In any given year, the number of closed cases tracks very closely with the number of cases filed, and may exceed it as older cases are cleared.\u00a0 In 2023, for example, 563,654 cases were purged from the records.\u00a0 The subject may have been located by law enforcement or returned home voluntarily, and some records were purged because they were found to be invalid.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite this high success rate, a number of missing persons cases go unresolved.\u00a0 The National Missing and Unidentified Person System (NamUs) reported a cumulative total of 23,972 open cases as of its January 2024 report<\/a>, with a total of 73% of those remaining unresolved for 11 years or longer.\u00a0 Resolving cases quickly is important; a successful closure becomes less likely as the case becomes \u201ccold.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Missing persons cases are innately problematic: in the case of abductions or at-risk persons, every minute can be crucial; yet the passage of time is often the only way to determine whether a person is genuinely missing, or has simply been out of contact for innocuous reasons.\u00a0 In some cases, too, the missing person may have deliberately dropped out of sight for personal reasons, or for their own safety.\u00a0 Yet all of these must be investigated, at no small cost in time and effort by the responsible agency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Social media\u2019s prevalence and high usage rates<\/a> hold the potential to make it a successful tool in resolving these cases, lightening the investigative burden on LEAs.\u00a0 It can be utilized either as a means of publicizing cases and \u201ccrowdsourcing\u201d tips and information, as a data-rich environment for investigators, or both.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n For any LEA that maintains a social media presence, these platforms can be an important resource in missing persons cases.\u00a0 Facebook missing persons posts, tweets on X (formerly Twitter), or TikTok videos can reach large numbers of people, beginning almost as soon as they are posted.\u00a0 This is especially true of high-profile cases such as child abductions or at-risk teens.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Such posts could solicit a range of responses from the public, including (but not limited to):<\/p>\n\n\n\n The latter requires sifting through a number of false or mistaken identifications, but such \u201ccrowdsourcing\u201d shouldn\u2019t be dismissed.\u00a0 A 2023 paper published in the International Journal of Missing Persons<\/a> makes this point, noting that many participants in massive 2011 riots in London, England, were identified through social media; and closer to home many participants in the January 6th Capitol clash were identified by private citizens<\/a> who were able to match faces from videos of that day\u2019s events to the perpetrators\u2019 social media accounts.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Aside from appealing for public assistance, social media can be a tool for active investigations.\u00a0 It has supplanted written diaries, photo albums, and scrapbooks as a vehicle for preserving memories and autobiographical notes; and has also largely superseded church socials, service clubs, and other activities as the facilitator of social connection and creator of community.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Viewed in that light, social media\u2019s value as a source of insights into the missing person\u2019s frame of mind, recent history, associates, and habitual routine is clear.\u00a0 In cases where it is not yet clear whether the subject of the inquiry is genuinely missing, social media can help investigators assess whether there are grounds for concern.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n If an investigation has already been launched, officers can use the same information to judge whether and where an abduction or disappearance might have occurred, and potentially to identify persons of interest in the case.\u00a0 Social media tools can then be similarly employed to evaluate the likelihood of any given person of interest having the motive or opportunity to be involved.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Recognizing social media\u2019s potential as an investigative tool is straightforward, but harnessing that potential is less so.\u00a0 At this point, it may be constructive to take a closer look at some specific use cases for SOCMINT, the challenges those entail, and the tools that can be used to produce actionable intelligence.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n For missing adults, or juveniles old enough to make regular use of social media, viewing their social media activity can suggest numerous avenues of inquiry.\u00a0 Aside from insights into the missing person\u2019s own frame of mind and mental health, this can yield:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cataloging the missing person\u2019s social media friends and followers, as well as any acquaintances or influencers they themselves follow, may enable investigators to establish connections that might be unknown to immediate family, offline friends and neighbors, or coworkers.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Pushing this out an additional degree, to the friends and contacts of those contacts, may also suggest avenues of inquiry.\u00a0 An otherwise innocuous contact might, for example, be related to or friends with a violent offender, and be the unwitting agent of a crime of opportunity.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dating platforms and private messaging apps can also be a fruitful source of data for investigators, especially in the case of women or minors who may have been targeted for abduction or sexual exploitation.\u00a0 While these are not typically thought of as \u201csocial media,\u201d both are designed to help users connect and interact, and therefore fit the same general profile.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Some social media platforms allow for explicit \u201ccheck-ins\u201d from the user\u2019s then-current location, which create a record of the user\u2019s (or at least their device\u2019s) movements.\u00a0 Some photos posted to the account may also be geo-tagged, which also identifies the user\u2019s location at a given place and time.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Even photos that are not geotagged may contain identifiable landmarks, potentially suggesting the missing person\u2019s whereabouts on a given day.\u00a0 These data points are useful in and of themselves, and can also suggest opportunities to retrieve detailed location information through conventional investigative channels, such as a subpoena to the missing person\u2019s telephone carrier or a geofencing warrant around the subject\u2019s last known whereabouts.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Despite its outstanding potential as an investigative tool, SOCMINT poses some challenges for LEAs.\u00a0 An obvious first hurdle is that investigators are limited only to such information as may be publicly viewable on the missing person\u2019s profile, unless a friend or family member is able to supply a working password.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n There are several additional points of friction that may impede investigations.\u00a0 A few of those include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Definitively connecting a given social media account to the missing individual can be challenging, for several reasons.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n The same difficulty also applies to the reverse scenario, that of tracing social media accounts connected with the missing person back to a real-world individual.\u00a0 Anonymity and pseudonymity represent a significant challenge, and in some cases, the \u201cperson\u201d behind a given account may be a synthetic identity.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Social media\u2019s value as a rich well of open-source intelligence<\/a> is countered by its chaotic, heterogeneous nature.\u00a0 The sheer range and volume of information shared across these platforms, and the variability in each platform\u2019s privacy settings, are challenging for LEAs wishing to harness the potential of SOCMINT to find missing persons.\u00a0 A premium SOCMINT tool like Spokeo for Business <\/a>can be a legitimate game-changer.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Spokeo was a pioneer in this space, launching in 2006 specifically as a social-media aggregator.\u00a0 Although it is now a more generalized OSINT search tool, marshaling over 19 billion records from over 5,000 sources and handling some 15 million queries per month, the company retains its leadership in social media search.\u00a0 Spokeo for Business brings that OSINT capability and social media expertise to the needs of law enforcement.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n A Spokeo search cross-references these billions of disparate data points to tease out connections that might be difficult or impossible to expose through conventional methods.\u00a0 This ability to draw big-picture, big-data connections, placing the social media activity of a missing person or person of interest in the larger context of their lives, activities, and personal networks can be crucial in missing persons cases.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let us revisit the foregoing discussion of SOCMINT\u2019s potential and its challenges, and examine how they can be addressed through Spokeo for Business\u2019 data gathering and data analysis capabilities.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Any investigation utilizing social media must begin with positively identifying the social media accounts of the missing person.\u00a0 As previously noted, this can be difficult because of anonymity and pseudonymity, the similarity between the name of the missing person and other social media users, the possibility that a given account was deliberately hidden, and other factors.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Spokeo for Business has billions of data points that make it possible to connect a given account back to the phone number or email address that was used to create that profile, and then to the person associated with that email or phone number.\u00a0 Where applicable it may also connect the missing person\u2019s known phone number or email with others, which in turn can lead to previously unknown additional social media usage.\u00a0 This is especially useful if the missing person has attempted to deliberately conceal one or more accounts, often through the use of a \u201cburner\u201d phone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We have spoken of the range of Spokeo for Business\u2019s media search capabilities, but some additional detail is useful to convey its comprehensiveness.\u00a0 While the handful of top-tier platforms are known even to the most tech-averse investigators, consumers connect on many more.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the time of writing, Spokeo for Business can link the subject of a search to online activity on 129 separate sites or platforms, ranging from mainstream social media offerings to dating sites, professional networking sites, content-sharing platforms, forums, and even e-commerce and review sites.\u00a0 If a missing person or person of interest interacts with others online, there is a strong likelihood that Spokeo for Business searches the site where that interaction takes place.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Having identified the missing person\u2019s social media accounts, their friends, followers, and contacts can be evaluated as well.\u00a0 Many of these can readily be correlated to specific real-world individuals, including family members and coworkers, but others may only be identified by their online username or \u201chandle.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here too, Spokeo for Business can often trace a social media account back to a real-world individual, with as little as a pseudonymous username as a starting point.\u00a0 If a given social media \u201cfriend\u201d resolves to an identity that does not correspond to the apparent identity of the account, that person may merit additional scrutiny.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Many legacy data sources, both those within the law enforcement community and those of third-party vendors, rely on relatively static sources of information such as financial records.\u00a0 While these are highly accurate at the time of collection, they are unlikely to bring clarity to a missing person\u2019s actions during the window immediately before their disappearance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n SOCMINT is precisely the opposite.\u00a0 Information shared on social media is often inaccurate, subjective, or outright false, and personal posts are often carefully curated to present a specific image to the world, but social media intel is timely.\u00a0 Many social media users visit their timelines frequently through the day, and post multiple times, providing insight into their activities and frame of mind that may continue almost up to the time of their disappearance.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n This access to information in something close to real-time is invaluable for assessing the likelihood of a genuine disappearance, or of the missing person being at risk.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Uncovering the missing person\u2019s social media accounts, and establishing the true identity of persons they\u2019re connected with online, is a crucial and fundamental aspect of the investigation.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Once those initial steps are complete, and investigators can view the missing person\u2019s social media posts and interactions, the situation changes.\u00a0 Spokeo for Business has provided a key, to use a metaphor, and it\u2019s now time to see what is on the other side of the door.\u00a0 The information uncovered through social media posts can now suggest additional lines of inquiry, including but not limited to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n The need for agile, modern SOCMINT tools in law enforcement is clear, but LEAs often lack the budget or IT resources necessary to utilize these third-party products.\u00a0 Smaller LEAs may be disproportionately affected, but even large and well-funded policing agencies may find their budgets and personnel lack the flexibility to manage a significant software rollout or heavy licensing fees.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Spokeo for Business can mitigate these difficulties, as well as the investigative challenges detailed above.\u00a0 Smaller or budget-constrained LEAs can use the product in a standalone fashion, with cost-effective subscription fees based on usage, while those with adequate IT resources can use Spokeo for Business\u2019s powerful application programming interface (API) to integrate it with existing data sources.\u00a0 In either scenario, Spokeo for Business\u2019s simple and intuitive search interface, and its easy-to-use Dashboard for administration and record-keeping purposes, require minimal training even for those who are uncomfortable with technology.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n For further information on Spokeo\u2019s ability to support missing persons investigations, or to arrange a demonstration or free trial of the product, reach out to our team using the contact information found on our Law Enforcement page<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Disclaimer: This blog post is not intended as legal advice. Consult your legal and\/or compliance department before making any changes to your operations.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Sources<\/p>\n\n\n\n Federal Bureau of Investigation: 2023 NCIC Missing Person and Unidentified Person Statistics<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\nSocial Media\u2019s Potential in Missing Persons Cases<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Using Social Media for Public Awareness and Assistance<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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Using Social Media as an Investigative Tool<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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<\/figure>\n\n\n\nFinding Missing Persons Through SOCMINT<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Combing the Missing Person\u2019s Social Media for Insights<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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Identifying the Missing Person\u2019s Contacts, and Their Associates<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Sifting Through Posts for Location Details<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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<\/figure>\n\n\n\nChallenges in the Use of SOCMINT<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Identifying the Missing Person\u2019s Social Media Accounts<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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Identifying the Missing Person\u2019s Contacts<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
The Value of a Premium SOCMINT Tool in Missing Persons Cases<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Using Spokeo to Find Missing Persons<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Connecting the Missing Person to Their Social Media Profiles<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Locating the Missing Person\u2019s Entire Social Media Presence<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Identifying the Missing Person\u2019s Associates and Contacts<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Timeliness of Information<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Suggesting Additional Lines of Inquiry<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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Spokeo for Business Can Be a Powerful Tool for LEAs<\/h3>\n\n\n\n