Joselyn Martinez, a 36-year-old New Yorker, just cracked a decades-old cold case, after she sought her father's murderer for over eight years: She successfully put an end to her search 26 years after his death. The actress of Dominican descent took every measure to find Justo Santos, her father Jose's killer, even after the case went cold many years ago.
The 43-year-old suspect thought he'd gotten away with murder, but little did he know that his victim's daughter was quite the talented detective. She even impressed police with her method of unearthing the evidence that led to her father's killer. So how did Martinez do it?
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According to the New York Daily News, Martinez's father was killed in 1986 after then16-year-old Santos and his friends walked into his restaurant looking for trouble. They started insulting Martinez's mother, Idalia, when Jose kicked them out. The dispute escalated outside and resulted with Jose being shot to death. Martinez was 9 years old when her father died and after all this time was still determined to find out who murdered him.
The daily paper says Santos was apprehended in Miami, Florida while working as a manager of a janitorial company. He confessed to the crime which had gone cold after he'd fled to the Dominican Republic, throwing off police. Lucky for them, Jose's daughter had been investigating for about eight years, paying $280 to use background-check websites. When she found Santos' information, she told officers at a Washington Heights precinct and asked for their help.
They successfully found him, but the only thing that would make Martinez satisfied was seeing her father's killer in the flesh. The NYPD is planning to bring Santos to New York to face a judge in the revived case. Even after all this time, Martinez is shocked that she finally tracked down her dad's killer. "I believe it, but I don't believe it," she said.
I have to applaud Martinez for her bravery, determination, and courage. There are probably many people with similar stories who just accepted that their loved one was killed and left it at that. But she was confident she could find the man who tore her family apart and bring her dad's death to justice. I'm glad that she and her mother are finally going to get closure over her father's death almost three decades later. The NYPD could be looking at their next best detective!
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