MolteniArcore
Well-known member
Ironically, after all the talk of amateur detectives getting in the way, it appears they were the ones who actually found her. That's going to make it much harder to keep the public away next time there's a social media frenzy like this.
The guy on LBC this morning suggested it was a dog walker. He also said that he deals with around 10 cases like this a year and it is dog walkers typically who do come across the bodies.
I don't think a dog walker could be classed as an amateur detective.
You also have to wonder how many cases there are like this a year and why this one received so much coverage. I have heard it suggested that a white 'middle class' female going missing is particularly attractive to the media. There was also speculation that the media / amateur detectives might have been thinking about releasing information about her mental health prompting the police to get ahead of this. By the way I don't think it is the job of the police to get ahead of media stories!
When I lived in York there was plenty of stories in the York Press of people falling in the Ouse and not been found for a period of time - none of those made the national media like this. They were usually white males either drunk or some with mental health problems.
I personally witnessed a white male, drunk, jump in the Ouse near the Sam Smith's pub and saw the attempts to throw him a life ring. Unfortunately the final throw was around a metre away from him and the last thing we saw was his hand going under the water. I think the poor man was found 2-3 days later. It just goes to show that even when you know the exact point and circumstances of someone going into the river it is still incredibly hard to find them.
That sight will stay with me for the rest of my life.
Last edited: