I worry sometimes that we want info released, just because it is interesting to us.
Often times, when I watch the ID channel, it concerns me that is somewhat like a dark form of "entertainment" for lack of a better word.
The odds are not high that we here on this forum will solve the crime that the police and local neighbors cannot. Sure , we can come up with GREAT theories, very possibly even land on something close to the actual true scenario. But in the end, how does that help?? Since we have no evidence that our theory is true, we can't exactly expect to just jam the tip-line with guesses....as if that would cause LE to say "AHA, ReckoningDay has just solved the case. Now we know who to arrest!"
I used to be convinced I was watching and reading so I COULD help solve a case. Due to some very personal circumstances, I felt I could simultaneously help, and also heal my own heart somewhat. Realistically, unless I'm one of the volunteers out searching, or have personal knowledge of a local case, I'm not really helping.
One reason I think this way, is this:
My family was once very instrumental in solving a double murder which would probably have gone cold, as we had just happened to hear a seemingly unrelated conversation by someone about a strange incident , even before it was known there was a murder. When we were helping search for the missing victims, by an odd coincidence we noticed something missing from the house that should not have been, that caused us to red-flag the suspect, due to something mentioned by someone in an off-hand way, and something he had in his possession. (Intentionally being vague, as my family is on this guy's hit list now, or so we were informed.) All that to say this, when it all fell into place, it made perfect sense (to me) because i knew both the victims and killer well. But it took an act of Congress to get the police to listen to us. Even though they knew that WE knew the people well, they felt we were going on "hunches" or coincidences, and admittedly, there was a lot of gut instinct involved. But we had to practically harrass them to get them to follow up on our tips. They finally relented and checked this guy out....right before he fled the country. They told us later if it had not been for our insistence, the perp OR the bodies would never have been discovered. So realistically, I'm thinking if it is that hard for a local to get taken seriously, that my theorizing on a forum is just whistling in the wind.
I'm sorry...I'm feeling cynical tonight, I guess.