There are many things that most people cannot hope to truly comprehend unless or until they’ve experienced it firsthand. Chief among those things is the pain and suffering that comes with losing a loved one to violence or mischance, and then watching for years as the person or people responsible walk free without consequence.

That is the pain that has been shouldered by the family of Saxonburg Police Chief Gregory Adams, who nearly 40 years ago was killed in the line of duty by Donald Eugene Webb after a traffic stop on Dec. 4, 1980.

Webb, a jewelry thief with mob connections, was never brought to justice in the case, and until earlier this month Adams’ family has been left wondering if they would ever know for certain what happened.

That closure came last week when investigators, in a final push to wrap up the case, learned from Webb’s widow that Adams fought ferociously and bravely for his life, inflicting serious injuries on Webb that lingered until the day he died (Dec. 30, 1999)

Despite those injuries — and despite the fact that investigators ultimately found Webb’s remains last week and brought a formal close to the case — there’s no escaping the fact that Webb got away with his crime.

Webb murdered Chief Adams and made it home to his wife, Lillian, with whom he lived until his death nearly 20 years later. In his hometown. In a house investigators from multiple states and the federal government knew as the Webb residence.

That should outrage people. We’re outraged by it. And we know it outrages Adams’ wife, Mary Ann Jones, who on Thursday told the Butler Eagle the blunt truth about the way the investigation into her husband’s murder concluded.

“I don’t think my husband got any justice,” she said.

Jones couldn’t be more correct. Closure? Yes. But justice? Not even close.

Outrage shouldn’t diminish the work done by Pennsylvania State Police investigators, who worked for decades looking for a break in the case. Their dedication and perseverance in the face of long odds are worthy of more praise than we can confer here, and their pride and satisfaction were evident on Thursday, when law enforcement officials gathered in Saxonburg to formally announce the end of Pennsylvania’s investigation into Adams’ killing.

Thursday was the end of one cold case investigation, but there are hundreds more still on the books.

Some will likely never be brought to a resolution. Some, like the Adams case, may find closure but never justice. But the families waiting for answers deserve nothing less than justice and closure.

In this case there was no evidence or tip or long-forgotten memory that could have been jogged to bring Webb to justice. There was only a murderer and the wife who sheltered him from authorities until long after his death.

But that is not true in every cold case. The end of Adams’ long wait is a reminder that while these victims often fade from the public consciousness, the pain of their loss never fades from the lives of the loved ones left waiting and wondering if justice will ever be done.