Spotlight
Stow, Massachusetts, a small town 21 miles west of Boston, has never stopped searching for Cathy Malcolmson, a 16-year-old last seen in 1985 when she was riding her bike to work. For the Stow Police Department, an agency with only one or two officers on shift at any one time, removing any officer to work the case would result in a lack of service for the entire town. But through a modest Byrne JAG grant supplied by the Massachusetts Office of Grants and Research, the cold case gained new life.
In reviving the case, a key concern was determining how to establish new leads. The grant primarily funded overtime for the small task force dedicated to finding Malcolmson. The task force leveraged media connections, resulting in a local news story as well as a feature in the Boston Globe’s cold case files. Officers met with former investigators on the case, requested case analytics from the New England State Police Information Network, and set up a tip line and tip email. The team considered creating a podcast about the case to raise awareness, but faced challenges in securing sufficient support from stakeholders.
While the $39,000 grant, which also funded Flock cameras, Stop the Bleed equipment and active shooter training, ended December 31, 2024, the department continues to work Malcolmson’s case. In terms of advice for similarly situated small agencies, the department recommends highlighting grant press to the public and stakeholders, and thinking outside the box in revisiting older cold cases. Harnessing different mediums, technology and social media to reach the maximum number of people, as well as ensuring support from key stakeholders, particularly when embarking on an innovative and/or creative project, is of the utmost importance. Stow Police Department’s missing persons task force for Malcolmson affirms the immense dedication of a small department with a vision and a mission and demonstrates what can be accomplished with even a small amount of grant funding.
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