How police in US are using the power of podcasts to crack unsolved murders
US police departments are increasingly producing true crime podcasts to generate leads on cold cases and unsolved murders. While experts note the potential for misinformation, law enforcement views the format as a powerful tool to engage the public and control the narrative.
Why it matters
This trend represents a shift in how law enforcement utilizes digital media and public engagement to solve long-standing criminal investigations.
Image source, Getty Images Image caption, Peter Chadwick with the wife he killed, Quee Choo Chadwick
Peter Chadwick had been on the run for nearly four years, charged with murdering his wife, when California police launched a podcast about the crime.
He was captured in Mexico 10 months and 20 days later.
Karen Schepers had been missing for more than four decades when another police force, in Illinois, debuted the first episode of a podcast last year about the cold case - and her body was found at the bottom of a river within weeks.
Now Colorado investigators are hoping to bring in elusive tips about a 10-year-old unsolved murder, too. The Aurora Police Department (APD) released its own podcast this summer in an attempt to achieve justice for Chelsea Yasser, 21, who was found fatally stabbed in a shopping centre parking lot in 2016.
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