defo not a boston bomber or DC sniper level manhunt, is that what you're saying?
Times they are a changin, Le Singe.. Facebook wasn't available to the general public until September 2006, and twitter, and other social media sites followed. Internet social media has changed the way that missing/murdered investigations are conducted in 2014. Awareness is the key in successful m/m investigations. This is why many websleuthers, including myself, were so impressed with CPD Chief T. Longo's transparent media management style..
The last abduction case that I can remember where this amount of social media awareness was created was also a girl named Hannah--> 'Kidnapping of 16 year old Hannah Anderson, and the murders of Ethan and Christina Anderson ... In late September 2013, San Diego, CA. Due to tremendous media/internet awareness, she was located over 1,000 miles away, in another state, and identified deep in the wilderness by horseback riders(retired LE & spouses). Hannah Anderson was rescued and her abductor; J.L. Dimaggio was eliminated by an FBI sharpshooter..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kidnapping_of_Hannah_Anderson (post social media)
<pre social media>
DC Snipers; John Allen Muhammad, and Lee Boyd Malvo (then aged 17), driving a blue 1990 Chevrolet Caprice sedan. Their crime spree began in February 2002 with murders and robberies in Alabama, Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Texas, and Washington State, which resulted in seven deaths and seven injuries, bringing the total victim count to seventeen deaths and ten injuries
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beltway_sniper_attacks