King City turns up the heat on cold cases

King City is turning up the heat on cold cases. There are 28 families who don’t know who killed their loved on. As the cold case investigator put it, it’s not a police department problem, these unsolved homicides are a community problem.

“Every one of these individuals, whose names are on these (posters), mattered to someone,” said investigator Allen Rowe. “If they mattered to their family, they matter to me.”

King City Police Investigator Allen Rowe is taking a cold hard look at cold cases. Many of the 23 cases, that date back to 1999, are gang related. Fear and retaliation are the main reasons he fears no one is talking. But he hopes to review every piece of evidence for every case and find a witness.

“You never know what happens in someone’s lives that stimulates them to say, ‘You know what, I’ve had something on my heart for a long time and I want to tell you about it,'” Rowe said.

The cases have remained unsolved for so long because the King City Police Department just hasn’t had the resources. That’s changed under Chief Ron Forgue. Since taking over, he has filled open positions. In fact, the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office has stopped doing patrols in the city.

Rowe was hired prior to Forgue coming to town. Regardless, he wants to help solve these homicides, but it starts with witnesses no longer living in fear.

“Gang retaliation against witnesses and gang crimes against normal citizens is more rare than you might think,” Rower said. “They will come after another gang member who provides information but to go after a general member of the public, you just don’t see a lot of that, it’s been my experience in 38 years.”

“We as a community need to take a stand against crime and this is one of the ways we do it,” said King City Mayor Robert Cullen.