LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — The search for justice is an ongoing process not only for the police, but also for a local nonprofit: the Vegas Justice League

This nonprofit provides police with the resources to help solve our valley’s oldest mysteries.

The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department has more than 1,200 unsolved cases pending.

“Here in Las Vegas, we have some of the best homicide detectives there is in this country,” LVMPD Sheriff Kevin McMahill said during the Key to the Strip ceremony Wednesday. “Typically for over a decade now we’ve solved over 90 percent of the homicides that occur in our jurisdiction, but even with that today we have 1,267 cold cases that are actively being worked.”

The Vegas Justice League helped investigators in their quest to find justice for the victims, and now the nonprofit is being recognized for its work.

You may remember last month when I told you about a update on a 1994 cold case — the killing of Melonie White. The Vegas Justice League played an important role in identifying a suspect, and now, 30 years later, the case is considered solved.

STOP | Las Vegas police reveal new details in unsolved 1994 slaying of Melonie White

Las Vegas police reveal new details in unsolved 1994 slaying of Melonie White

“We are very, very grateful for the contributions of the Justice League of Vegas, whose donation for police DNA testing allowed the police to solve the case,” said Jason White, Melonie’s younger brother.

“It’s nice to wrap this up,” said Walter White, another of Melonie’s brothers.

The 30-year-old cold case ended when Metro identified the suspect as Arthur Lavery, who lived in Las Vegas in 1994. Police said Lavery died in 2021 of complications from COVID-19.

Metro said the Vegas Justice League was instrumental in the investigation.

“It is their support that has directly led to the closure of nine cold cases that would never have been solved without their assistance,” said Metro Homicide Lt. Jason Johansson.

The nonprofit started in the valley in 2020, and is now a group of six volunteers who donate money to Metro Police to fund DNA re-evaluations through new technology at Othram Labs in Texas.

“They’re doing that, DNA sequencing and getting hundreds of thousands of reference points and then doing forensic genealogy research to be able to identify, until — I think — they can get the seventh cousin,” Vegas co-founder Justice League. Justin Woo said.

Woo told Channel 13 it now costs about $7,500 to pay for DNA re-evaluation of a cold case. Since they started in 2020, the Vegas Justice League has helped solve nine cold cases.

The Vegas Justice League said three cases have already been paid for through community donations. Woo said a $10 donation it can go a long way and help solve another cold case.

Woo and Lydia Ansel both founded the Vegas Justice League and said that no matter how old the case, it can be solved.

“Don’t give up hope. Detectives haven’t given up hope, they’re still working on these cases, waiting for leads,” Woo said.

“It’s not if it’s going to work out, it’s when it’s going to work out,” Ansel said.

Both Woo and Ansel are married and have lived in the valley for more than a decade.

“It’s great to bring the local community together with law enforcement to work together to make our communities safer,” Woo said.

And for their work in our community, they were honored with a The Key on the Las Vegas Strip last weekbut their help goes far beyond the valley. Woo and Ansel work with law enforcement agencies across the country.

Not only does it work alongside local law enforcement, but the league also pays for national re-evaluations of DNA cases, giving the money to Othram Labs. The lab will use that money to cover a random cold case across the nation.

This is a similar process to how they work with local law enforcement as well. Woo, Ansel and the other League members will talk to the police station, tell them they can fund a certain amount of cases, then the police choose which cold case to use the money on.

To put this into perspective, the Justice League of Vegas is currently working over 20 cases here in Las Vegas alone, and over 100 cases across the country.