Yonkers Cold Case Squad Legend Det. John Geiss Retiring After 22 Years
YONKERS, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- It's the final chapter in a legendary law enforcement career.
Det. John Geiss, the detective in charge of one of the region's premiere cold case squads, is retiring. He told CBS2's Tony Aiello that getting answers for victims' families is what kept him going for 22 years.
There's a warning on his office door -- "do not clean room." Necessary because every scrap of paper could help solve a crime.
"I know where everything is," Geiss said.
"He really does. You can just say a name and he'll point right to the case," Det. Vionett Martinez said.
After 22 years running the cold case squad and 37 years with the Yonkers Police Department, Geiss is calling it a career.
"It's tough leaving. I love what I do, but I found the right person to take over," he said.
That would be Martinez, his partner of three years.
"I have big shoes to fill but he's a great mentor and a great teacher," Martinez said.
Indeed, in Yonkers and beyond, Geiss is something of a law enforcement legend for clearing case after case, catching serial killer Francisco Acevedo and most recently, delaying his retirement to arrest two people for the 2012 murder of Pamela Graddick.
Geiss keeps Graddick's picture over his desk.
She was Tawanna McClellan's sister.
"I am grateful to him for sticking with the case. I am grateful that he always answered my calls or my texts whenever I reached out to him. And he said from the beginning when he took on the case that he wasn't gonna stop until he solved it," she said.
"You know I get pretty close to the victims' families. They're great people," Geiss said. "It's their loved ones and, you know, you want to bring justice for them."
Geiss is old school, as indicated by the messy paper-filled office.
"It's not all about DNA. It's knowing how to speak to people, getting information and getting confessions," he said. "You have to be able to talk to people and understand people. Can't get loud with them. You get loud with them, they're gonna shut down."
"We are going to sorely miss him because he did an amazing job for the Yonkers Police Department," Yonkers Police Commissioner John Mueller said.
Soon, his office will be Martinez's realm.
"I am going to just tidy up a little bit," she said.
She's ready to step into the shoes of a legend.