The victim has been mourned, his or her remains now buried or cremated to be visited by friends and family.
But the question remains, sometimes for years or even decades — who killed them, and why?
Northeast Florida has thousands of cold cases, defined as an unsolved criminal investigation of a homicide or abduction "that has stopped being actively pursued because of a lack of evidence," according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary.
Read the rest of this story at WJCT News partner The Florida times-Union.