{{Short description|Internet community that is focused on crime and missing people}} {{Infobox website | name = Websleuths | logo = | logo_size = | logo_alt = | logo_caption = <!-- or: | logocaption = --> | screenshot = Websleuths screenshot.png | collapsible = <!-- set as "on", "y", etc, otherwise omit/leave blank --> | collapsetext = <!-- collapsible area's heading (default "Screenshot"); omit/leave blank if collapsible not set --> | background = <!-- for collapsetext heading; default grey (gainsboro) --> | screenshot_size = | screenshot_alt = | caption = | url = {{URL|http://www.websleuths.com/}} | commercial = Yes<!-- "Yes", "No" or leave blank --> | type = crime-sleuthing community | registration = | language = | num_users = 243,518 as of Oct 2025<ref>{{cite web|title=Websleuths|url=http://www.websleuths.com/forums/|accessdate=17 Oct 2025|quote=Websleuths Crime Sleuthing Community Statistics Discussions 633,400 Posts 18,641,361 Members 243,518|archive-date=17 Oct 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251017192557/https://websleuths.com/}}</ref> | content_license = <!-- or: | content_licence = --> | programming_language = | owner = Websleuths LLC<!-- or: | owners = --> | author = <!-- or: creator / authors / creators --> | editor = <!-- or: | editors = --> | launch_date = {{start date and age|1999|05|25|df=yes}} | revenue = | alexa = <!-- [http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/websleuths.com 22,551] --> | issn = <!-- ISSN, e.g. 1085-6706 (automatically linked to http://www.WorldCat.org) --> | oclc = <!-- OCLC number, useful where an ISSN has not been allocated (automatically linked to http://www.WorldCat.org) --> | current_status = active | footnotes = }}
'''Websleuths''' is an internet community that is focused on crime and missing persons. The privately owned Websleuths LLC maintains a forum for registered users to discuss and classify information related to crimes, trials and unsolved cases, which they try to solve. Tricia Griffith purchased the site in 2004.<ref name="one">{{cite news|title=Armchair detectives: True-crime websites are nonstop outlets for facts and opinions on Kyron Horman case|url=http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2010/07/armchair_detectives_true-crime.html|author=Kimberly A. C. Wilson|work=The Oregonian|date=July 24, 2010|access-date=November 18, 2016|archive-date=July 18, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170718111003/http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2010/07/armchair_detectives_true-crime.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
Some content is available for viewing without registration. Members have an option to be verified with their credentials by the administrator if they have a specific expertise, such as DNA analysis professionals, law enforcement, or are related to a specific crime in some way.<ref>{{cite web |title=professional |date=4 April 2017 |url=https://www.websleuths.com/forums/forums/verified-professional-and-insider-members.521/ |access-date=28 May 2018 |archive-date=28 May 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180528214910/https://www.websleuths.com/forums/forums/verified-professional-and-insider-members.521/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
==Notable cases==
Crimes which have received national attention are always highlighted by Websleuths. The 2008 Caylee Anthony murder and 2011 trial of her mother drew years of interest and commentary regarding the murder, media attention to the case, and documentation of evidence and information.<ref name="one" /> The television show ''Law & Order'' portrayed Websleuths in an episode about the Anthony case named "Crimebusters".
In 2014, Carl Koppelman, a California man who is a member of Websleuths, believed that he had identified a match between a new image of Tammy Alexander, long missing from Hernando County, Florida, and a forensic portrait of a young unidentified homicide victim known as Caledonia Jane Doe, found in Livingston County, New York in 1979. He notified both Sheriff's offices and the NamUs database administrators. With this lead, police were able to make a DNA match between the victim and her half-sister, confirming her in January 2015 as Alexander more than 35 years after her death.<ref name=dem>{{cite news|title=Police ID 'Jane Doe' found in Livingston Co. cornfield in 1979|url=http://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/2015/01/26/jane-doe-caledonia/22342077/|accessdate=January 26, 2015|date=January 26, 2015|archive-date=March 20, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150320071448/http://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/2015/01/26/jane-doe-caledonia/22342077/|url-status=live}}</ref>
A Vice.com profile highlights a case where; "In 2006, the site's efforts helped solve the murder of a homeless man who’d won the lottery."<ref>{{Cite web|author=Matthew Gault|title=Did the Internet Actually Help Find Gabby Petito?|url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/did-the-internet-actually-help-find-gabby-petito-tiktok-websleuths/|website=Vice|date=September 22, 2021|access-date=September 24, 2021|archive-date=September 24, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210924145206/https://www.vice.com/en/article/k78dbe/did-the-internet-actually-help-find-gabby-petito-tiktok-websleuths|url-status=live}}</ref>
==Alliances and other activities==
Tricia Griffith hosts a weekly podcast on Blog Talk Radio.<ref>{{cite web|title=Blog Talk radio Websleuths|date=19 July 2019|url=http://www.blogtalkradio.com/websleuths|access-date=21 November 2016|archive-date=29 November 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161129125410/http://www.blogtalkradio.com/websleuths|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2016, Websleuths joined the producers of the television show ''The Killing Season'' in an interactive look at the unsolved Long Island serial killer cases.<ref>{{cite news|title=The secret life of a websleuth and how they're on the hunt for the Long Island serial killer|url=http://www.news.com.au/technology/online/the-secret-life-of-a-websleuth-and-how-theyre-on-the-hunt-for-the-long-island-serial-killer/news-story/fd4cd7ff04d2a30845c8e962ace1884f|author=Olivia Lambert|date=Nov 14, 2016|work=news.com.au|access-date=November 21, 2016|archive-date=November 17, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161117000434/http://www.news.com.au/technology/online/the-secret-life-of-a-websleuth-and-how-theyre-on-the-hunt-for-the-long-island-serial-killer/news-story/fd4cd7ff04d2a30845c8e962ace1884f|url-status=live}}</ref> Griffith frequently hosts live ''Websleuths'' videos discussing current cases on YouTube. <ref>{{Cite web|url = https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSiqBuCJlK1uQqE_nV6ehfQ/featured|title = Websleuths - YouTube|website = YouTube|access-date = 2021-09-23|archive-date = 2021-09-23|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210923180058/https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSiqBuCJlK1uQqE_nV6ehfQ/featured|url-status = live}}</ref>
==See also== * List of Internet forums
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * [http://webslueths.com/ webslueths.com], official website
Category:American websites Category:True crime Category:1999 establishments in the United States Category:Internet properties established in 1999
{{website-stub}}