Times Record News

Investigative TV show takes interest in case

By Lee B. Weaver/Times Record News
April 24, 2004

HENRIETTA - Friday's exhumation of Howard Vest in Henrietta was part court-ordered investigation, part on-location video shoot.

The compelling tale of Vest's mysterious death in 1946 has captured the attention of an investigative cable television show.

Officials ruled it a suicide at the time, but recently uncovered evidence may point toward a more sinister fate for the Gainesville cabinetmaker. "Cold Case Files," a series on the Arts & Entertainment television network, sent a sizeable production crew to Henrietta's Hope Cemetery to chronicle Vest's exhumation and the continuing investigation into his death.

Serena Tesler, a vice president with New York City-based Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide, confirmed that the network was producing a feature on Vest's death and his son, Herb Vest's pursuit of the truth behind it.

"Cold Case" cameramen recorded the process from multiple angles, including from a camera mounted on a boom on the edge of the grave. It allowed the operator to swoop in for super close-ups of each shovel-full of dirt removed by excavators.

Cameramen shot close-ups of Vest's family members, who helped arrange the cable show's production. Family members and other major players in the drama wore microphones as well.

But "Cold Case" wasn't the only show in town.

Herb Vest and private investigator Danny Williams hired a private production company to create video documentation of their investigation, Williams said.

The film record will serve as a means of preserving the chain of evidence, he said.

Representatives from "Cold Case" contacted the family about a month ago about producing a segment, and the family agreed to join forces with the show.