Finding the missing and unknown: Novel educational approaches to warming up cold cases

Bettels, Karsten; Grimstead, Dave; Allsop, Cheryl; Chaussée, Anna; Bolton-King, Rachel; Colls, Caroline Sturdy; Chapman, Brendan; Keatley, David; Tilley, Emma; Turner, J.H.; Spence, Samantha; Marquardt, Annette

doi:10.1016/j.scijus.2022.03.007

Cited by 8 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…Understanding the language that individuals use in the initial stages of a missing persons investigation may assist law enforcement in preparing the subsequent investigation and media appeals. The work of investigative groups, such as the International Cold Case Analysis Program (Bettels et al , 2022) and LOCATE International, has been recognised in their efforts to progress missing persons cases. As such, a secondary aim of the current study is to provide research with insights into the language of missing persons cases that may contribute to the development of specific techniques for international agencies and law enforcement.…”

Section: Present Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

Pathways to truth: using criteria-based content analysis in missing person cases

Richards

Keatley²

2023

JCP

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Purpose When investigating missing persons cases, witness and suspect statements are often the only available evidence to investigators. As such, forensic linguistics can be useful to police when seeking information from individuals during investigative interviews. The presumption of innocence must be maintained in an investigation, and therefore this study aims to use a method focused on veracity detection, rather than the majority of studies using deception detection approaches. Design/methodology/approach The current research uses criteria-based content analysis (CBCA), a method that has been applied to a variety of criminal cases. Real-world statements of individuals convicted or found innocent of their involvement in missing persons cases were used in the analyses. Additionally, behaviour sequence analysis (BSA) was used to map language patterns within individuals’ statements. Findings Results indicated that two individual markers occurred at a high frequency across all four groups (the guilty and innocent statements of both case types); however, differences were noted in the sequences based on an individual’s ability to provide experiential details. Research limitations/implications The current research contributes to the growing literature that aims to test CBCA in adult samples across crimes that do not pertain to sexual abuse, in addition to aiding researchers and practitioners to understand better the linguistic differences that occur in missing persons cases. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this type of research, using CBCA to assist with missing person's cases with a temporal method (BSA), has never before been tested. BSA has previously been used in forensic linguistics, and shown support for the method. The current research builds on this in terms of missing persons cases.

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Section: Present Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

Pathways to truth: using criteria-based content analysis in missing person cases

Richards

Keatley²

2023

JCP

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“…This highlights the importance of looking beyond simple leakage or slips and combining it with a Winthropping approach – localised, specialised knowledge and awareness. Keatley’s Winthropping has also been applied and developed in the International Cold Case Analysis Project (ICCAP), a multi-department, multi-university teaching and training applied group, championed by Karsten Bettels [ 2 ].…”

Section: International Cases and Trainingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Training individuals in Winthropping, forensics, and clandestine grave locations is something that is paramount to the further development of the areas [ 2 , 15 , 43 ]. Several police departments and university groups have begun collaborations that are showing promising leads already [ 2 , 43 , 44 ]. Novel teaching practices like flipped classrooms can also help with developing skillsets and applied understanding [ 43 ].…”

Section: International Cases and Trainingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This creates a difficult hurdle to overcome. Prosecuting no-body homicides (NBH) can be difficult [ [1] , [2] , [3] , [4] ]; always in the mind of the jurors is the possibility that there is no victim, there is no crime – the MisPer is alive. In contrast, families of victims cannot rest until their loved one is found, and case progression without a body often stalls.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Finding the here in where: Keatley’s Winthropping in missing persons and no-body homicide cases

Keatley

2024

Forensic Science International: Synergy

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“…As a result, understanding the language that individuals use in the initial “missing person” stage better, may help subsequent investigations to get a head start. Because of this, several groups have arisen, such as the International Cold Case Analysis Program (Bettels et al , 2022) and LOCATE International, which are directly focused on progressing missing persons and cold cases (Keatley and Cormier, 2020). Therefore, the main aim of the current study is to provide specific research on the language in missing persons cases that may assist in developing techniques for international bodies and law.…”

Section: Present Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

Finding the missing: using statement analysis to assist in missing persons cases

Richards

McClish²,

Keatley

2023

JCP

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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to address the complexity of missing persons cases and highlight the linguistic differences that arise in this type of crime. Missing persons cases are typically very complex investigations. Without a body, crime scene forensics is not possible, and police are often left only with witness and suspect statements. Forensic linguistics methods may help investigators to prioritise or remove suspects. There are many competing approaches in forensic linguistic analysis; however, there is limited empirical research available on emerging methods. Design/methodology/approach This research investigates Statement Analysis, a recent development in linguistic analysis that has practical applications in criminal investigations. Real-world statements of individuals convicted of or found to be not guilty of their involvement in missing persons cases were used in the analyses. In addition, Behaviour Sequence Analysis was used to map the progressions of language in the suspects' statements. Findings Results indicated differences between the guilty and innocent individuals based on their language choices, for example, guilty suspects in missing [alive] cases were found more likely to use passive language and vague words because of high levels of cognitive load associated with the several types of guilty knowledge suspects in missing persons cases possess. Of particular interest is the use of untruthful words in the innocent suspects’ statements in missing [murdered] cases. While typically seen in deceptive statements, untruthful words in innocent statements may result because of false acquittals. Originality/value This research provides some support for Statement Analysis as a suitable approach to analysing linguistic statements in missing persons cases.

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Finding the missing and unknown: Novel educational approaches to warming up cold cases

Cited by 8 publications

References 25 publications

Pathways to truth: using criteria-based content analysis in missing person cases

Pathways to truth: using criteria-based content analysis in missing person cases

Finding the here in where: Keatley’s Winthropping in missing persons and no-body homicide cases

Finding the missing: using statement analysis to assist in missing persons cases

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