Hi everyone, I’m Ashley Flowers, host of The Deck.

And I want you to take a moment and think about why you listen to true crime podcasts,

what makes you interested and what keeps you coming back for more.

If you’re a regular Audiocheck listener, then you already know that we bring you stories

each week, not just to entertain you, but to try and make a difference in the cases

that we cover and the real people who have been affected by these stories.

And we’re able to do that through responsible, respectful storytelling, advocacy, and your

support.

That’s why I’m so excited to tell you about this new show, The Deck.

The premise is an idea that I’ve had for years, and last year we hired a team of reporters

to make it a reality.

Every episode of The Deck will feature a person whose murder or mysterious disappearance has

gone unsolved for years.

They are the coldest of cold cases.

So cold that law enforcement around the country have put them on decks of playing cards and

passed them out in jails and prisons in an attempt to generate new leads from inmates.

These are known as cold case playing card decks, and they started circulating over a

decade ago when a special agent in Florida came up with the idea to replace traditional

face cards with photos of missing and murdered victims.

It was a victim-centered twist on the more well-known most-wanted fugitive cards.

Back in 2005, this agent in Florida chose 52 unsolved cases, secured a federal grant,

and printed thousands of copies of the first-ever cold case playing card deck.

He got the okay to put them in the Polk County Jail for inmates to play card games with.

And within two months, he had an inmate come forward saying he knew who killed one of the

victims in the deck.

And sure enough, he was right.

The program expanded to state-level prisons from there, and within a couple of years agencies

all around Florida were solving cold cases by inmates coming forward with tips.

Since then, law enforcement agencies all around the world have adopted the idea.

And for the last year, we’ve been interviewing them about their cases so we can deal you

in for the first time ever.

Because let’s face it, not only incarcerated people have the information that’s needed

to solve these cases, the public can help too.

Our mission with the deck is to shine a new light on these cases that will hopefully help

detectives bring long-awaited justice to victims and their loved ones.

This same vision is why I founded the nonprofit Season of Justice back in 2020.

It’s a nonprofit dedicated to providing grants that assist law enforcement and families in

solving cold cases.

With money earned through advertising on the deck, we’re setting up a grant under Season

of Justice to offer help to those who are out there in the world trying to get these

cases solved.

If you’re an entity that needs funding to create or even continue printing new editions

of these cards, or maybe you need a financial grant to submit DNA in homicide cases, Season

of Justice can help.

You can visit seasonofjustice.org to submit an application.

Through this new show, we want to help close these cases and deliver delayed justice to

people who deserve it most.

We’ve seen how these playing cards have benefited cases, and it’s our hope that we can help

get even more decks out into the world.