Solving cold case won't bring back victim

Investigating the long-unsolved slaying of an Aurora widow, one detective seeks to find the connection between the victim and her murderer

This is the third cold-case story in a six-month series, and to date, the most sensational.

When I started working on this story, I wasn't looking for connections to Brian Dugan. I just had a list of unsolved murders and picked one I thought might be worth exploring.

What I hope doesn't get lost is the story of Kathryn Pollock, a 64-year-old widow who was beaten over the head for no good reason.

She was a mother and a grandmother. Pollock's death changed her family.

"How could it not?" Pollock's daughter told me. "It had to. The things that happen to people in their life shape who they are. And your next question is: How? I don't know. I don't know how I'd be if this hadn't happened."

My heart goes out to every family that tells me they need the killer to be caught to find "closure."

It's a natural feeling, but one that leads to more heartbreak. Legal vengeance won't bring back the dead. A conviction only provides the comfort that no other family will have to suffer similar horrors. Peace comes from somewhere else.

Pollock's daughter has found that place. She doesn't need this crime to be solved to cope with daily life. Her mom's death is separate from her mom's murder.

"I think it's always good to solve the mystery," she said. "It's not going to change where I am right now."

-- Matt Hanley