GREENFIELD, Calif. - Lisa Smith was close friends with Yvette Martinez, a Greenfield woman that was found burned in the trunk of her car more than two years ago. Today, Lisa says there needs to be answers for Yvette's young child.
"He just wanted to know where his mom is, that's the worst feeling for a three year old," said Smith.
Smith reached out to Central Coast News on our Facebook Page asking if we had heard anything, searching for justice.
"I came to you guys because nobody has given this family or this community, any answers and its been 26 months now."
Commander Teeter with the Monterey County Sheriff Department told me on the phone there is no timetable for when a case goes cold. It just depends when the evidence is processed and when leads dry up.
So I did some research to find out how many of those are the case in California.
According to the FBI Uniformed Crime Statistics, in 2011, there were 1,792 cases of murder or manslaughter and out of those, 1,512 arrests were made.
In Monterey County, each detective is assigned cold cases to work along with their other cases, which makes newer ones their focus.
But for Smith she just asks that whoever saw something on that stretch of Highway 198 to come forward and not let her friend's murder go cold.
"As time goes on, witnesses forget things, little details that might literally be the piece of the puzzle that solves this crime."
