Advocate, The (Baton Rouge, LA) - July 19, 2005
Author: AP

Nine Mississippi victims are among those profiled on an international Web site that aims to produce clues in unsolved crime cases.

The Doe Network , a Web site that profiles 840 people, allows volunteers to help law enforcement identify the nameless victims.

The network's 400-plus volunteers include forensic artists who draw sketches of the victims or use forensic reconstruction to show what a victim probably looked like.

"We want these people to have their names back and their families to know what happened to them," said Ellen Leach of Gulfport, state director of The Doe Network .

Leach spends a couple of hours a day searching the Internet and making phone calls to help solve the mysteries.

The Doe Network has solved 22 cases and helped solve at least eight others since 1999. Leach said she solved one of the cases and assisted in another confirmed by DNA evidence.

"It's a good feeling to know you've helped families get the answers they need," Leach said.

Investigators such as Jackson County Sheriff's Sgt. Ken McClenic say they reach out to every available resource to help identify victims.

One of McClenic's investigations, a capital murder case from 2001, is listed on The Doe Network . The male victim's body was found wrapped in carpet on Old Stage Road. The suspect, Steven Leon Andrews, remains in custody without bond, awaiting prosecution.

"I've been doing this about 20 years and this is the first time I've put somebody behind bars in a murder case involving a victim without a name," McClenic said. "It's aggravating. It's frustrating."