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HISTORY OF Suwannee Valley Unsolved
The First Case
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.
Suwannee Valley Unsolved, Inc. Becomes a Nonprofit
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 Survivor 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.
SUWANNEE VALLEY UNSOLVED SERVICE RegionS
