EAST LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – In 2020, Michigan State Police (MSP) formed a partnership with Michigan State University’s oldest continuous criminal justice program, creating the MSP-MSU Cold Case Unit. Students assist detectives by digitizing and organizing decades-old case files.

Beyond clerical work, they have served as “mock juries,” reviewing evidence, listening to suspect interviews, and helping law enforcement think critically about credibility of evidence.

Solving a long dormant mystery.

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According to The State News, one of the unit’s major victories was the resolution of a nearly 30-year- old case from Blissfield Township: a headless body found in a field in 1997. With the contributions of MSU students, detectives ultimately named two suspects, brothers Michael and Richardo Sepulveda. Michael pled guilty in 2024 and Richardo was convicted the following spring in April of 2025.

More than just classroom theory.

Students don’t just file papers – they visit crime scenes, participate in interviews, and gain exposure to the variety of roles available in law enforcement. According to criminal justice professor Allison Rojeka, it’s one thing to study reports; it’s another to see the timeline of a case unfold in real time.

Building careers & community.

Interns like Seth Lyons describe the work as tedious yet meaningful, noting the program is both skill- building and community-oriented. The unit operates with a “victim-centered, offender-focused” mission: helping bring closure to families while training future investigators.

Looking ahead.

Plans are underway to expand the internship to include students from anthropology, psychology, and other fields next fall, given those disciplines’ contributions to solving complex cases.

The Cold Case Unit is proving that the classroom can stretch far beyond textbooks and lectures. As the program widens to include more disciplines, its impact will be able to grow in two directions – helping detectives close files that once seemed unsolvable and giving students a front-row seat to real-world justice. For families still waiting on answers, and for young people eager to serve, the partnership is a reminder that the past isn’t always buried – and the next breakthrough may come from tomorrow’s investigators.