The method
How a case gets opened.
No case file goes public without passing every step. This is the intake pipeline, and it is non-negotiable.
A family member or authorized advocate submits the case, or any concerned citizen nominates one: the basics, the relationship to it (or why it matters to you), contact info, and links to public coverage.
We confirm who the submitter or nominator is and their connection to the case, cross-checked against public records, with a direct contact step. No anonymous case openings.
Before anything goes public, the case is screened: is there an active investigation we would interfere with, does the case fit the charter? Cases that fail are held or declined with an explanation.
Agents begin building the timeline and evidence inventory from the public record. Every file carries the family desk from day one.
Three tracks
Every track ends at the same gate.
Families and advocates bring cases to us directly.
Any concerned citizen can nominate a case that troubles them. The family is contacted before anything is published.
We proactively approach the posters of public, reward-backed cases and offer to open a file.
Sources
What gatherers work from.
National datasets, agency records, and published reporting. Everything a file contains starts as a cited source.
- Murder Accountability ProjectNational homicide data and clearance tracking
- FBI Uniform Crime ReportingAnnual national crime statistics
- NamUsThe National Missing and Unidentified Persons System
- Project: Cold CaseState-level cold case statistics
- Agency press releases and court recordsThe public record behind each individual file
The charter
Eight rules. Non-negotiable.
The rules that make this different from internet sleuthing. They are the product, not the fine print.
- 1Families come first. Every file carries a family desk: claim the file, correct the record, or pull it down at any time. Verified takedowns are honored without debate.
- 2Public records only. Everything in a case file comes from the public record, and every claim carries its citation.
- 3Never name a suspect. Agents do not publicly accuse anyone, ever. Leads about people go privately to the family and to law enforcement.
- 4No interference. We do not contact witnesses, visit scenes, or insert ourselves into active investigations.
- 5No solving claims. We build the case file. Police solve cases. The file says what we know and what we do not.
- 6The desk answers. Family requests through the private channel are answered promptly, and verified takedowns are honored without debate.
- 7Dignity standard. Victims are people, not content. If a detail does not serve the case, it does not go in the file.
- 8Legal status, not accusation. Everyone named in a file carries the legal status the official record gives them. Agents never upgrade a label, and no one is named as a suspect, ever.