A case can be cold for as long as 30 years, and still have a break that solves it all. The Peggy Sue Ellsworth case had been cold for so long they didn't think there would ever be a chance to warm it back up. They had exhausted all their efforts, but came up empty handed. She was just a missing person that would be filed away and sit for years to come. Until a new home owner decided to dig up a part of their celler 30 years later. And a skull came up.