Unidentified and Unclaimed Forum Suggestions & Guidelines
In collaboration with NCMEC, LE and Medical Examiners, Websleuths has assembled some suggestions, recommendations and guidelines for our members of the UID area.
When contacting law enforcement, medical examiners, NAMUS, NCMEC, DOE NETWORK, reporters or other officials, please keep in mind that you do so as an individual and not a representative of Websleuths.com, LLC. You are individual contributors on an Internet Crime/Missing Persons/ Unidentified and Unclaimed Persons message board. If asked, you may certainly mention our name and the fact that you are a member; however, please do not give the impression you are representing Websleuths.com, unless you have explicit authorization from the owners.
Please be respectful of the official(s) you are contacting. Be polite and mindful of their busy schedules. As an individual and a member of Websleuths, we all have an obligation to maintain a healthy and cordial relationship with law enforcement, medical examiners, NAMUS, et al.
The folks you are contacting are probably more anxious than you to resolve a case. Please do not contact these officials unreasonably. If you have sent an inquiry or submitted information, please allow a minimum of 30 days for a response before you reconnect with these officials. In most instances an acknowledgement or reply may take at least 30 days. Keep in mind, these are investigations and there are many factors to consider and investigate before a case can be resolved.
Please be mindful that law enforcement and officials are under no obligation to let us know whether your information was helpful and/or helped to resolve a case. Certainly, we are always pleased and extremely proud when we are told such news, but we certainly dont wish to jeopardize or compromise a case or be a pest to officials.
When contacting more than one entity, be it law enforcement, NAMUS, the medical examiner, the detectives, etc., please be sure to give each one the name and contact information of all other entities you have contacted. We have been informed that the entities are not always aware of the information coming in to the other, so many times, efforts are duplicated. Duplicated efforts and tests are costly and unnecessary.
Contacting family members directly would be considered inserting oneself into a case and is a violation of our Rules, Guidelines & Best Practices. Its just not a good idea and best left to the officials. There are many reasons for this rule, but one of the most important of which is, that we dont know if a family member might be considered a person of interest. Please leave this decision to the officials working the case, or at the very least, ask permission to contact family members.
Please know, the Unidentified and Unclaimed forums of Websleuths is one our most successful and were very proud of our members and their hard work in this area.
Thank you.