The Watch Never Ends

Building a Culture of Relentless Follow-Up

Relentless follow-up isn’t natural. It’s not instinctive. In fact, in most organizations, it’s the first thing to be sacrificed under the weight of new priorities, staff turnover, limited budgets, or the next “urgent” demand.

But for organizations committed to truth, justice, and service - it must be part of the culture.

Relentless follow-up isn’t about chasing headlines. It’s not about quick wins. It’s about honor - to the truth, to those long forgotten, and to the families who refuse to give up hope.

Here’s how that honor looks in action:

In 1995, a skull washed ashore in Longport, New Jersey. As the years passed, in 1999, more bones appeared in Margate. And again in 2013, in Ocean City. Scattered, silent fragments along the Jersey Shore. For decades, the identity behind the remains remained a mystery.

But the New Jersey State Police didn’t close the file and walk away.

They did something different. They stayed on watch.

In partnership with the Ramapo College Investigative Genetic Genealogy Center, troopers leaned into cutting-edge DNA technology and tapped into the passion of student researchers. They traced ancestry back to the 1600s and followed genetic lines to Litchfield and Fairfield Counties in Connecticut.

They dug deeper - into archives, shipwreck records, and 19th-century newspapers. And there, in two faded articles from 1844, they found mention of a ship: The Oriental. A marble-laden schooner lost off the Brigantine Shoal, less than a mile from shore. Among the dead? A 29-year-old captain named Henry Goodsell.

A family reference sample from Goodsell’s great-great-grandchild confirmed the impossible. After 181 years in the sea, and 30 years on land without a name, the remains were no longer anonymous. Captain Henry Goodsell had finally come home.

This resolution didn’t happen by luck. It happened because the New Jersey State Police made a commitment long ago - and they built a culture that made sure that commitment wouldn’t fade over time.

Relentless follow-up wasn’t a one-time initiative. It was in “the Outfit’s” DNA.

That same week, as the Goodsell case was resolved, the State Police hosted its annual Missing in New Jersey Day, in partnership with the Department of Children and Familie

s. The event honors the missing and supports families still searching for answers - because in New Jersey, the watch continues, even for those who’ve been gone for decades.

This is what it looks like when relentless follow-up becomes a value, not a task.

It means not shelving a case just because it’s gone cold but instead building systems and partnerships that outlast individual careers. It means training new minds to carry the torch forward and creating space, year after year, to remember those still missing or victims of crimes.

Because someone is always waiting. And the truth is always worth the effort.

The call to action is simple - but not easy:

Build a culture where the watch never ends. Not just in words or slogans, but in systems, in training, in your mission.

Make relentless follow-up your organizational reflex, your institutional memory, and your legacy.

Because it’s not about how long it takes.

It’s about who’s waiting at the other end of the answer.

The Watch Never Ends.