Efforts to solve University of Missouri official’s death rely in part on residential cameras
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
Columbia Police say doorbell camera footage and digital data have become essential tools in investigations like the one into the 2021 killing of James Hundle.
"In neighborhoods like this, there's lots of cameras everywhere. Ring doorbell footage, that's different for this case," said CPD Lead Criminal Investigator Lt. Matt Gremore. "And this was in 2021. So, I mean, technology is kind of advanced by that time."
Officers found 52-year-old Hundle dead with a gunshot wound in the 4800 block of Marble Cedars Drive on the morning of Oct. 13, 2021. Hundle was assistant to the vice chancellor and dean of the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources at the University of Missouri when he was killed. He was also an adviser to an agriculture fraternity, Alpha Gamma Rho.
Gremore would not say how many times Hundle was shot or whether a gun was recovered, but he was able to confirm it was not a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
During their investigation, police have requested information on Hundle's security system from Tiger Security, interviewed hundreds of people and collected multiple pieces of digital data and video, according to Gremore.
"We did a ton of research into technology data all down this entire street of all four corners," Gremore said.
Police were searching for more information about a car seen on Ring doorbell footage in the preliminary days of the investigation, but Gremore would not elaborate in a recent interview.
"I can't get into the vehicle of whether or not that is the suspect vehicle, but what I can tell you is in this case, we do have persons of interest," Gremore said.
Other cases covered in Mid-Missouri's Cold Case files have not had the utility of digital data.
Virginia "Ginger" Davis was found dead in her home on the morning of June 6, 1994, with blunt force trauma to her head and evidence of suffocation.
Ring cameras did not hit the market until 2012-13, so much of the evidence police had to go off on in Davis' case was collected from the scene. To this day, no one has been arrested in her death.
Officers have been able to narrow down a timeline of interest with the evidence they've collected through the last five years, including doorbell and surveillance footage.
Police asked Tiger Security Services for "all sensor activations, arm and disarm of the security system" from Oct. 6 to Oct. 14. Gremore further narrowed down three dates in that week they believe could be crucial to finding answers.
"Anybody that had any conversations [with Hundle] from Oct. 11 through the 13th could be very beneficial," Gremore said.
Even with their benefits, Cole County Prosecutor Locke Thompson detailed how Ring doorbell and other security systems could pose challenges.
"I've seen it happen where you have maybe a Ring camera in the area that would have recorded whatever it was that happened, but because that camera wasn't part of the subscription package, or whatever it was, it doesn't store," Thompson said.
Thompson also noted the recent shooting death investigation of Erik Spencer, where cameras were recording on buildings nearby, but none of the footage proved helpful. Spencer was shot and killed in the parking lot near the Old Navy on Missouri Boulevard in November by a bystander during a fight with his girlfriend.
"No surveillance footage really captured much of anything that happened, and at that point we had to rely on bits and pieces of footage that was taken by passersby," Thompson said. "While that's somewhat helpful, it's not always the full story."
Nonetheless, Thompson praised the usefulness of surveillance footage and video of any kind from or related to a crime in investigations and in court.
"Cameras, when we're able to get footage of the actual incident itself, oftentimes are pretty crucial in helping us determine what actually transpired," Thompson said. "The defendant might have one version of what happened, the victim or a witness might have another version."
Thompson also talked about the use of Flock cameras, as an ongoing debate continues to grow nationwide.
"Flock cameras have helped take a lot of fentanyl off the streets. Flock cameras have helped to place murderers at crime scenes," Thompson said. "While I do understand folks having concerns about their privacy and feeling like they're being watched, there are benefits to their use, if they're used appropriately."
NPR and other national outlets show a growing number of cities have canceled their contracts with Flock, and CNN reported earlier this year that Ring had backed out of its partnership with Flock. A national tracker of Flock contract cancellations lists dozens of communities that have ended agreements amid concerns over privacy, data sharing and law enforcement access.
Two University of Missouri students brought those concerns to the Columbia City Council on July 20, questioning what information the cameras can collect, who can access it and how long that information remains available.
The Columbia City Council had voted 5-2 in favor of implementing Flock cameras on Oct. 7, 2024.
Similar concerns have also fueled a local grassroots effort. Krista Murray-Salisbury, founder of Get The Flock Out Of Columbia, said she first became interested in the technology after noticing a series of new cameras while driving through Columbia.
Thompson honed in on the importance of using the cameras for the right reasons.
"People shouldn't just be watching citizens go about their day-to-day for no reason," Thompson said. "If you're going to be utilizing Flock cameras, it ought to be for, you know, 'I have this suspect of this crime, and I'm going to use this Flock camera to find that person.'"
Flock cameras were recently used in the case of a man accused of killing his romantic partner and disposing of her body in a trash bin that was found in a creek.
Andrew Acton is accused of strangling or smothering the 47-year-old woman sometime between Oct. 1, 2025, and May 10, 2026. He was arrested after investigators matched the truck he was driving to surveillance video that showed the truck hauling the trash bin near Eagle Bluffs Conservation Area.
Columbia has 114 Flock cameras, according to the department’s transparency portal. In July, the system detected 988,338 vehicles and recorded 505 searches.
Columbia Police said its use of Flock is subject to safeguards. The department’s 2025 surveillance report says searches of the system require a documented justification or case number and that user activity is logged. The department says Flock data is automatically deleted after 30 days unless retention is extended under agency policy or legal requirements. CPD also says it only shares data with other law enforcement agencies within Missouri.
Watch "Mid Missouri's Cold Case Files: The Murder of James Hundle," Wednesday at 6 p.m. on KMIZ.
