Sheryl McCollum began her career with training at the Rape Crisis Center at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta, GA. At this center, she received some of her best hands on training and contact with victims. She went on to work for the Department of Corrections, the Secretary of State and an internship with the FBI during the Pan American Games in Indianapolis, IN.

Her training and education led her to the Crime Commission and an assignment with Operation Weed and Seed, a federal task force that combines federal, state and local law enforcement to combat crime in dangerous areas.

During the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, Sheryl was the Coordinator of a state wide response team formed to assist victims of crime during the games. When a bomb was detonated at the Olympic site, Sheryl and her team were on the scene within 45 minutes giving aid to over 100 victims.

Along with becoming the State Director of Mothers Against Driving, Sheryl attained the rank of Captain in the Special Ops Division of the Reserve Unit with the Fulton County, GA Sheriff’s Office, and was the Director of police training in the Atlanta District Attorney’s Office under their Domestic Violence Project.

While Sheryl was investigating for Cobb County, GA Juvenile Court, she began teaching college part time. She became an International Law Enforcement Trainer for the Department of State. She had the opportunity to create two Cold Case Squads after attending the prestigious Henry Lee Institute and recently completed training as a Crime Scene Tech for the state of GA, providing value to her position with Pine Lake Police Department Cold Case Squad.

With over 25 years of experience and education, Sheryl is currently the Director of the Cold Case Investigative Research Institute, which is a collaboration between Auburn University Montgomery, Faulkner University and Bauder College. This collaboration brings together researchers, practitioners, students and the criminal justice community to develop new capabilities and work collectively to advance research, training and techniques in solving cold cases. The objectives of CCIRI are to provide the means, resources and guidance for Criminal Justice students throughout all Kaplan Higher Education to determine the solvability of actual unsolved crimes.

Some of the high profile crimes Sheryl and her students have worked on include:

Tu Pac Shakur

Atlanta’s Missing and Murder Children

Moore’s Ford Bridge Lynching

Amber Hagerman

Chandra Levy

Natalee Holloway

The Boston Strangler

Mary Shotwell-Little