‘Cold Justice’ Is Back for Season 5. Here’s How You Can Submit a Cold Case to the Show.
Kelly Siegler and her team of detectives are back for another season of Cold Justice. Season 5 of the true crime show, which airs on Oxygen, premieres Feb. 16. This season, viewers can expect Siegler and the other investigators to dig into another round of cold cases, including one that might involve three victims who were all killed by the same person.
What to expect on this season of Cold Justice
In the two-part season opener, Siegler and Tonya Rider travel to Carbon County, Wyoming. There, they look into the mysterious deaths of two women: Thora and Debra. Though 13 years separate the deaths, there are some strange connections between the two women.
As Siegler and her team work with the county coroner’s office to investigate the incidents, they make an eerie discovery when they realize there’s another death that’s similar to Thora’s. The team must work together to try to find out if the three victims died by accidental overdose, suicide, or were murdered.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Siegler said the deaths in Carbon County were particularly difficult to investigate because it was easy to simply write them off as suicides or overdoses.
“That makes these cases even harder,” she explained. “Honestly, in the real world, I think a lot of people get away with committing murder because they do it just kind of like what happened in Carbon County — it’s just easier to do.”
Drug use also played a role in other cases this season, Siegler said.
“It’s horrible everywhere, and it’s in so many of our cases this season,” she said. “It’s just crazy. It’s terrible. Some of the witnesses weren’t using opioids and meth that we’re dealing with now back when the case happened, but even now, even if they weren’t back then but got into it since the murder happened, then their memories are messed up. So it’s affecting cases everywhere we go.”
How the show finds new cold cases to investigate
The Cold Justice team is constantly on the lookout for new cold cases to investigate. Siegler says she gets emails every day from family members hoping to have her look into a loved one’s death. The show’s producers also reach out to law enforcement agencies about unsolved crimes.
Viewers can also submit cold cases via the Cold Justice tip line for the production company to review. You’ll need to provide your contact information as well as information about victim, when the incident occurred, the local law enforcement agency that’s handling the case.
For a case to make it on the show, local law enforcement needs to be willing to cooperate with producers and accept help from Siegler and her team.
“[W]e can’t work on any case unless the local law enforcement agency invites us to, because we have to have their files,” she explained to EW. “You know, you have all of these family members that want us to work their case, and they’ve maybe even hired a private investigator that’s done all this work, but unless we see the real file and we have the real witness statements and the evidence to test, there’s nothing we can do.”
Season 5 of Cold Justice premieres Saturday, February 16 at 6 p.m. ET on Oxygen.
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