cold cases as part of a monthly series called KVUE Crime Files.