Among the most successful videos on the platform are those of YouTubers filming themselves using devices like sonar to search bodies of water across the United States, looking for submerged vehicles. , in connection with cases of disappearances that have never been resolved.
In Tennessee, in the southern United States, a 21-year-old disappearance was resolved this week, as part of this type of research for which divers-youtubers are paid by YouTube, according to the number of views generated by videos.
According to experts, the appearance of this phenomenon of budding detectives has had a mixed impact, with some spectacular failures resulting from the temptation to produce viral content, but also with in some cases an essential role played by these amateurs.
Limited offer. 2 months for 1 € without commitment
–
– “Like a wave” –
Erin Foster and Jeremy Bechtel, two teenagers from the small town of Sparta in central Tennessee, had mysteriously disappeared in April 2000.
For 21 years, their families and loved ones clung to the hope that they had run away to start a new life.
But Jeremy Sides, a 42-year-old diver whose YouTube channel “Exploring with Nug” (“Explore with Nug“) specializes in the search for missing people and objects, posted a video Dec. 4, viewed over 1.5 million times, showing how he solved the puzzle of the two teenagers’ disappearance.
“Once I could confirm that it was the license plate … it was like a wave: it will end, they (their remains, Editor’s note) can go home, their families have an answer“Jeremy Sides told AFP of his discovery in the Calfkiller River.
It was the second time in nearly a month that the diver has had a pivotal role in the likely resolution of a case. He had indeed discovered a car linked to a woman missing since 2005 in the city of Oakridge, also in Tennessee.
Another group of YouTubers, called the “Various chaos” (“Chaos Divers“), claimed to have found in the past two months the remains of seven people missing in various cases that have led them to travel nearly 13,000 km across the United States.
Their work arouses intense emotions, especially when it comes to breaking the news to the families of the missing.
“It’s a heart-breaking, guts-twisting feeling that you never want to let go. Because you tell them you see the tears running down their face but you see a weight coming off their shoulders“says Lindsay Bussick, partner of Chaos Divers founder Jacob Grubbs.
According to them, their job is not just to amass YouTube views.
“I’m sorry I have to produce content like this“says Grubbs, a 38-year-old former coal miner.”But it’s a way that we found to be able to finance the aid to another family“, he adds.
– Egocentric –
According to Adam Scott Wandt, an assistant professor of public policy at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York, these “amateur detectives“and their operations have become a real cultural phenomenon over the past decade.
While he notes that some people have helped find the body of Gabby Petito, a missing traveler in the United States this year, the results are greatly mixed.
Some internet detectives had tarnished the reputation of an innocent student during the frantic search for the culprits in the hours and days following the Boston Marathon attack in 2013.
“The general public is improving, but they are still sometimes very egocentric“adds Mr. Wandt, noting the temptation of some to absolutely seek to accumulate views on their videos.
Working as a complement to the police, rather than trying to flood investigators with clues and theories, amateurs have established themselves in a new role.
Police in Sparta, Tennessee had heard that diver Jeremy Sides was investigating their area, but after noting that he was searching in the wrong place, they offered his advice.
The bittersweet tasting discovery came a few days later.
