CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY, N.Y. (WKBW) — Investigators in Chautauqua County are calling for the public's help to solve a cold case.
In a Facebook post, Unsolved Chautauqua asked to hear from people who commented on certain websites, between 2005 and 2009 about Yolanda Bindics.
The young mother was last seen in Jamestown, in 2004. Her remains were found two years later.
Investigators are asking people who used Topix.com or Topix2.com where people discussed the case at the time on the public platform, to reach out.
This request for help followed numerous resources and funding which was allocated to the county's Unsolved Unit. Just last week, $100,000 was secured for the unit.
WATCH: Chautauqua County Sheriff's Office 'Unsolved' Unit to receive $100,000 to help investigate cases
The money is part of the recently passed federal spending bill and will help pay for the expensive work of investigating these cases.
Over the past 50 years, the sheriff's office has identified more than two dozen unsolved victims who were either murdered, went missing, or were unidentified. The majority of those were young women.
These resources will allow the Unsolved Unit, to hopefully bring some peace of mind to families who have waited years for answers including the loved ones of Yolanda Bindics.
For 19 years, her case still has not been solved and justice is still not served.
Tuesday night, 7 News' Pheben Kassahun had the chance to speak with one of Bindics' sisters, Margaret Queen, on what this renewed effort for answers would mean for the Bindics family.
"I believe it could help, as long as the individuals they are looking for will respond," Margaret Queen explained.
The two, who were one year apart, were inseparable growing up.
The Chautauqua County Sheriff's Office and its unsolved crimes team issued a request for anyone who used the following usernames on the websites Topix.com or Topix2.com discussing the case at the time, to reach out to unsolvedchautauqua@sheriff.us:
- "Judge It"
- "Knowledge is Power""
- "Sam the Sham"
- "Don" and or "Larry" from Fredonia
- "Point"
- "AOL"
The sheriff's office said your information will be kept confidential and your identity protected.
"It was taken down a long time ago for whatever reason. I didn't use much of it but I was aware then, years ago, that people were posting a lot of information about Yolanda's case and some rumors. We were never really sure, of course through the years, people were talking about certain things that were posted on there, that kind of confirmed, oh maybe it's not so much a rumor," Queen added.
The North Carolina resident told Kassahun this new request for information gives her and her family greater hope; hope that was once lost.
"With what the investigators now are doing, they're turning every rock over. The ones that were perhaps overlooked and they're getting down to every piece of it. They're getting down to it to reveal the truth of the matter," she shared via Zoom.
Queen said the investigators have been very supportive throughout this unfathomable process, and thanked them.
"They come with extreme knowledge and experience when it comes to homicide cases, and of course the others that are involved as well," Queen said.
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