Nearly 30 years after a Roswell mother vanished from her Hembree Road home, her family is pushing for a fresh, top-to-bottom review of the case. Angela Matos was 30 when she disappeared just before Christmas 1995; her body was later found in a wooded area off Haynes Bridge Road in Alpharetta, and no one has ever been charged in her killing. Relatives say Georgia’s Coleman-Baker Act, paired with modern forensic tools, might finally shake loose new leads.
“It gnaws at me because somebody out there did this and is getting away with it, and I want them to be caught,” cousin Phil Summerour told reporters as relatives pressed for a renewed review of the file. Family members said Matos had been living with her mother on Hembree Road when the mother came home to shattered glass and clear signs of forced entry. A passerby later discovered Matos’ body, and investigators determined she had been strangled; nobody was ever charged, according to WSB-TV.
Coleman-Baker Act gives families a new path
State law enacted in 2023 created a formal process for designated family members to ask an investigating agency to review cold-case files and decide whether a full reinvestigation is justified. The Coleman-Baker Act requires that a qualifying homicide be at least three years old and directs agencies to analyze missed investigative steps, reinterview witnesses and reconsider physical evidence for additional forensic testing. Agencies generally have six months to complete the initial review unless a limited extension is granted. For the bill’s text and specifics, see the Coleman-Baker Act (HB 88) materials from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
Where the Roswell investigation stands
Roswell police say the Matos case has remained on their roster of active cold files and is periodically reviewed by detectives, but relatives said they plan to seek a formal review under the statute to push the probe to the state level. A sister of Matos told reporters she intends to file for a Coleman-Baker review, and family members pointed to improvements in DNA testing since the 1990s as the reason they are pressing the issue now, according to WSB-TV.
How a review would work
Under the law, an agency first conducts a file review to determine whether a full reinvestigation would likely produce new, probative leads or identify a likely perpetrator. Only if that threshold is met can a full reinvestigation be opened. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation provides application guidance and an online portal for Coleman-Baker requests and notes that agencies must document their findings and timelines when they accept or decline a review. See the GBI’s Coleman-Baker Act application page for instructions and eligibility details from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
Why modern forensics could change the outcome
Families and investigators point to advances in DNA analysis, including forensic genetic genealogy and improved sequencing techniques, that have helped identify suspects and victims in many long-cold cases nationwide. Federal research and program summaries report that these forensic genetic methods have produced investigative leads and identifications that were out of reach with 1990s technology, and prosecutors’ programs now include funding and protocols for revisiting old evidence using modern methods. See reporting and federal resources from the National Institute of Justice and the Bureau of Justice Assistance on using DNA to solve cold cases…