When murder cases first hit the news, police have an abundance of information to pour through.

Investigative leads and tips from the public pour in as fast as detectives can examine them, often leading investigators to the next piece of vital information.

But if a significant amount of time passes before the case can be cracked and an arrest made, that trail inevitably dries up.

After a few weeks or a few months, new tips may stop coming in and existing ones may not pan out, leading cases to grow cold.

That’s exactly what began to happen in the case of Devane Campbell.

Campbell, one of Waterloo Region’s most recent cold cases, was killed on Nov. 30, 2012.

A Brantford resident, he was visiting his girlfriend and her roommate on Elm Ridge Drive, in Kitchener’s Forest Heights neighbourhood.

Late that night, three masked black men burst into the building.

Police believe it was a targeted robbery, although they don’t know exactly what the three men were after.

What they do know is that Campbell, 20, was killed protecting his girlfriend and her roommate from the intruders.

“When Devane thought they were in danger, he stepped up to protect the girls – and was shot because of that,” says Waterloo Regional Police Det. Sgt. Jeff Rumble.

Dionne Campbell remembers being at home when two police officers arrived at her door.

She remembers being told her son was killed. She remembers talking to herself and screaming in disbelief.

She also remembers something that has stuck with her ever since – the words of the officer explaining what led to Devane’s death.

“He said ‘Your son died doing something good,’” she says.

In the days and weeks following the shooting, police received a number of tips through investigation, anonymous phone calls, Crime Stoppers and other sources.

Eventually, the flow of information dried up.

“A lot of information was received from the public, but at the end of the day it resulted in absolutely no evidence in regards to the shooting,” says Rumble.

Nearly two months after Campbell’s death, a severed torso was found in a Kitchener dumpster.

The cases are in no way connected, but the emergence of another murder meant some investigators and police resources had to be taken off the Campbell case and re-assigned to the new one.

By the one-year anniversary of Campbell’s death, police had no viable suspects and few leads.

Hoping to reach a younger audience that might not have heard about Campbell’s murder from traditional media, detectives posted a video about the case on Youtube last December.

Since then, new information has come in to police – information which, they hope, has them progressing toward arrests.

“Devane Campbell is still in peoples’ minds,” says Rumble.

“We’re hopeful that one or two people will come forward with the information that we need … to give the family the closure that they desire and deserve.”

Dionne Campbell says she too is hopeful of a break in the case, and understands why police can’t be more forthcoming with information.

In the meantime, she’s buoyed by memories of her son and the support she’s received not only from her family and friends, but from people she’s never met before whose lives were touched by Devane.

“There’s people in the neighbourhood that have never spoken to me … but they come up to me and say ‘This is what he did … he looked out for the younger kids,’” she says.

CTV’s Nicole Lampa is investigating some of Waterloo Region’s cold cases this week on CTV News.