30 Times the Internet Solved INFAMOUS Crimes

30 Times the Internet Solved Crimes

Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for times the internet directly solved a crime, or was instrumental in helping a case get solved indirectly.

#30: A Bicycle Theft

Trouble struck for a teenager in Groningen, Holland when his bike was hijacked by a pair of petty thugs. In addition to stealing the bicycle, the crooks also took the young man’s phone as well as the money he had on him. Unfortunately, progress on the robbery case was incredibly slow. While the teenager was unsatisfied by this he was eventually able to do what law enforcement couldn’t on their own: get justice. Using Google Maps a few months later, he found photographic evidence relating to the crime and shared it with police. This information was later crucial in finding the criminals. Never do anything stupid because if you think no one can see you, think again. There’s a solid chance Google is watching you!

#29: The Missing Link to a Fatal Hit & Run

Reddit has on occasion put missing pieces together and solved some cases, and this specific time is no different. When a tragic hit-and-run killed Susan Rainwater, the Washington State Patrol posted a picture of a broken car piece to Twitter in hopes of getting leads about the suspect. The picture later found its way to Reddit on r/whatisthisthing where it gained some major traction. The popular subreddit worked together and theorized that the part belonged to a Chevy truck from around the 1980s. Later an anonymous tip came through about a damaged 1986 Chevrolet K-10 sighting. On August 14th, 2018, Washington State Police confirmed they made an arrest. In their tweet they also acknowledged Reddit’s contribution to the case.

#28: The BK Foot Lettuce Fiasco

During a late-night in 2012 a Burger King employee decided to goof off and step into two plastic bins containing lettuce. A picture of the employee’s lettuce-submerged feet was quickly uploaded onto 4Chan. From there users were actually able to find the exact location where the photo was taken: Mayfield Heights, Ohio. Unsurprisingly the culprit was fired. While this thankfully wasn’t a major crime, it was still a pretty serious health-code violation. Obviously sticking your feet into lettuce isn’t something that will go without consequences. Burger King’s brand and reputation took a big hit because of the embarrassing situation. The foot lettuce fiasco ultimately served as a cautionary tale for how a small joke can end up costing a fast-food chain big time.

#27: Haley Wilson’s Disappearance

When teenager Haley Wilson made the choice to run away from home in 2011, the drastic decision obviously devastated her family. But while her father communicated with the police like normal, he also went above and beyond expectations. Ray Wilson used the internet to the best of his capacity to find his daughter. He posted a video talking about Haley which was shared to sites like YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook. It wasn’t long until the video picked up steam across those sites and the hashtags #FindHaley and #LoveHaley were created too. After this she was eventually found and the investigation was thankfully resolved. The amount of attention that Haley’s disappearance got on social media no doubt helped to get her rediscovered.

#26: Illegal Marijuana Farm

Over the years the weed industry has become a pretty lucrative business, but navigating the waters of this field have proven to be tricky. Back in 2013 Curtis W. Croft, a farmer in Oregon, grew a rather large amount of marijuana. Interestingly, growing the weed wasn’t actually the crime, well, not exactly. Curtis had a special registration that allowed him to grow medical marijuana for up to five users, which would equate to about 30 plants. However, Curtis allegedly grew 94 plants, roughly triple what he was legally allowed to grow. Fortunately visual evidence of the marijuana farm showed up on Google Earth, which police used to throw the book at him. There’s a lesson here, and it’s that going overboard can cost you!

#25: The Cat Kicker

Don’t harm pets. Sounds simple enough, but unfortunately incidents like this happen. In July of 2013 a teenager posted a video to “Vine” where he was seen kicking his pet kitten. The internet obviously didn’t think the video was funny and it circulated across social media. The teenager was identified as Walter Easley and his video was quickly reported to police. An online petition was also made calling for Walter to face justice. The six-second video landed him in court where he was soon charged with animal cruelty. The internet essentially rallied together to make it clear that harming pets would have consequences. In his attempt to get some quick clicks, Walter ended up getting some quick criminal charges instead.

#24: Exposed by Google Street View

In this day and age, there’s really no way to live without leaving some kind of digital footprint behind. Although, Italian mafia boss Gioacchino Gammino definitely tried his best. After escaping from prison in 2002, the gangster laid low as a chef in Spain for years. However, a photo on Google Maps’ Street View showed him in plain view outside a restaurant. That, in addition to a Facebook post from a nearby establishment gave police all they needed. Allegedly, Gammino had taken serious precautions to avoid the law, including going no-contact with his family. So, it’s pretty ironic that he was done in by simple Google.

#23: Kidnapping Victim Seeks Legal Advice

A young named boy Julian was kidnapped by the man he thought was his father. Years later when Julian was 18 and applying for colleges, he discovered things about his past weren’t adding up. He had problems with his social security and later learned that he was actually on a database for missing children. A since-deleted Reddit post to r/legaladvice by a throwaway account believed to be Julian asked for insight on what to do regarding this situation. It wasn’t long after that Bobby Hernandez was arrested by law enforcement for kidnapping. While the Reddit post likely wasn’t the main cause for the arrest, the added attention from it definitely generated more necessary spotlight to the investigation.

#22: Linda O’Keefe’s Story

Linda O’Keefe was a girl who went missing in 1973. Her case was cold for decades, but in 2017 interest in her investigation was renewed. Newport Beach Police created a social media campaign revolving around her with a Twitter hashtag titled #LindasStory. It essentially informed the public about her tragic disappearance through narrative tweets. The campaign gained a solid amount of traction and practically revitalized the investigation. Later through DNA testing, a suspect was taken in: James Allan Neal. The Twitter campaign itself isn’t exactly what led to finding Neal but it proved vital to making sure that Linda would get justice. Social media often understandably gets a bad rep but sometimes it can be used for incredible things.

#21: The Kristin Smart Case

True-crime podcasts are a dime and a dozen nowadays but there was something special about “Your Own Backyard”. That’s because the podcast hosted by Chris Lambert helped bring closure to Kristin Smart’s death. In 1996, the college student disappeared and her case went silent for a while. But when the podcast started to cover Kristin’s death that all changed. Lambert’s series introduced Kristin’s tragic backstory to a large audience, which led to more attention to the case. In 2022 as the podcast got bigger, Paul Flores was convicted of murdering her. Then in 2023 he was given a prison sentence of 25 years to life. It’s worth acknowledging that the podcast itself wasn’t ultimately what solved the case but the coverage undeniably contributed to the investigation.

#20: Tent Girl

The body of Barbara Ann Hackmann Taylor was found wrapped in a tarp on May 17, 1968, and was presumed to be the victim of a homicide. Her nickname, Tent Girl, came as a result of the material she was found wrapped in and because her real identity wasn’t yet known. Years after Tent Girl was found, a man named Todd Matthews married the daughter of the man who first discovered the body. Knowing that the case troubled his father-in-law, Matthews began digging on the internet. He scoured public databases and missing persons websites until he found a match. The Hackmann family had posted a report about their missing relative, whose story seemingly matched Tent Girl’s. Contact was made, authorities were notified, and Tent Girl was positively identified.

#19: The Lynda Jane Hart Case

Websleuths.com is where amateur detectives gather to discuss cold cases, and they all share one primary mission: to solve what the police could not. One sleuth is Carl Koppelman, who once worked as an accountant for Disney. He took to perusing the website and started moderating a forum for unidentified victims. The objective of this forum is to locate missing persons by cross-referencing coroner's reports. Through his involvement, Koppelman was able to identify Lynda Jane Hart, who had been missing since 1988. Hart’s remains were found in an abandoned parking lot, but she was initially categorized as a Jane Doe. It wasn’t until 2011 that Koppelman’s investigative skills would lead to her identification.

#18: Anthony Posey’s Stolen Camera

And now for something a little lighter. Louisiana-based professional photographer Anthony Posey traveled to Seattle for his wife’s 50th birthday, and decided to visit the city’s Public Library while he was there. Unfortunately, he left his camera in one of the bathrooms, and when he returned, the camera was gone. He posted a help ad on Craigslist but didn’t hold out much hope. Nevertheless, police soon recovered a stolen camera and used the community posting website Nextdoor.com to publicize their find. One of its users recognized the camera from Posey’s Craigslist ad and connected the dots. With that, the professional photographer was reunited with his camera.

#17: Operation Death Eaters

Founded in 2014 by a woman named Heather Marsh, Operation Death Eaters would later became associated with the hacktivist group Anonymous, which garnered it greater media attention. The goal of the operation is to find and expose those dealing in human trafficking and predation. Despite the involvement of Anonymous, there is actually no hacking involved. Rather, the participants use good old fashioned research and investigative methods in an attempt to remain legitimate. The group is looking into both individuals and entire institutions, including the U.S. military, which they argue govern themselves and therefore cannot be trusted to mete out justice properly. It’s unclear if the operation has led to any arrests, but there’s no denying that their intentions are noble.

#16: The Reddit Recounting

During a friend's engagement party at a Seattle bar, 26-year-old Sam Whitehorn was assaulted by three men. According to Whitehorn’s girlfriend, Bridget Kitson, his Green Bay Packers hat attracted the attention of the men, who were fans of the Seattle Seahawks. As a result of the attack, Whitehorn hit his head on the curb. The fall fractured his skull and put him in a coma. Kitson recounted the story on Reddit, which quickly went viral. A resulting police investigation later found and identified the three suspects. According to a post made by Kitson, the suspects proceeded to turn themselves in.

#15: Billy Jensen’s Geo-Targeted Ads

A digital media consultant named Billy Jensen has emerged as one of the most accomplished amateur sleuths working today, with the solving of a purported ten homicide cases under his belt. Jensen once worked as an investigative journalist, and his experience in the field of crime reporting has paid dividends. Jensen uses geo-targeted ads on social media to attract the attention of locals and uses their witness reports to suss out criminals. One specific case solved by Jensen was the killing of Marques Gaines. With the help of local photos and videos, Jensen was able to identify the perp as Marcus Moore. Jensen has since written two books about his exploits: “Chase Darkness with Me” and “Killers Amidst Killers.”

#14: The Jacob Wetterling Case

In 1989, young Jacob Wetterling was abducted by a masked assailant while biking home with his younger brother and friend. The case remained cold for decades, until Joy Baker got involved. A man named Jared Scheierl claimed that he survived a similar encounter in the ‘80s, and both he and Baker began to unravel the years-long mystery. They unearthed a number of related stories, leading to their appearance on CNN’s “The Hunt.” This then attracted the attention of authorities, who ordered that the Wetterling case be reopened. An old DNA sample was found and matched to a man named Danny Heinrich, who would eventually reveal the location of Wetterling’s remains.

#13: The Shooting of Crystal Theobald

The 2021 Netflix documentary "Why Did You Kill Me?" tells the story of Crystal Theobald, and her family’s desperate search for justice. Theobald was killed in 2006 when a local gang mistakenly believed that the car she was riding in belonged to rival gang members. They shot at the car in a drive-by, killing Theobald and wounding her boyfriend. Theobald’s mother, Belinda Lane, took to MySpace with a fake account to befriend members of the gang. She connected with a man named William Sotelo, who admitted that he and a few others were involved in the shooting. In the end, Sotelo was charged with voluntary manslaughter, while Julio Heredia - the shooter - was found guilty of first-degree murder.

#12: Anonymous & Rehtaeh Parsons

After attending a high school party where she was sexually assaulted, Rehtaeh Parsons was further maltreated when photos of the assault were spread online. The photos also made their way through Parsons’s hometown of Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. Unfortunately, under the stress of it all, Parsons attempted to take her own life, and ended up in a coma. Her family eventually had to make the incredibly difficult decision to terminate her life support. The story attracted the attention of Anonymous, who reportedly identified the guilty parties. They demanded that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police enact justice or they would publicly reveal the names. There are varying accounts of what happened subsequently to this, but it seems at least two of the suspects were identified by the RCMP.

#11: Aundria Bowman

Amateur sleuth Carl Koppelman strikes again, this time solving the case of teenager Aundria Bowman. Bowman was suffering abuse from her adoptive father, Dennis before she vanished from his home. Koppelman began digging around online years later and stumbled across an active Classmates.com page in Bowman’s name. He contacted the owner and discovered that it was Bowman’s biological mother. The two investigated the case together and came to the conclusion that Bowman’s abusive adoptive father was most likely responsible for her disappearance. Police, in turn, eventually took his DNA and linked it to a prior murder. Knowing that he was caught, he then confessed to killing Aundria as well.

#10: Brad Willman’s Trojan Horse

Back in the late ‘90s, a Canadian man named Brad Willman devised a Trojan horse that allowed him complete access to the computers that downloaded it. Willman placed the Trojan horse on websites dedicated to predators, and at the height of Willman’s activity, he was monitoring up to 3,000 computers. These belonged to a wide variety of people, including priests, social workers, police officers, and military personnel. His program aided in numerous official channels, including a Kentucky state investigation and a case involving the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. But perhaps his biggest catch was Superior Court Judge Ronald Kline, who pleaded guilty to possessing explicit material and was sentenced to 27 months in prison.

#9: Finding Sean Power’s Laptop

A Canadian web consultant named Sean Power was the victim of a laptop thief while visiting New York City. After returning home to Canada, a tracking tool called Prey alerted Power that his computer was in use, and provided screenshots of the user. The man logged into Skype using his real name, giving Power his name, face, and location. His 12,000 Twitter followers then banded together, with one discovering that he was the owner of a restaurant called Oficina Latina. Powers sent a female friend to investigate, and a Twitter follower named Nick Reese ventured to the restaurant on behalf of Powers. They were able to reclaim the bag and the laptop, and Powers called the perp to thank him for returning his belongings.

#8: iPad Selfies

That pesky cloud and its penchant for stopping criminals. In January of 2015, Randy Schaefer woke up to find his truck broken into. Missing was a bag containing cash, an iPad, and a Macbook. After informing the police, Schaefer realized that some pictures had been uploaded to his iCloud account. Schaefer uploaded the photos to Click2Houston’s Facebook page and received 11,000 shares. Meanwhile, his friend shared the photos on Reddit, and a user recognized one of the perps from high school. The friend was linked to the Facebook account of one Dorian Walker-Gaines, where they found a video of the man flaunting his newfound cash. The authorities were alerted, and the perps were promptly arrested.

#7: Virginia Hit and Run

On April 7, 2012, a 57-year-old woman was killed in a hit and run in Virginia. No description of the car was provided, and the only thing that police had to go on was a small piece of metal that broke off the car upon impact. They posted a photo of the piece online, and it was quickly picked up by car enthusiast website Jalopnik. Its users quickly identified the metal as the grille from a Ford-150. They narrowed it down to the exact year and trim level, and the police used this information to build their case. It eventually led them to Victor Espinoza and Juan Gonzalez-Vasquez, both of whom were arrested and slapped with hit and run charges.

#6: Steubenville High School Case

This very public and controversial case involved a crime perpetrated against a high school girl. The act was graphically disseminated through social media, with dozens of people documenting the event through text messaging and social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. Many of these posts were found and publicly released by crime blogger and amateur sleuth Alexandria Goddard. Extra footage was leaked by an Anonymous offshoot known as KnightSec. Both were paramount in publicizing the Steubenville case and making it national news. The information was also responsible for exposing the perpetrators, both of whom were convicted and sent to juvenile detention for one and two years, respectively.

#5: Philadelphia Swarm

In this horrible case, over a dozen people attacked a gay couple on the streets of Philadelphia while making disparaging remarks about their sexual orientation. The police released surveillance video of the incident, and a Twitter user named Greg Bennett posted a Facebook photo of what looked like the assailants in a nearby restaurant. Bennett claims that the photo was sent to him by a “friend of a friend of a friend”. The restaurant was identified as La Viola, and user @FanSince09 cross-checked Facebook for people who had checked into La Viola that night. They found numerous matches, and Twitter now had names. The names were given over to police and detective Joseph Murray thanked them for their efforts.

#4: The Death of Gregory May

Back in 1995, cousins of Ellen Leach went missing, and this eventually inspired the Mississippi resident to become a web sleuth dedicated to finding missing persons around the country. In the early 2000s, a skull was found inside a bucket of concrete, and a clay reconstruction of its human face was produced. Web sleuth Leach found a match with one Gregory May, a missing antiques dealer who was robbed by his roommate. The roommate, Douglas DeBruin, had stolen May’s antiques collection worth $70,000 and was going to trial for May’s potential murder. The only problem was the lack of a body. Fortunately, the skull was indeed matched to May, and DeBruin was convicted and sent to prison for orchestrating his death.

#3: The Case of William Francis Melchert-Dinkel

This married father of two perused chat rooms and posed as a depressed 20-something woman. He would then enter into fake death pacts with despondent people, often providing them with detailed instructions. In November of 2006, a retired schoolteacher named Celia Blay got word of one “Li Do” who had made a death pact with her friend. Blay investigated “Li Do” and found other aliases and prior pacts. The police weren't interested, so Blay set up a sting operation in which she was able to track the user’s IP address to William Francis Melchert-Dinkel in Minnesota. The Saint Paul Police Department apprehended the man and he was convicted on two counts. He spent 178 days in prison.

#2: Abraham Shakespeare

While buying cigarettes at a Florida convenience store in 2006, Abraham Shakespeare decided to try his luck and bought some lottery tickets. Those tickets made him $17 million richer. A lady named Dee-Dee Moore then started a business with Shakespeare and gave herself full control over the funds. So when Shakespeare later went missing, police immediately suspected Moore. She in turn claimed that Shakespeare had gone to live somewhere remote, having grown sick of the constant requests for money. Websleuths also blamed Moore, and when an anonymous user logged in to defend Moore’s name, their IP address was traced. It led directly to Moore herself. She was later arrested for the death of Shakespeare, as his body was found in the backyard of her house.

#1: Luka Magnotta

In 2010, a video was posted online depicting violence against animals. This resulted in the creation of a Facebook group intent on identifying the perpetrator. Eventually the amateur sleuths were tipped off to the name Luka Magnotta — perhaps by Magnotta himself. The group was able to match their clues to publicly available photos of Magnotta, proving successful in their hunt. Then, in 2012, student Jun Lin was killed in Montreal, Canada, and the graphic video depicting his death further drew the group’s attention. They were able to help link Magnotta to the killer in the video. Magnotta was eventually traced by police to Berlin and extradited back to Canada, where he was sentenced to life in prison.

Which of these internet-solved crimes were you most surprised by? Let us know in the comments!