Ok, Tricia, I've thought about this. I don't know if you want to read this much. If not, just skip it. LOL, it's not really that important, but this is how I feel about Websleuths.
{{hugs}}
fran
Trisha, Im sure one of the things they may ask is what is the draw to Websleuths and why particular cases?
For me, (a WS addict,) it was one case that first brought me here and once I discovered WS, I stayed. For me it was the Laci Peterson case. Being a mother of four daughters, I couldnt believe a husband would kill his very pregnant wife. With a son no less. Dont all men want sons? I guess not, as we all found out! Anyway, many times its the connection we feel to a particular victim.
One thing I like to do is read and mystery novels are my favorite. WS is a never ending library, unfortunately, of crimes. We watch as they unfold before our very eyes, through tv and the internet. We gather all the information together onto WS and banter back and forth theories. For the most part, we are like minded people gathered for the same purpose.
We not only try to solve crimes, we cry for the victims and try to help bring some of the cases to the attention of LE and the media. Weve had writing campaigns, given tips, contacted the missing persons agencies with tips, we try to do our little part to save or solve unknown victims from our little part of the world.
One thing we all do, is care for the victims. We care for those who can no longer speak. We care for their families. We care for justice. Weve followed cases literally for years, your Jon Bonet Ramsey case as an example. IF justice hasnt been served, theres almost always one or more Websleuthers who wont let it go. They care.
Why do some cases get more attention than others? Sometimes its because its a slow news day. Seriously. Other times its because the case has all the ingredients that you wouldnt expect a crime such as that to happen. Or it happened to the type of people most others envy, not realizing what was going on behind closed doors. Abuse, mental or physical or sexual, control issues, a monster behind door #1.
Many of the missing women that get the most press is because they are usually middle class, educated, usually children, married, hidden problems at home, love, sex, $$, betrayal. OH, and at least one person connected to the case who is media savvy. Without knowing how to handle the media, you may get no attention at all.
The Nancy Cooper case has all the ingredients Ive mentioned. Unfortunately, since Ive been a member of Websleuths, there have been countless others before Nancy and there will most likely be more and more. It breaks us Websleuthers hearts that some women just dont get it. Run for your life!
IMO, Laci Peterson was the beginning of the pregnant wife cases that have shocked our nation. Since Websleuths was opened, there have been so many that fit the same profile, or some that werent perhaps married and no one paid them much mind. But we did here on Websleuths. Our archives are filled with many, and unfortunately, too many of them are unsolved or justice has not been forthcoming because LE could NOT get enough evidence.
Over the past few years, weve also learned that these cases dont always stop with just one dead wife and sometimes more than two. Weve learned that IF a person gets away with offing their SO, they MAY do it again. IE
.Michael Peterson, 20 years apart and only convicted for one, I believe. Present day, suspect Drew Peterson, one wife drowned in a dry bath tub, few years later his present wife is missing, gone without a trace. No body, do they have a case? Maybe.
The child cases are often the hardest for us to follow. Most of us are parents. If were not parents, we have feelings and especially for the little ones. Children are our future and they should bury us, not we them. When we come upon a heartbreaking case, it can bring us to tears. Take the current Caylee Marie Anthony. Adorable, precious, missing,
lies, subterfuge,
We get frustrated, upset, mad
..and sometimes we have to walk away from our computer and take a break
..or the end of a case might find us spent of emotion and we need to stop for a short time. We cant take it anymore.
Unfortunately, for most of us loyal Websleuthers, even if we did take a break, theres always going to be another case, another murder, missing person, child abduction that will suck us back in. We are once again embroiled in an ongoing case, trying to help be the voice of the victim. A victim who quite often has been silenced in a horrible way by someone they loved and they didnt even see it coming.
You cant make up the real life stories discussed at Websleuths. They are real, current events, human emotion often times at its best and at times worst. Its what makes the world go round.
Love and hate. Togetherness. Websleuths.
