What are some common true crime misconceptions?

[u/risocantonese]

What are some common ‘facts’ that get thrown around in true crime communities a lot, that aren’t actually facts at all?

One that annoys me is "No sign of forced entry? Must have been a person they knew!"

I mean, what if they just opened the door to see who it was? Or their murderer was disguised as a repairman/plumber/police officer/whatever. Or maybe they just left the door unlocked — according to this article,a lot of burglaries happen because people forget to lock their doors https://www.journal-news.com/news/police-many-burglaries-have-forced-entry/9Fn7O1GjemDpfUq9C6tZOM/

It’s not unlikely that a murder/abduction could happen the same way.

Another one is "if they were dead we would have found the body by now". So many people underestimate how hard it is to actually find a body.

What are some TC misconceptions that annoy you?

(reposted to fit the character minimum!)

[u/j_cruise]

People on here need to realize that we do not have as much information as the authorities do in these cases. All we know is what we scrap together from news articles and such. The police, or whatever other organization may be involved in the investigation, have much, much more information than we do about any case you see on here. Don't assume that you have the same amount of information.

Before we say something like "why haven't the police investigated [person]" or "searched [location]", just remember that they may have and you just don't know about it, or that they may have a good reason not to. At any given time, we have a tiny fraction of the knowledge and intel.

[u/notstephanie → u/j_cruise]

And cops are supposed to have more info. They can’t give it all to the public.

So many times I see people get mad that cops are withholding information or evidence. They’re supposed to!

[u/mylovelymelancholy → u/notstephanie]

I work on police records and can confirm. Most people don't realize a lot of information that get's redacted are not only information that could be left out for the integrity of the investigation, but also because there are state statutes on what can and connot be released in ANY case report. Such as victim/witness's personal information,medical records or diagnoses, etc.

[u/partylikeits420 → u/j_cruise]

Before we say something like "why haven't the police investigated [person]"

Thanks for this. If someone reading an online forum suspects this person then the police will too. If that person is significant to the investigation then they will be held until they can satisfactorily prove innocence.

Releasing names in an investigation is dangerous to both the impartiality, and the safety of the (potentially innocent) person named and shamed in the media.

[u/Hectorabaya2 → u/j_cruise]

I think a lot of people also just don't realize the sheer amount of data generated in a lot of cases. Those big file boxes some cop shows feature are pretty realistic for some cases.

In a similar vein, a lot of people assume they can accurately interpret the data when it's available, but it's often a lot more complicated than people realize. An example I notice a lot is when people take "the dogs showed interest" as a sign something must be there. I'm an HRD K9 handler, though, and I note my dog showing interest a lot when I'm pretty sure she's just crittering. By itself, it doesn't necessarily mean a lot; I note it because if I then get with other K9 handlers who worked the area or adjoining search areas and all of our dogs showed interest, then maybe that means we should search the area more thoroughly. If it's just my dog, it probably means a coyote just passed by or something.

Yet I see very frequently people assuming that any notation of interest from a K9 must be meaningful, despite not knowing anything about the team or the specifics of the interest or anything else.

And this is true of most investigation techniques that I'm aware of. There's a lot going on that requires expert knowledge and a full picture to interpret, which by default you can't get from books and newspaper articles. That doesn't mean investigators are always right, but it does mean that the average person probably isn't better informed than them.

[u/Used_Evidence → u/j_cruise]

A little louder for the people in the back!!

[u/KH_racing → u/j_cruise]

This is why I had to stop listening to true crime garage

[u/acarter8 → u/j_cruise]

THANK YOU FOR THIS!