Associates in Forensic Investigations - Death Experts
Contact us:
  • Home
  • Contact Us
  • Dismissed Homicide
  • Life Insurance Win
  • Survivor Benefits Win
  • Principals' Bios
  • Sample Cases

Advantages of Social Media Sites

1/15/2015

2 Comments

 
Picture
Advantages of Social Media Sites

Investigators need to be innovative when it comes to discovering information that might help a client.  The norm might be to head straight for a pay data base to find criminal behavior on the other party in a court case.  We have to keep our eyes and ears open all of the time and learn to think and work outside of that mundane box.  The discovery of pertinent information can come from many different sources. 

For instance, checking for Twitter, LinkedIn, Word press or Facebook accounts are simple places to start.  Facebook, as annoying as it can be for many reasons might become an investigators best friend, especially when the client or opposition is a teen-ager or someone in their early twenties.  Some of us can remember back when we were a bit younger and we lacked discretion and our emotional outbursts were not to be contained under any circumstances.  No matter which generation, teen-agers have always known everything and rarely cared how they acted, good, bad or indifferent.

When you start your reading marathon on Facebook, you must go at it with patience and fortitude, the information won’t pop out of a post yelling here I am.  You also must follow through until you find something that could possibly be helpful in your case.  We had a case where the opposition was a teenager who didn’t delete arguments on Facebook, and certainly did not know how to contain themselves with their posts, even while some of their “friends” were encouraging them not to post certain things. 

After looking through a few years of posts, hidden deep within several comments, don’t forget to expand all of the comments, we found some good information for us to follow through on.  Yes, it took time, and yes, it was a matter of checking out numerous other profiles on Facebook before all of the pieces fit, but the information finally came together.  Think of it as the opposite of working a jigsaw puzzle.  Instead of working the outer edges and moving inward, you start with that middle piece and work outward, then you find the pieces that meet and you put it all together.  

You cannot rely on a simple gander at a few posts…you must read and decipher through a lot of muddled words until you uncover the key words that may help the pieces of information fall into place.  If you keep looking, you just never know what you might find, and in this particular case, it was a Eureka moment.  Due to a silly argument between so called Facebook “friends” we found that the accuser was actually accusing someone else of the same crime they had accused the client of committing. 

It didn’t stop there, the next step was to call the state and county court where this other accusation had taken place.  With the correct paperwork and explanation of what we were needing to find, the other court was willing to help out with the information.  There was one more key question for the county clerk before ending the call, and that was - did the accused have any filings – Lo and Behold, this person indeed recently had another case of alleging sexual assault, but as a minor, which was dismissed dismissed just prior to the case first found.  Interestingly the accuser’s charges were similar to the charges they were alleging in our current case.  And here belongs a fitting quote by Sir Walter Scott…”Oh! What a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive”.

This doesn’t mean the case will change, but there is more of a possibility that there might be some changes now versus before taking the time to do all of those searches on Facebook.  Also, as a heads up, do not ask any of the witnesses involved in a case if they have a Facebook account.  Find out for yourself, you do not want to tip off anyone that you might be reading through their posts, some people do know how to delete messages, and then you would need a court order.  If you can get the information you need without a court order, then all the better.  Enjoy the search!


----------
Karen S. Beers, BSW, CCDI

Cheyenne WY Licensed Private Investigators (No. OL-15-31146)
Legal Investigator / Subject Matter Expert Consultant (national)
Board Certified Criminal Defense Investigators
Certified in Medicolegal Death Investigations / former Deputy Coroners

Associates in Forensic Investigations, LLC
A Rocky Mountain West Agency
Expert Consultants and Legal Investigators
Personal Injury, Negligence & Death in Civil, Criminal and Probate Litigation

www.DeathCaseReview.com ~ [email protected]
WY - (307) 222-0136 Office and (307) 222-0138 Fax
CO - (970) 480-7793 Office and (970) 480-7794 Fax
'Quaero Indicium' - To Find The Evidence

Keep informed - visit and 'Like' us on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/4N6Associates and our agency blog at www.MedicolegalPI.com
Listen to Facts & Forensics at www.GIMG.tv

2 Comments
David Childe link
2/3/2015 01:41:37 am

Makes sense. A solid Facebook investigation does require a detailed reading of all posts, comments, likes, activities, and key friends' information. It is the total mosaic that matters. Thanks for an excellent post.

Reply
Andrea Orozco link
12/7/2017 09:41:16 am

Great article and very very true!

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    We post News of Our Profession, Conferences & Training, Case Studies
    and other related content daily on our agency social media – follow us:

    www.linkedin.com/company/4n6associates

    www.twitter.com/4n6Associates

    Search Blog Archives
    by keyword(s):

    Picture
    Picture
    Picture

    Archives

    May 2025
    April 2025
    March 2025
    February 2025
    January 2025
    December 2024
    November 2024
    October 2024
    September 2024
    August 2024
    July 2024
    June 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    December 2016
    July 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    February 2016
    July 2015
    June 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011

(c) 2025 Associates in Forensic Investigations LLC ~ Expert Medicolegal Consultants & Legal Investigators
A Rocky Mountain West Agency - National Consultations (888) 281-6912 ~:~ [email protected]

The information found on this website is for general information purposes only. Any information found on this website does not constitute advice or a solicitation of clients, nor does it create a relationship between the reader and Associates in Forensic Investigations, LLC or its principals.