MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- For families of missing people, hope can feel out of reach.

A new effort from the Milwaukee Police Department (MPD) aims at bringing answers and long overdue closure.

"This is someone's daughter, sister, friend," said Jamie Sromalla, missing person unit police officer with the Milwaukee Police Department.

When a loved one vanishes, there's no roadmap for what comes next.

"The range of emotions that you go through can be even in one of frustration because you're at a standstill," said Medical Legal Death Investigator Manager Mike Simley with the Milwaukee County Medical Examiner's Office. 

Which is why a team of investigators came together in the fall of 2025 to see if they could solve Milwaukee's cold cases.

"I try to put myself in their shoes and providing closure to them," said Sromalla.

There are 13 unidentified skeletal remain in Milwaukee County dating back to 1974. In its first year, the team was able to identify the remains of one missing person from 2006.

"In a recent case, there was a part of a human skull found in the Menomonee River back in 2008. Now that's all we found at the time. That case sat cold for many, many years," said Simley.

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The remains of someone's loved one sat cold until 2020 when an arm bone was discovered at a different point along the Menomonee River.

"We got a correlation between that case from 2008, to that human arm bone that was found in 2020. So came from the same person. He told us that it was male. That's all we had," said Simley.

Michael Simley, with the Milwaukee County medical examiner and his team, sent the remains to Dr. Jordan Karsten, an anthropologist at the Wisconsin State Crime Lab.

Dr. Jordan Karsten CBS 58

"I made an observation of a little bump on the skull that was recovered in the Menomonee River, and when I looked in the NamUs database for missing persons, I found an individual had gone missing not very far from the Menomonee River who had a bump on his head in his picture in the exact same spot," Dr. Karsten explained.

That man's name is Thomas Schaeffer.

His only living daughter, Pam, waited 20 years to learn what happened to her dad.

"Three people got out of the car. I knew that that were was some news," said Schaeffer. "I was in shock. I thought I was gonna go to my grave not knowing what happened to him. I had nightmares about what had happened to him."

Thomas Schaeffer CBS 58

Thomas was homeless but lived in a park by Pam's house.

"I went and filed the missing person's report and then the waiting started," said Pam.

She says after 10 years, she started to lose hope of ever seeing her dad again.

"I didn't hope anymore. I had no hope left. That's why I want people to understand not to lose that hope, because you never know," said Pam

"Being able to a hug her and let her know that her dad wasn't forgotten about meant a lot," said Sromalla.