IMO, this topic will continue to be misreported because they can't bother to confirm the policies of respective Crime Stoppers.
Shortly after CR appeared to voluntarily resurface at the home of her parents on Saturday evening, I recall it was reported that C/S closed donations tied to this matter, and no disbursements were expected in this case, and instead, C/S refunded donors.
Of the $63K raised, I believe this included significant pledges from 3 donors, who requested to remain anonymous. In my experience, consistent with Crime Stoppers funding criteria (i.e., the Six C's), it's not unusual for large donors to rescind their pledges or be refunded when there's been
no crime. Just the same, generally, donations from the public agree to the disclaimer that unless directed otherwise, funds not used will be reallocated to other open, ongoing investigations.
In other words, while I think it true that Crime Stoppers didn't just start sending out checks to every single donor, I'm sure if you asked your donation not be allocated to another case, your donation would be refunded. IMO, donors to Crime Stoppers contribute because they believe in the organization and its mission, and would rather their donation help another unsolved case. JMO
jeffcosheriffal.com
Funding Criteria (The Six C’s)
Six important criteria for determining rewards.
- Crime: A serious crime has to be committed, generally a felony, e.g. rape, robbery, and murder.
- Call: Crimestoppers have to receive information from the public.
- Code: A caller would receive a private code and a public code. He and the police officer would have both codes. This practice allows the caller to have anonymity.
- Computer: Information is fed into the computer to be disseminated to surrounding agencies.
- Capture: Caller gives information leading to an arrest/arrests of offenders/recovery of stolen property or contraband.
- Cash: Once an arrest has been made the caller becomes eligible for a reward requested by coordinators to Law Enforcement Advisory Board.