Web sleuthing continues to attract dedicated true crime fans. Podcasts, websites, and social media platforms have brought together online communities of like-minded people who are interested in solving cold cases of murders and missing persons. 

The number of internet investigators is actually growing faster than the much-needed role in professional policing. Big city police and the FBI often have CSI labs and facilities to deal with physical evidence like fingerprints and DNA. But most authorities don’t have enough personnel to process the sheer volume of online forensics, social media footprints, and available video.

Organizations like the National Criminal Justice Training Center organize events every year for both professionals and enlightened amateurs. And they highlight information-sharing tools, clearinghouses, and organizations. 

NamUs (The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System), and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children are both nationwide clearing houses that have extensive information on missing people.

And sadly, most bodies that are found are of people that have been reported missing, sometimes decades ago.

The U.S. has an estimated 18,000 local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies. Less than 7% have special units for solving cold cases or scrubbing the internet for evidence. And too often police forces lack the resources and time to solve old cases.

Web sleuths can help solve unsolved cases. And sometimes in a missing person case, a viral post or two can put more eyes on the situation. 

Web Sleuthing: Gabby Petito and Abraham Shakespeare

Last year in the Gabby Petito case videos on TikTok tagged with #GabbyPetito were viewed over 900 million times.

As the missing person case of Gabby Petito went viral, a YouTuber and fellow “van lifer,” Jenn Bethune, realized that she and her husband Kyle had been in the same area when Gabby went missing.

 After searching through their videos, they found images of the white van that Brian Laundrie had taken home.  The couple informed the FBI and uploaded the video to social media.

On Saturday, September 18, police went to where the van had been parked and found Gabby’s missing body close to where Jenn’s video was shot.

Another internet detective discovered that Gabby’s last two Instagram posts didn’t have a tagged location. All the rest of her online content was tagged. 

Eventually, it was noted that her murderer had done the last 2 posts.

In the meantime, web investigators helped compile videos of the couple and did extensive research which saved the FBI time. Gabby and Brian lived online. And Gabby’s Spotify playlists, Brian’s reading habits, and marked digital hiking trails were uncovered.

In 2006, Abraham Shakespeare won a 30-million-dollar lottery. In 2009, he was declared missing. And his body was found in 2010. From the start, police suspected his financial advisor, Dee Dee Moore. But there was not enough evidence to charge her. 

Moore started commenting on a crime-solving community website to defend herself. And she was making a big mistake. Emails sent to Shakespeare to get him out of his home and set him up to be murdered were under police scrutiny. And they matched her IP address with the messages sent to Websleuths to get the evidence they needed to convict her of his murder.

A growing number of current and cold cases

40% of homicides in America go unsolved by law enforcement. That's a lot of people who do not face justice and sometimes kill again. It’s also a lot of families that never get closure.

The good news is that more cold cases, than ever before, are being solved with DNA technology. The problem is we are having significant upsurges in crimes nationwide.

 Community policing is a collaboration between the police and the community. And sometimes the community is online. It is a win-win when web sleuths, find evidence and police use it to solve crimes.

In 2022 most people live their lives online. And the web brings together people that can put together lots of information. And often people who break laws leave a digital record of their misdeeds. As a part of community policing, internet investigators can help solve crimes. But when the online community becomes rogue accusers or vigilantes all bets are off.