The Associated Press
BOSTON (AP) -- A network of amateur Internet detectives is becoming increasingly important in helping law enforcement crack hard to solve missing persons cases.
Members of the Doe Network never visit the scene of the crime or search for forensic evidence, but they surf Web sites and try to draw connections.
The network has helped solve 17 cases around the country within the last few years, including the case of a man wrapped in a tarpaulin found floating in the Sudbury River in Framingham in 2002. Law enforcement had one clue: the letters “PK” tattooed on the man’s right shoulder.
Bobby Lingoes, a civilian dispatcher with the Quincy police and a member of the Doe Network, posted the details on the group’s Web site. Another member remembered reading about a Texas man missing for about a year with “PK” tattooed on his arm. Lingoes contacted Framingham police with the information, and it was determined the man was Peter Kokinakis, 40, who had disappeared from Texas in 2002.
The Doe Network, which has about 200 members, is trying to create the first Web-based international clearinghouse on missing persons.