Armchair detectives on social media love to dig into true crime cases – but sometimes their theorizing spreads confusion, falsehoods and harm.
- Guthrie case: Nancy Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother of Today show host Savannah Guthrie, went missing from her Tuscon, Arizona, home on Feb. 1. Since then, true crime fanatics have flooded online spaces with speculation about the case — implicating innocent people and compromising the investigation, officials said.
- Not so simple: Amateur sleuths lack training and don’t have all the facts of the investigation, but that hasn’t stopped them from trying to solve this case in real time. Some are also profiting from it, racking up engagement and followers online as they spread misinformation and inspire baseless tips that waste investigators’ time.
- Real impact: After some online commenters accused members of the Guthrie family of the abduction, the local sheriff’s office released a statement clearing them as suspects.
- Resource: “Conspiratorial Thinking” (Checkology)