MISSION STATEMENT

Reginald Leonard Ward, 1961-1983

In September of 1983, the body of Reginald Ward was discovered by canoeists traveling on the Suwannee River, just beneath the I-10 bridge into Madison County. The discovery of the body was only the beginning of what would become a nearly forty-year mystery into the disappearance of a young man from Quincy, Florida, a peak into the shameful past of Suwannee County's racial attitudes, and who could have killed a person so savagely. 

In 2021, before Suwannee Valley Unsolved, Inc. (SVU) incorporated as a non-profit, we were able to assist the Suwannee County Sheriff's Office in reopening this investigation, which led to the identification of 19-year-old Reginald Ward, the identity of his killer, and nearly forty years of past mistakes and transgressions with how the investigation was handled and how social norms were in the early 1980s in Suwannee County. 

The Reginald Ward case was one of the kick starters into a quest for helping families in the Suwannee River Valley get the help they rightfully deserve in their loved one's cold case.

Fueled by the Ward case that resonated deeply, Founder Jason Futch recognized a critical gap in resources for unsolved homicides and missing persons cases, particularly for underserved families in North Florida. Suwannee Valley Unsolved, Inc. emerged as a result to bridge that gap.

Here's how we made a difference since then:

• We have established relationships with area law enforcement agencies, and have formalized partnerships with the Madison Police Department and the Suwannee County Sheriff’s Office. We continue to work toward partnering with other agencies in their quest to highlight some of the local cold cases in the region. 

• We have established work towards bringing to the region a Cold Case Victim’s Advocate, which will work with families to educate them on their rights as survivors and next-of-kin, as well as navigating them through the criminal justice system, which includes bridging the gap between families and investigators. Our advocate will be certified with the National Advocate Credentialing Program (NACP) and will be a Designated Victim Service Provider (DVSP) with the State of Florida Office of the Attorney General. 

• We continue to raise community awareness through public events, educational meetings (including our partnership with the Suwannee River Regional Library), and memorial events. We also contribute to memorials that keep the victims in the public’s memory. 

• We continue to establish relationships with local, state and national organizations and programs dedicated to cold case victim advocacy, keeping the victims first and continuing to work with families affected by such a tragedy. 

These are just the first steps in our ongoing fight for justice. Our unwavering dedication ensures that the fight for justice in unsolved cases continues.

On June 1st, 2023, Suwannee Valley Unsolved, Inc. was officially designated as a nonprofit organization to highlight unsolved homicide and missing persons cases in the Suwannee River Valley. We are the Suwannee River Valley’s first cold case advocacy program designed to assist survivors (families impacted by a cold case), law enforcement investigators, and provide resources to the public. 

We provide services to seven of the eight Suwannee River Valley-area, as well as services in Baker and Union Counties. Services include:

• Providing survivors access to a Cold Case Victim's Advocate
• Referrals for Survivors 
• Assisting with Victim Compensation (for cases less than three years old)
• Maintaining a relationship with survivors
• Highlight the impact of survivors affected by a cold case.
• Bridging relationships between survivors and law enforcement 

For a survivor to be eligible for services provided by Suwannee Valley Unsolved, Inc., the following must be met:

• The case must be open a minimum of one year (two years for cases involving missing persons)
• The case must be labeled a homicide case, a death investigation or a missing persons case with foul play considered
• The incident must have taken place within Suwannee Valley Unsolved, Inc.’s service area
• A copy of the police/incident report submitted to the organization 
• Survivors must understand that the organization is not an investigative agency, an extension of local agencies, or a media organization. No guarantees will be made to survivors related to exposure or solvability.

We also include cases where human remains have been located, but were never identified. For these cases, we automatically include them in our case count until their case has been resolved. 

We continue to offer hope to families, agencies and the community that even the coldest case can be solvable with fresh eyes, a new outlook, and perseverance that one day, justice will be served.