AUGUSTA — The Maine State Police are introducing a new investigative tool into state correctional facilities: a “Cold Case Deck of Cards” featuring 52 of Maine’s longstanding unsolved homicides and suspicious missing person cases, including one Auburn woman whose disappearance has drawn public attention in recent years.

The deck will be distributed to inmates in correctional facilities with hopes to generate helpful tips in resolving cases, according to Det. Cpl. Michael Chavez. The deck will not be available to the public.

Maine currently has 69 unsolved homicides and 38 suspicious missing persons cases spanning decades. 

Chavez said the idea for the project began years ago when he transferred from the Maine State Police Major Crimes Unit to the Unsolved Homicide Unit and began researching how other states had used similar decks. More than a dozen states, including Massachusetts, Connecticut and Florida, have used the method and credited the decks with helping solve many investigations.

As the Unsolved Homicide Unit expanded, Chavez said, he and other investigators began the difficult process of selecting 52 cases for the first edition. 

“Naturally, we knew we wouldn’t be able to feature all of them in the first deck and picked some of the more known cases, cases which involved multiple people and cases that have held the public’s attention across the years,” Chavez said. “The idea was that we’d see how successful the first deck was, then create a second edition with all new cases.”

The deck was funded by a grant from Season of Justice, a national nonprofit supporting cold case investigations. The assignments of suits and card order were done randomly by the printer, Priority Marketing in Fort Myers, Florida.

The Department of Corrections is partnering with Chavez’s unit on the rollout, he said. Standard playing card decks will be replaced with the cold case decks over the next month.

“We are pleased to work with the Maine State Police on this important initiative,” Maine DOC Commissioner Randall Liberty said in a Maine Public Safety press release issued Wednesday. “Cold case playing cards are one of many tools that may assist investigators in their ongoing efforts to solve Maine’s unsolved cases. These cards will help keep victims’ stories alive, and we hope they generate information that leads to prosecution.”

Inmates coming forward with information can either contact investigators at Major Crimes Unit or through the Department of Corrections to facilitate information. The tips will be disseminated to assigned Major Crimes Unit detectives.

Chavez said the decks and a complete list of the featured cases will not be released to the public.

“The cards were created to help solve cases through the jail system, a population that doesn’t necessarily have regular access to social media, websites and news,” Chavez said, adding that public distribution would only make them “a novel collectible” without serving investigative purposes.

Among the cases included is that of Celeste Doghmi, representing the King of Diamonds in the card deck, who was reported in 2023 as having been missing since 2021. Chavez said her example was shared with the public because he had been working with an Auburn detective when the Auburn Police Department first received the case. Chavez has since taken over the case.

“Celeste is the most recent case our unit has and it’s my highest hope that increased exposure in any way can help bring more information to light,” Chavez said.