• Originally published June 30, 2008 at 12:09 p.m., updated June 30, 2008 at 12:09 p.m.

Talk about a cold case -- 17 years is a long, long time for a murder case to linger in the investigative stage.

But last week, several law enforcement agencies might have finally closed the file on the 1991 death of April Ann Repka, whose whereabouts had remained a mystery until her remains were found in a farmer’s field near Alice four years ago.

A lengthy investigation followed that terrible discovery, and it involved the Victoria County Sheriff’s Department and the Texas Rangers. Their work led them to Mexico and to Florida, where they found a key witness who is said to have witnessed Miss Repka’s murder.

Then, help was enlisted from the U.S. Marshals’ office -- experts in finding people -- and they quickly located the suspect in Corpus Christi after he was identified by the witness.

In comments following the suspect’s arrest, Victoria County Sheriff T. Michael O’Connor said he and the other law enforcement personnel hoped that the arrest might begin to bring some closure to Miss Repka’s family.

This man is innocent until proven guilty, and we should not forget that, but the case shows that law officers do care for victims, and they don’t forget.

Policewoman Lilly Rush, from the TV series “Cold Case,” once said, “People shouldn’t be forgotten ... Maybe they don’t have a lot of money, they don’t have lawyers, but they matter. They should get justice, too.”

She said it well, and a well done to our law enforcement community for their hard work and tenaciousness.

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