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Volusia Sheriff's cold-case team hopes to settle some unsolved cases

VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. — Terrell Barkley was 22 when he died in November 2002. His killer was never caught.

Investigators found Barkley slumped over the wheel of his truck in DeLand with signs of trauma to his body.

"He did not deserve this," said his mother, Louise Barkley. "I never thought it would take this long."

The evidence, the leads and the files from the case are now boxed up in the Volusia County Sheriff's cold-case vault.

It is one of 38 cases dating back to the 1950s that are getting a fresh look after years of dead ends.

"We learn humility real quick. We can be chasing one lead for a month at a time, and then all of a sudden that lead goes nowhere and you have to start all over again," said cold-case investigator Chuck Lee.

Barkley's body was found along Adelle Avenue in Deland more than a decade ago.

It's been a long time since the evidence collected at the crime scene was put into boxes and put on a shelf at the sheriff's office. But the cold-case investigators said all it would take is one tip to make the difference.

"We will travel and track that lead. That's what our job is and that's what we'll do," said Lee.

The sheriff's office will highlight one cold case every week with a focus on social media, a tool that didn't exist when some of the victims died.

"The social media's going to be our best friend right now," said Lee.

"It will happen. It will happen. One day," said Louise Barkley.