Thirty years ago, an unexpected discovery on a sandy beach of several thousand dollars re-fueled interest an unsolved crime.  Since then, no new evidence has surfaced, so officials contend the money naturally washed ashore and become buried by river sediment a decade year.  In 2009, a soil scientist was invited to examine available evidence to validate the 30 year old evidence and investigative conclusions.  Transects were established and soil pits described, which in turn revealed critical new information about this cold case.  Beach accretion and erosion was mapped using aerial photographs.  And closer examination of the aerobic and anaerobic soil conditions prompted new alternatives for this unsolved mystery.  Deductive reasoning, guided by principles of soil geomorphology and fluvial dynamics, have dramatically changed the direction of the criminal case.