Thomas J. Moore never met James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner, the three civil rights workers killed in 1964 in what is now known as the &uot;Mississippi Burning&uot; case.

He also never met Edgar Ray Killen who, on Tuesday in a Philadelphia courtroom, was convicted of manslaughter in their deaths.

But watching coverage of the verdict on television almost 1,000 miles away, he felt a mix of joy and anger &045; joy that the case had been closed and justice served, and anger that the investigation into own brother’s murder hasn’t met with such success.

&uot;I’m angry because I feel there’s enough evidence&uot; to make convictions in the case, Thomas said by telephone from his home in Colorado Springs, Colo.

&uot;And I’m angry because there’s no coverage of my brother’s (death). Because they didn’t participate in civil rights, it’s like they’re just Š nobody.&uot;

But Thomas said he isn’t giving up.

In July 1964 the FBI search was on for Chaney, Goodman and Schwerner. During that multi-state search, the lower halves of two bodies were found in the Old River south of Tallulah, La.

Sadly, one of the bodies wore a belt buckle with an &uot;M&uot; on it &045; the same buckle Thomas had given his younger brother as a gift.

An investigation later that year resulted in the arrest of two suspects, Charles Marcus Edwards and James Ford Seale. The charges against both men were later dropped.

For years Thomas had nightmares about finding out, while he was away in basic training for the Army, that his younger brother and Dee had been found in pieces on that Louisiana River, miles from their Meadville home.

Thomas honored his mother Mazie’s request not to delve into the case for decades, even after her death. But in 1998, encouraged by the reopened cases of Medgar Evers and other black people killed in the 1960s, Thomas asked District Attorney Ronnie Harper to start the investigation up once again.

Harper then wrote letters to the State Attorney General’s Office, Department of Public Safety and the Federal Bureau of Investigation asking them to reopen the investigation.

Representatives of the Attorney General’s Office, the FBI’s Jackson office and the Department of Public Safety all could not be reached for comment Tuesday afternoon.

But while he wouldn’t speak much about an investigation that is technically ongoing, Harper said it’s difficult to build such a cold case.

For investigators, looking into such a case &045; one that never went to trial and that involves many law enforcement officers, victims’ relatives and potential witnesses who are aging or dead &045; is a difficult proposition at best.

&uot;It’s been difficult because there’s never been any indictments or trials,&uot; Harper said.

Still, Thomas said that, spurred on by the Killen conviction, he will contact Harper’s office and others associated with the case as soon as possible to ask that they continue to plug away at any and all leads.

And if they do get any &uot;hot leads,&uot; Thomas said he’s prepared to temporarily relocate to Mississippi to assist them in any way possible.

&uot;I’ll stay in Mississippi to do what I can Š to see that justice is done,&uot; Thomas said.