Police in Ontario turning to Facebook in an effort to get leads in cold cases

Two British Columbia residents — 21-year-old Grant Ayerst and 36-year-old Norman Whalley — were last seen leaving a Toronto hotel on Sept. 11, 1991. They are considered missing, but investigators say foul play in the Barrie area is suspected in their cases.

And 40-year-old April Dobson was sitting on a porch at a friend’s home in Barrie when she was shot to death on Oct. 14, 2005.

OPP Supt. Jim Smyth urged people to look at the Facebook page and share the videos on other social media platforms in an effort to reach as many people with potential information as possible.

Smyth said police are hoping to use “the power of social media and how it tends to mushroom and go all over the place” to generate tips in the cases.

“Essentially, they’re very solvable cases,” he said. “We’re looking for that piece of information that we firmly believe is out there.”

New information will be posted to the Facebook page about every second day over the next few weeks, Smyth said.

Barrie Police Chief Kimberley Greenwood described the approach as a pilot project and said its success would determine if it would be used in other cases.

Families of the victims have been supportive of the initiative and “participated actively with providing photos and working directly with the investigators,” Greenwood said

“We rely on collaborative action and police mobilizing with the citizens – regardless of where they live today – to help members of our communities find resolution,” she said.

Smyth said police already have other cases in mind if the pilot project gets results.

“We were really concerned about putting too many cases forward at once and causing information overload,” he said.

Smyth also said he believes this method is cost effective as the OPP can produce the videos using their corporate communications staff.

“That equipment and everything is already part of our complement.”

Peter Cameron , The Canadian Press

by Canadian Press

Police in Ontario turning to Facebook in an effort to get leads in cold cases

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