Cold-case consultant helps grieving families get justice

Sheila Potocnik cried into her phone, gasping for breath. When her brother picked up, she wailed, “Jeffrey, I’m so, so sorry.” It was late on Sept. 10, 2015, when Potocnik learned that her brother’s son, 15-year-old Antonio DeMeules, had been killed by a hit-and-run driver in Isanti, Minnesota, while skateboarding along a two-lane road.

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“His ankle is totally crushed, and his face is all road rash. And his arms, oh God,” her brother stammered. As he trailed off, Potocnik asked a question that might be expected of Minnesota’s best known independent cold-case investigator: “Did they find who did it?” The following day, authorities did, in fact, find the driver who killed Antonio, who claimed he thought he'd hit an animal. That story stuck, for a time. Until Potocnik discovered critical evidence investigators had overlooked, which sent the driver to jail. Getting justice for Antonio was the first high-profile case Potocnik cracked as a private consultant specializing in criminal case reviews and supporting victims as they navigate the criminal justice system. She's one of the rare independent investigators taking on this meticulous, emotionally taxing work — the need for which is staggering. Since the mid-1960s, Minnesota has accumulated more than 2,000 unsolved homicides, along with an untallied number of suspicious deaths. While law enforcement has only so many resources, the digital era has made it easier for civilians to revisit cold cases. These private sector sleuths range from freewheeling armchair detectives to credentialed investigators such as Potocnik, and some of their efforts have sparked controversy.