Pictured, from left, are Tom Tarpley with the Unsolved Crimes Unit of the Sheriff’s Office, Merry Williams-Diers and Chautauqua County Sheriff James Quattrone. More than $1,300 was recently raised for the Unsolved Crimes Unit. P-J photo by Eric Tichy

A senior investigator said money collected at a recent fundraiser will help the Chautauqua County Sheriff’s Office in its review of unsolved homicides and missing person cases.

Funds from the Feb. 3 event at Northwest Arena in Jamestown were turned over to Sheriff James Quattrone on Tuesday.

To mark the successful endeavor, Merry Williams-Diers posed with Quattrone and Tom Tarpley, a senior investigator with the Unsolved Crimes Unit, with a giant check for $1,350.

Williams-Diers has been prolific in helping to raise awareness in missing person cases and unsolved crimes in Western New York through a Facebook page she created — WNY Missing & Unidentified Persons. She helped organize the fundraiser that allowed the public to meet investigators with the Sheriff’s Office and bring in some money to aid the unit.

Despite especially frigid temperatures Feb. 3, Williams-Diers was happy with the event, its turnout and the money that was raised.

“Considering how the weather turned out, I think we had a good turnout,” she said Tuesday after handing the funds to Quattrone. “The community came out, (and) we had a lot of families of our missing there.”

Tarpley was very appreciative of Williams-Diers’ effort, and noted that the money will be put to good use within the unit, which is part of the Criminal Investigation Division within the Sheriff’s Office.

“With the money that we got from this, what we’re hopeful to do, is to use private labs for analysis on cases that we’re working because, unfortunately, with the government labs there’s just such a long time lag,” he said. “So, this will provide us with quicker results, and that’s what we’re grateful for.”

Quattrone praised Williams-Diers and her organization for highlighting missing person and unsolved crimes. “The information shared is often helpful,” he said.

The sheriff noted that it was through WNY Missing & Unidentified Persons and information that was shared on the Facebook page that police were able to identify one of the two bodies found in September 2021 in the town of Portland.

“That gave us a starting point,” he said. “I’m thankful for Merry. I’m thankful for investigators Tarpley and (Tom) Di Zinno and the effort they’re putting into these unsolved cases.”

Prior to the fundraiser at the arena, Di Zinno alluded to the importance of new forensic testing.

“DNA testing, for example, is done in stages,” he said. “As we proceed with the unsolved crimes cases, we see opportunities for new testing. Some of these tests will need to use private labs because of timing, technology and most certainly the backlog at Law Enforcement labs. This type of testing requires a budget over and above what is normally set aside. The proceeds from this fundraiser will help build that kind of a budget.”

Williams-Diers thanked Jo Patterson for helping with the event, along with several sponsors.