Internet Sleuths Muddy Waters and Wreck Lives in Missy Bevers’ Murder Investigation
Tuesday, January 31, 2017 at 4 a.m
http://www.dallasobserver.com/news/...-in-missy-bevers-murder-investigation-9129736
A legion of investigators, unasked, have been probing the case via Facebook groups dedicated to solving Bevers' murder: Case Crackers: Who Killed Missy Bevers, Justice for Missy Bevers, Let’s Catch Missy Bevers Killer, Missy Bevers — Unfiltered and Uncensored. The groups’ memberships range from 50 to 1,100 citizen investigators who are dissecting the case nearly every day. There, theories swirl: Love triangles gone awry, a jealous husband with an enraged father, a gas station attendant with a “checkered past.”
In efforts to help police — or snag the $50,000 reward money — amateur internet investigators following Missy Bevers’ case have analyzed search warrants and still images of the killer in makeshift tactical gear. Some dissected the outdoor store surveillance video, pointing out that the driver’s seat is pushed too far back for the killer and that the Nissan may have been flashing its headlights at someone. Police have yet to mention an accomplice. Others have gone so far as running background checks, trolling social media sites of friends and family and approaching Missy Bevers’ family and friends for information. They use acronyms to discuss and debate guilt or innocence as if they’re playing a game of Clue.
These musings have crossed the social media threshold and into the real world, wreaking havoc on people’s lives and, in some cases, wasting man-hours as police track down false leads. The police seem exasperated. “They need to remember that these are people with families,” Midlothian Assistant Police Chief Kevin Johnson tells the
Observer. “Just because we’re following up on a tip and talking with someone doesn’t mean they’re guilty.”
Anytime the police speak to someone, often called a “person of interest” in the case, that person becomes a target for conjecture.
“People were sharing my address. ...” says one former person of interest who wishes to remain anonymous. “These people have no clue to who I am and [are] jumping on the bandwagon. They could gather everyone on Facebook groups into an auditorium and tell them the truth, but they don’t want the truth. They just want to crucify somebody.”
