Requests
Vidocq receives more and more requests from people to take a look into a case. The emails are all from heartbroken people who have lost a family member to homicide or whose family member disappeared into thin air.
All these emails are touching and I thank all the writers for contacting me. The emails tell of the pain of not being able to enter a murdered child’s bedroom, of being alone on a wedding anniversary, and how gut wrenching painful the holiday season is.
They also reveal much of the frustrations that I described that come with cold case investigations. Some police departments are very receptive and keep the family regularly up to date. But often, officers get frustrated themselves for not having answers resulting in less and less communication. In some cases, family members have even been told to “stop nagging and let the cops do their work.”
Many family members have posted some information about their loved ones online through NAMUS, the Charley Project, Can U Identify Me, or Porchlight. However, some victims have almost no information about their cases online.
Vidocq can certainly help by writing a post about a loved one but to do so I will need help!
When you contact me (link contact page) the chance that we are complete strangers, is big. And chances are big that I do not know your loved one. So you need to help me.
There are some basic pieces of information I need to know to get started. This list is far from complete and only serves to help me assess the case.
Here are some things I need to know:
1: the names of the person(s) involved, their age(s), and please specify who is the victim, the suspect, the witness, etc. Also, if some of these people are related, indicate how (by blood, marriage, etc.).
2: the last place of residency
3: where is the crime scene or where was your loved one seen last? Do police suspect that your loved one’s body was moved to hide the true crime scene?
4: what is the contact information of your local police department preferably with a contact person and details (patrol officer, detective, email, direct telephone number, etc.)
5: a high quality photograph of the victim that I can add to the post and if possible, a photograph that has not yet been shared with the media
6: basic information about the victim such as place of birth, where they went to school, hobbies, careers, family life, sports, etc.
7: victim identifiers (colour of eyes, hair, height, etc.) including scars, tattoos, piercings including earrings, custom made jewelry, dental implants, limps, left or right handed and specific clothing habits
8: if you have copies of police reports and can scan them in, please email those as well.
Remember, the above are only starting points! You must understand that I cannot guarantee anyone results in a certain amount of time. The cases that I currently work on will always have priority.
And last, even if a case finally has a place on the web that does not guarantee that there will soon be movement in that case. However, by posting about the case you will have a chance to reach people you might not have heard of otherwise.
DCC has a steady following of readers and the cases are circulated through my readers’ websites and connections.
But even when they get more exposure, be patient! Cold cases really take their time defrosting.
Categories: Missing Persons, Unidentified, Unsolved, Vidocq Unscripted
Tags: DCC