News that California criminal investigators made an arrest last week in a decades-long hunt for the Golden State Killer was fascinating to many Americans, but it also provided hope to thousands of others who are awaiting an elusive justice.

All across the country law enforcement investigators try to piece together minute bits of information and evidence to support locating, charging and convicting criminals.

By and large, they do a great job at catching and convicting the bad guys, but sometimes criminals are so crafty that they hide their tracks well, making it difficult for law enforcement to find them.

Several unsolved criminal and missing persons cases exist in our community, despite our top law enforcement officers’ work to root out the answers.

New technologies in evidence detection and tracking can make a huge difference in investigations, even ones that have grown cold over time.

These changes along with simple, but important change of hearts by people who know something but had previously remained silent can quickly allow missing puzzle pieces to fall into place, as in the case of the alleged California killer.

We hope and pray such a break will come into play for Sarah Miles, whose son Richardo has been missing for nearly a year, and others who are left wondering and waiting on answers and in some cases justice.