EVERETT — She won’t let her daughter be forgotten.
Nancy Stensrud has fought for answers, for justice since her daughter, Patti Berry, was killed in 1995.
Berry, 26, had finished her shift at Honey’s nightclub in Lynnwood but never made it home. Her car was found behind a car wash in south Everett. A week later her body was discovered in some woods behind the Everett Mall.
The killer has never been caught.
Berry is part of the state’s first cold-case deck of playing cards. The cards are made available in the state’s prisons and jails in hopes of soliciting leads from inmates who might may have information about unsolved homicides and missing persons cases.
Berry is featured on the ace of clubs.
Stensrud was among a group of relatives of homicide victims who in the late 1990s lobbied the sheriff’s office to form the “cold case” team. She is thrilled that the team exists, and that it created the deck of “cold case” cards.
“I get up every morning and I have hope …,” she said. “It’s not just Patti’s case. I hope that somebody’s case gets resolution.”
There are 52 cards in the deck. Each card translates into a family waiting for answers, hoping for justice, Stensrud said.
She stays in touch with detectives, and knows that people have called in tips regarding the cold cases, but for whatever reason haven’t provided police with a way to get in touch and follow up. Stensrud urged those anonymous tipsters to pick up the phone and talk with detectives.
Patti Berry left behind a daughter, now 16, Stensrud said. That girl deserves justice.
“I do believe there are people who know things about many of these murders,” she said.
Herald writer Scott North contributed to his report.
Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463, hefley@heraldnet.com.
About this series
Snohomish County sheriff’s detectives created the state’s first deck of cold-case playing cards. Each Sunday for a year, The Herald published a story about a case featured on one of the cards. This is the last entry in that series.
Anyone with information about unsolved homicides and missing persons cases is asked to call Crime Stoppers of Puget Sound at 800-222-TIPS (8477). Up to $1,000 is offered for tips that lead to an arrest and conviction.
Tips also can be called into the sheriff’s tip line at 425-388-3845. Callers may remain anonymous, although tips have been shown to be more successful when callers leave their phone numbers and are willing to speak with detectives, police said.
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