By Dan Barry
The New York Times
COLUMBIA, S.C. — In the down time before another head count, two prisoners play cards. One inmate shuffles and the other flicks his hand, a mystical cutting of the deck. The dealt cards land on the lid of a garbage can used as a table, falling on top of one another, face down. A form of gin rummy breaks out in the courtyard of the Campbell Pre-Release Center as the inmates, Mark and Mario, toss their unwanted cards into the discard pile. But from deuce to ace, nearly every card is a face card, looking up in silent appeal.
The cards ask: Do you know who killed me? And they ask: Do you know where I am? And they ask: Do you know something? Anything?
The South Carolina Department of Corrections started selling these decks in its prison canteens for $1.72 about a year ago; since then, inmates have bought more than 10,000 packs. Each card asks that you please call 888-CRIME-SC if you have any information about a case; each card also whispers, “Call *49,” an anonymous prison hot line.
The seven of hearts spins to a stop, and gazing up is Victoria Duncan, last seen driving off with two men in 1998, later found beaten to death in York County. She disappears under the king of spades, Christi Hanks, a prostitute from the Anderson area, found dead in a field in 2006.
Read the full story here.