ST. LOUIS, Mo. — In this deck of playing cards, a missing 13-year-old girl is the King of Clubs.
In the right hands, seen by the right pair of eyes, the card could help crack the unsolved 1989 abduction of Gina Dawn Brooks from Fredericktown, Mo., two hours south of St. Louis.
The Brooks case is one of dozens of unsolved crimes featured in a new set of playing cards being distributed next month to inmates at Missouri state prisons and county jails, the Missouri State Highway Patrol announced Wednesday. The patrol created the card decks, culling the best cases from their files. Outside groups donated funds to buy the cards. The 5,000 decks will be free to inmates.
"The goal is to target those that have the information," patrol Sgt. Jason Clark said.
Other states and cities – including Florida, Texas, San Diego and Kansas City – have turned to customized playing cards to raise the profile of their cold cases. Authorities in Florida, who began their card program in 2005, have solved two homicide cases with tips generated by the playing cards.
In Missouri, the cards feature details about unsolved murders, missing persons and fugitives. Clark said his agency had enough cold cases to fill several 52-card decks. So they had to be selective. The Brooks case has frustrated authorities because the young girl is believed to be dead and her body has never been found, despite promising suspects over the years.
"If we get some success, we hope to ultimately get cards out to everyone in corrections," Clark said.
In Missouri state penitentiaries, home to more than 30,000 people, inmates are allowed to play cards only in recreational areas, a corrections spokesman said. Inmates are prohibited from gambling.
Kansas City began its own cold-case playing card program in March 2007. More than 3,300 decks were distributed in surrounding jails. So far, no tips have been generated, said Barry Mayer, vice president of Kansas City CrimeStoppers, which worked with local police to produce the decks.
"They were real popular with inmates," Mayer said. "But we've just haven't had the results we'd hoped for."