In Nome, Alaska, review of rape ‘cold cases’ hits a wall

By VICTORIA MCKENZIE and WONG MAYE-E
Associated Press
NOME, Alaska (AP) –
An internal cold case audit has uncovered evidence an Alaska police agency regularly failed to fully investigate sexual assaults. The launch of the audit this year by Nome Police Chief Robert Estes raised hopes his department was ready to confront concerns about its handling of sex assaults. But Estes recently resigned his post, saying the city failed to provide enough resources to continue the case audit or police the city on a daily basis. Nome’s city manager says he is working to secure more investigative help for the department, which would allow it to restart the case audit in 2020.