Mountain View police set to release true crime podcast detailing unsolved cases

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. (KTVU) - Mountain View police are producing their own true-crime podcast in hopes of solving cold cases. 

In the first story of the six-episode installment of "Major Crimes," case officers are highlighting a murder that took place on Super Bowl weekend in 1985. 

That was when the body of 21-year-old Saba Girmai was found in a dumpster behind Safeway grocery store. 

Girmai's murder remained unsolved until 2012 when her old fingernail clippings led to a break in the case.

Mountain View Police Captain Saul Jaeger said, "The medical examiner at the time was forward-thinking enough to take a DNA sample, which ended up almost 20 years later or more, solving this crime."

Officers said they hope this new way of storytelling will generate new leads in some of the department's cases. 

Katie Nelson of the Mountain View Police Department said, "This is us extending ourselves and saying, 'We're trying something new here and we want you guys to go on this journey with us. Are you willing to do so?'"

At a time when podcasts are more popular than ever, the department wanted to use them as a way to communicate with the community.

Nelson said, "We have these stories. We have these aspects of police work that have really not been delved into on this level before."

Jaeger said the department wants to use the podcats as a metric to figure out how to solve some of its cold cases. 

In the short term, Mountain View Police just hope residents listen.

Nelson said, "I think the more conversation this creates, that'll probably be a good indicator that something went right."

The podcast will be available on Apple Podcast, Google Play, Stitcher and Spotify. 

The first of the six episodes is set to launch on Feb 3rd.