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June 25, 2015 10:59 AM   Subscribe

Troll Detective: Who set Jessica Chambers on fire? The internet is trying to find out.
Six months ago, a teenager was burned alive in a tiny Mississippi town. Police say they still don’t know who killed her or why, leaving the mystery in the hands of amateur online sleuths who may be doing more harm than good. When does a private tragedy become a public pastime?

Background: Jessica Chambers case: Six months later
posted by andoatnp (19 comments total) 10 users marked this as a favorite
 
Sounds like SERIAL all over again....(come to think they are doing a Season 2....I wold not be surprised if this was the case they picked....)
posted by Captain_Science at 11:11 AM on June 25, 2015 [1 favorite]


Police say they still don’t know who killed her or why, leaving the mystery in the hands of amateur online sleuths who may be doing more harm than good.

I hope that Serial leaves this one alone, because it sounds like locals are already harassed endlessly by internet sleuths:
It’s easy for outsiders to track down social media accounts and even phone numbers for Jessica’s family members, friends, ex-boyfriends, and reputed enemies, all of whom said they’ve been contacted by strangers intent on cross-examining them about whether they killed a teenage girl.

Could you send us a phone log confirming you were where you say you were the night Jessica died? Why does your white truck look like the white truck that a commenter said might belong to the murderer? Care to explain that 2003 drug possession charge? If locals engage with their interrogators, they end up arguing all day with people they’ve never met. They can’t avoid suspicion by staying offline, either, because when they do so, they appear even guiltier.
I imagine that this will get a significant hit from the Buzzfeed traffic, especially with all the clues and theories in the article, which make for interesting reading, but also are chum for new amateur sleuths.
posted by filthy light thief at 11:35 AM on June 25, 2015 [2 favorites]


I think Sarah Koenig has already said that season 2 probably won't cover a crime, so this case is probably safe from Serial's attention.
posted by tofu_crouton at 11:43 AM on June 25, 2015 [1 favorite]


Jessica's mom texting Jessica after her death is heartbreaking.
posted by nicebookrack at 12:11 PM on June 25, 2015 [3 favorites]


As a result, Jessica was tough. If her mother screamed at her, she’d scream back and move out for a few months.

In my limited experience, that's a whole other thing than being simply "tough."

Weird case. And weird that people think it's not being worked -- seems fairly actively investigated.

Why chase this case in a whole world of actually cold cases? (Probably because that requires more research skills than facebook stalking?)
posted by Matt Oneiros at 12:52 PM on June 25, 2015 [1 favorite]


Maybe the Reddit Detective Squad can take this case and "solve" it by pinning it on a brown guy who happened to be walking by like they did with the Boston Bombing. Then harass his family even though it will turn out that the guy in question in innocent and had in fact recently committed suicide, meaning they were harassing a grieving family for no reason.

You'd think people would have learned by now that Internet Detectives are a fucking terrible idea.
posted by Sangermaine at 12:59 PM on June 25, 2015 [6 favorites]


You'd think people would have learned by now that Internet Detectives are a fucking terrible idea.
posted by The Power Nap at 1:35 PM on June 25, 2015 [1 favorite]


Barnes, who said he is 40, has never been to Courtland. He lives on a boat and spends his free time on his phone investigating small-town corruption, which he typically hears about through Anonymous.

“There’s no TV or nothing on my boat, so I get on the internet,” Barnes said.


Ugh. For real? "I can't watch Game of Thrones so I just idly ruin peoples' lives." LEARN TO GODDAMN KNIT OR SOMETHING.
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 1:45 PM on June 25, 2015 [18 favorites]


If you search Reddit for her name, the top subreddits which pop up are all explicitly racist. This case is apparently a hobby-horse for some of the worst people on the web. So it's not just amateur web sleuths, it's probably extremely racist amateur web sleuths.
posted by edheil at 1:47 PM on June 25, 2015 [7 favorites]


This case is apparently a hobby-horse for some of the worst people on the web. So it's not just amateur web sleuths, it's probably extremely racist amateur web sleuths.

I'm guessing they're looking for a "twofer", a dead race traitor and black guy on death row why else would they even care? What happens if they do figure it out and the perp's a white guy?
posted by MikeMc at 2:14 PM on June 25, 2015 [1 favorite]


This case is apparently a hobby-horse for some of the worst people on the web. So it's not just amateur web sleuths, it's probably extremely racist amateur web sleuths.

Look, if people want racists to investigate crimes, they can leave that to the professionals - the police.
posted by el io at 2:16 PM on June 25, 2015 [12 favorites]


Maybe the Reddit Detective Squad can take this case and "solve" it by pinning it on a brown guy who happened to be walking by like they did with the Boston Bombing. Then harass his family even though it will turn out that the guy in question in innocent and had in fact recently committed suicide, meaning they were harassing a grieving family for no reason.

Yea, i'm getting strong vibes of that from this as well.

I have really conflicted feelings because #opsteubenville and anonymous involvement in that whole situation was pretty much undeniably helpful at getting details out and bringing attention to it. But this kind of thing is, at most, always barely a net positive. It doesn't take very much for it to be a net negative, and this really really feels like one.
posted by emptythought at 2:31 PM on June 25, 2015 [1 favorite]


I honestly hadn't heard of this. I can't believe I hadn't heard of this. Jesus.
posted by turbid dahlia at 3:05 PM on June 25, 2015


Want to read more stories like this?

Ideally not.
posted by turbid dahlia at 3:09 PM on June 25, 2015 [12 favorites]


Shouldn't ire be directed at Facebook, not Reddit in this instance? After all FB is mentioned in the article. Several times.
posted by um at 7:37 PM on June 25, 2015


I read a lot of true crime and jump online afterwards to see what amateur sleuths have come up with. But 6 months? That's not enough time for official channels to figure it out. There's barely a mystery here, just a tragedy. Go re-watch Twin Peaks or decode the Zodiac letters if you want entertainment, and leave this poor town alone. I feel like a voyeur just reading the damn Buzzfeed post.
posted by harriet vane at 5:08 AM on June 26, 2015 [2 favorites]


Sorry, the 'you' in my moment above is about the Facebook groups and Charles C Johnson, not MeFi.
posted by harriet vane at 5:09 AM on June 26, 2015


Good Lord, what a horrible damn thing this is. The family is a mess, the crime is shocking beyond words, the internet detective angle is the worse thing I have heard all week. And the detectives are obsessive racists on top of it?!
posted by LarryC at 10:01 AM on June 26, 2015


i also can't imagine going into debt to bury both of your children becaues they insurance won't pay because it's not enough that they're dead.

I think the insurance angle is that this was clearly a homicide, and until there is an arrest they don't want to risk handing $10k over to a possible murderer. Given how often murder victims are killed by family members, that's not a crazy policy, although I'd prefer they hand the money over with the provision it must be repaid with interest if the policyholder is convicted of this crime.
posted by Pater Aletheias at 6:07 AM on June 28, 2015 [1 favorite]


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