' fill='%231ec7e2'/%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Ryan Backmann – Founder & Executive Director
Born and raised in Jacksonville, FL, Ryan began his professional career working in the architectural field as a draftsman, moving his way up to project management before tragedy changed his career path. On October 10, 2009, Ryan’s father, Cliff Backmann, was shot and killed during a robbery in what remains one of Jacksonville’s 1,500+ unsolved murders.
After losing his dad, Ryan found a passion for helping others as a victim advocate, serving other families that had lost loved ones to homicide. That passion evolved as his dad’s case went cold and fell further from being solved. In the constant search for justice, Ryan began educating himself on all things cold case-related. He traveled to multiple states to learn about successful cold case practices. Ryan has traveled to Washington D.C. on numerous occasions, including a trip in 2014 to speak at the National Press Club about the unknown total number of unsolved homicides in Florida and around the country. Most recently, along with other cold case advocates, Ryan spoke with advisers to both the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committees recommending mandatory reporting of unsolved murders to the FBI for inclusion in the Uniform Crime Report.
In 2015, Ryan started Project: Cold Case to advocate for cold cases while linking families, information, and law enforcement. Years of working closely with Florida lawmakers and establishing relationships with law enforcement was instrumental in establishing a Florida Cold Case Advisory Commission and a statewide Cold Case Database.
Ryan has served on the Duval County Child Death Review Team, Chair for the Jacksonville Mayor’s Victim Assistance Advisory Council, and completed the 2013 fall session of the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office Citizens’ Academy. Ryan is the only survivor/advocate on the Florida Sheriffs Association Cold Case Advisory Commission and a subject matter expert in cold case advocacy for the national SAKI TTA program. Ryan also serves as a board member for the Southeastern Homicide Investigators Association and as a Regional Coordinator for the Florida Crisis Response Team. Most recently, Ryan was invited to be a member of the Vidocq Society.
Ryan regularly provides training for advocates and law enforcement as well as informational presentations to schools, universities, and civic groups. Ryan has been recognized by numerous agencies, organizations, and publications for his work involving cold case advocacy.
Freda Washington-Perez – Lead Victim Advocate
Freda is a veteran of the Navy, which brought her to Jacksonville in 2004. For the past decade, she has aligned passions and focus on prospects toward community investment and advocating for victims’ rights. Her mission-focused disposition has allowed her the opportunity to bring awareness while offering perspective for those affected by crime.
A graduate of the University of North Florida, Freda majored in Criminal Justice. She has interned, volunteered, and worked at various local nonprofits, State Attorney’s Office, and Federal Probation. Freda has always looked for ways to elevate and balance her professional skills with targeted goals: knowledge through experience. It was during an internship with the local nonprofit Compassionate Families, which provided services to those impacted by homicide, that she first worked with Ryan and solidified her direction in advocacy. While working with families of homicide can be challenging, the impression of gratitude is mutually shared.
Freda enjoys nurturing her family, reading, and playing the cello during her time away from the office.
Sarah Mitchell – Victim Advocate
Sarah Mitchell was born and raised in a small town in Massachusetts. She moved to Florida to attend the University of North Florida, graduating with a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice in 2018. After finishing college, Sarah became a Florida Board Certified Child Welfare Case Manager and enjoyed engaging with the community around her.
Sarah has tremendous experience working with victims and brings a lot to Project: Cold Case.
Crystal Anlage – Office Manager & Victim Advocate
Crystal has dedicated her life to making a positive impact on her community, especially in the realm of victim advocacy and support. As Office Manager and Victim Advocate at Project: Cold Case, she plays a crucial role in assisting victims and their families during times of hardship and tragedy. She obtained her certification in Non-Profit Executive Management from Northwestern-Kellogg School of Business.
Her commitment to her role as a Victim Service Practitioner, designated by the Florida Office of Attorney General, showcases her dedication to ensuring that victims of crime receive the support and resources they need to cope and heal. Through her personal experiences as a parent who lost a child to gun violence, she has developed a deep empathy and understanding of the challenges faced by survivors of such tragic events.
Outside of her professional endeavors, Crystal has been happily married to Matt since 2011. Her two sons, Jacquez and Dyllan, are significant sources of love and inspiration in her life. Being a mother holds a special place in her heart, and she cherishes the role of a wife & mom above all others.
Crystal enjoys nail art, church activities, playing pool, reading, and spending time with loved ones. An avid music lover, she finds joy and relaxation attending concerts. Crystal founded the Jacksonville Survivors Foundation, a local non-profit that provides therapeutic and support activities for homicide survivors. This serves as a testament to her desire to make a positive difference in the lives of others who have experienced similar hardships.
Board of Directors
Adam Schaffer
Adam is a businessman and entrepreneur in Jacksonville, Florida. Adam is the Founder, Creative Director, and President of 5ivecanons Advertising Agency.
His vision and dedication have helped bring local and national acclaim to the agency for consumer engagement campaigns, TV spots, and geo-social/mobile check-in promotions.
LaTresa Henderson
LaTresa is a victim advocate in Jacksonville, Florida, with past experience as a Domestic Violence Advocate at Hubbard House and currently a Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Support Specialist/Civilian Victim Advocate at Fleet and Family Support Center, Naval Air Station Jacksonville.
LaTresa also serves on the Duval County Domestic Violence Fatality Review Team and was recently awarded the Jacksonville Victim Advocate of the Year by the Mayor’s Victim Assistance Advisory Council.
Sharon Lucius
Sharon Lucius is PCC’s newest board member, though she’s been a passionate supporter and silent auction fundraiser for many years.
Sharon is degreed in Instructional Design and Management. She served in the United States Air Force before leaving for organizational development and training roles at a Sony/Time-Warner company and General Electric. She left GE to begin a 20-year career as an executive coach, meeting facilitator, and leadership development expert at her private firm, McBride&Lucius. One of Sharon’s retirement goals was to join our board. She brings expertise in team and board development, and a passion for fundraising.
Sharon and her husband Ken have lived in Neptune Beach for 20 years – representing the longest period of time they have lived anywhere. Thanks to Sharon’s family’s habit of moving nearly every year thanks to a set of nomadic parents, followed by a military career (Ken is retired from the USAF), and corporate moves, Sharon has lived in 3 countries, 11 US states, and (according the traveler’s app Been) travelled to 36 countries, 47/50 states, and 18% of the world.
Richard Komando
Rich is a private practice attorney that has worked on civil, criminal, appellate, juvenile, and international cases. He has spent time working with the State Attorney’s Office where he prosecuted cases ranging from misdemeanors to crimes involving the death penalty.
Rich is the past President of the Clay County Bar Association and a member of the Jacksonville Bar Association. He also serves on the Florida Bar Grievance Committee and was a past Board Chair of Jacksonville’s Mayor’s Victim Assistance Advisory Council.
Faith Driggers
Faith is a seasoned human resources leader driven by a passion for empowering individuals to maximize their impact. Currently at the helm of VHB’s Human Resource Business Partners, Faith offers valuable insights and guidance on people-related matters. A dedicated facilitator of training workshops and leadership development sessions, she also excels in coaching people to reach their full potential. Faith holds a B.A. in Sociology from the University of South Carolina and a master’s degree in human resource management from Cornell.
Allison Nunes
Allison Nunes is the President, Laboratory Director, and part-owner at DNA Labs International. The second largest private forensic lab is located in Deerfield Beach, Florida. She runs the laboratory alongside her mother and sister. She has over 13 years of experience partnering with law enforcement agencies around the world to help solve all types of crimes including homicides, cold cases, sexual assaults, gun and property crimes. She is very involved in research and innovation at the lab and is continually working with her team to invent new ways to solve crime using DNA. Allison is a passionate leader that instills and shares the company’s core mission: to provide the highest quality results, friendly service, and innovative technology across all laboratory operations for law enforcement agencies and the victims they represent. She feels lucky to go to work every day and share the same goal with so many driven people who all want to solve crime more efficiently and cost-effectively for law enforcement agencies and our communities.
Mark R. Baughman
Mr. Baughman is a 35-year law enforcement veteran, having worked for five (5) law enforcement agencies and serving as a Supervisory Special Agent with the Drug Enforcement Administration and Division Commander with the Pinellas County (FL) Sheriff’s Office. Mr. Baughman has conducted a myriad of complex, and high-profile investigations, many of which were multi-jurisdictional and international in scope. Mr. Baughman retired from the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office and transitioned to a role as a Public Safety Manager at the Jacksonville Port Authority overseeing port access control at four (4) port terminals. Mr. Baughman has testified as an expert witness in federal and state court and is a certified law enforcement instructor. Currently, Mr. Baughman serves as Jacksonville’s First Coast News Crime Analyst. Mr. Baughman actively supports drug awareness and education to include policy reform through his involvement with Partnership for Safe Medicine.
Mr. Baughman also serves as a member for Drug Free Duval and is a subcommittee member of the Jacksonville Crime Stoppers.
Jamie Whiteway
Jamie is a civil litigation attorney who brings extensive experience in criminal prosecution and forensic science to Project: Cold Case, with a career spanning over a decade in law enforcement and prosecution.
During her time as an Assistant Statewide Prosecutor with the Florida Office of the Attorney General and an Assistant State Attorney, Jamie investigated and prosecuted cold case homicides. Prior to this, Jamie served as a Cold Case Analyst at the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office, where she evaluated the solvability of cold case homicides and missing persons cases.
Jamie previously served as a commissioner with the Florida Sheriffs Association Cold Case Advisory Commission, assisting law enforcement from all over the State of Florida with investigating cold cases.
Anne Marie Schubert
Anne Marie Schubert has over 32 years of law enforcement experience and is a nationally recognized expert in forensic DNA. She was elected District Attorney for Sacramento County, California in 2014 and served in this capacity until December 2022.
Ms. Schubert has advanced cutting-edge DNA technologies for nearly three decades. This includes conducting one of the first DNA admissibility hearings on the validity of PCR based DNA evidence in California, resulting in a published appellate opinion. She pioneered the use of John Doe DNA warrants in 2000, a practice since upheld by the California Supreme Court and now routinely used throughout the country. In 2002, she formed Sacramento’s Cold Case Prosecution Unit, and served as its first prosecutor, solving, and prosecuting several high-profile cases including the rape and murder of Deborah Chandler by convicted serial killer Wilbur Jennings aka “The Ditch Bank Killer.”
Notably, in 2018, her office led the investigation and prosecution of Joseph DeAngelo, the “Golden State Killer using Forensic Investigative Genetic Genealogy (FIGG). Since the arrest of DeAngelo, her team has used FIGG to identify the NorCal Rapist, unidentified human remains and partnered with the California Innocence Project to exonerate Ricky Davis after 15 years of wrongful conviction.
Today, she is nationally recognized in her knowledge of forensic DNA and has trained law enforcement across the world on the use of Forensic investigative Genetic Genealogy (FiGG) to solve violent crime, exonerate the innocent and identify human remains.
Anne Marie has been recognized with the Prosecutor of the Year Award and the POST ICI Instructor of the Year Award.
Austin Ward
Bio coming soon.
Danny Greeson
Danny graduated from Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina in 1996 with BSBA in Marketing and is currently enrolled in the Executive MBA Program at Georgia Tech. He is currently the CEO of AmeriQuote, Inc., a full-service insurance agency specializing in term life insurance and final expense, in Atlanta, Georgia.
Danny is a strong entrepreneur and business development expert in the interactive space. He enjoys executing on new ideas and technologies and specializes in idea generation, company creation, business development, operational strategies, online lead generation, call transfers, click-to-call, SMS, audience buying, demand generation, branding, affiliate marketing, technology innovation, and creative design.
Lorena Inclán
Lorena Inclán joined the NBC6 & Telemundo51 team in February 2023. She’s originally from Miami and the proud daughter of Cuban immigrants.
Most recently, Lorena was the Director of Public Affairs for St. Johns County. However, prior to joining St. Johns County Government, Lorena spent more than eight years at CBS47 & FOX30 Action News Jax where she was weekend morning anchor and reporter. She also launched a cold case podcast and covered unsolved cases extensively during her time in Northeast Florida.
In 2021, the Florida Association of Broadcast Journalists named Lorena the best reporter in a medium market for her work during the year 2020.
Lorena is thrilled to be back in her hometown to tell the stories of the community she grew up in and where her family still lives. If you have a story idea for Lorena, email Lorena.Inclan@nbcuni.com. You can also follow her on Twitter and Instagram @LorenaInclanTV.
In accordance with federal law and U.S. Department of Justice policy, this organization is prohibited from discriminating on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, age, or disability. To file a complaint of discrimination, write the Florida Department of Legal Affairs, Federal Discrimination Complaint Coordinator, PL-01 The Capitol, Tallahassee, Florida, 32399-1050, or call 850-414-3300, or write Office for Civil Rights, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice, 810 7th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20531 or call 202-307-0690 (Voice) or 202-307-2027 (TDD/TYY). Individuals who are hearing impaired or have speech disabilities may also contact OCR through the Federal Relay Service at 800-877-8339 (TTY), 877-877-8982 (Speech), or 800-845-6136 (Spanish).
