True crime has skyrocketed in popularity, creating television shows and podcasts and even becoming a constant trending topic on social media. With popularity come benefits and risks. Higher public awareness can lead to tips that solve cases, but misinformation can spread quickly and impact peoples’ lives.
A recent example is the November 2022 murders of four University of Idaho students who were found stabbed to death. While authorities worked the case for weeks chasing down leads, while doing so, social media users involved themselves, investigating and throwing around theories on who might have committed the murders without substantial proof online and, some say, ruining some peoples' lives in the process.
One of the most popular true crime shows is Netflix’s Unsolved Mysteries, which debuted its fifth season in October. The season premiere features the 2019 Rocky River double homicide of 33-year-old Katherine Brown and 40-year-old Carnell Sledge, which has been deemed the “park bench murders.” What has made the case truly captivating is how two people were murdered in a popular park during a busy part of the day without anyone seeing or hearing anything.
Cleveland Magazine spoke with Lieutenant Don Sylvis of the Cleveland Metroparks Police Department, the lead detective on the case, to discuss the Unsolved Mysteries episode and its potential impacts.
Cleveland Magazine: Since the release of the Unsolved Mysteries episode in October, have there been any new developments in the case? Have you received any credible tips or leads that you attribute directly to the episode?
Lt. Don Sylvis: We received several dozen tips from the public since that Netflix episode aired. And we're following up on all those tips, of course, to vet them and see if any of them have information useful to solve these murders.
These tips from the public come in through a few different sources. Some of those are direct to our agency. Some of those go through Crime Stoppers of Cuyahoga County, and some of them go through the FBI's tip line. We receive, ultimately, the tips from all those sources. And there's certainly, I think any investigator could tell you — when you ask for tips from the public, you receive a broad range of information. Some of those are suggestions on investigative techniques. Some of those are naming somebody that they might find suspicious. Some of those are premonitions that people have. So we look at 'em case by case, and one way or another, we certainly follow up on each one.
CM: Do you believe that there are any negatives to having increased public awareness of the case through the episode?
DS: No, I don't think that there's a negative to doing it. I think that the media exposure in general of [Unsolved Mysteries] has importance and value and whatever the information is that's received. And that's for us to decide whether it's going to help the case or not. But I understand what you're saying. There's definitely been, as a result of the Netflix episode as the example, some misinformation that got out there on social media platforms about the case, the circumstances of the murders, or some criticism of the way the investigation was handled that aren't quite accurate. But it certainly doesn't undermine the value of using media platforms as a tool for us to develop leads.
CM: You said there's misinformation. Does the department feel there's a need to correct that misinformation or do you just focus on your investigation?
DS: No, I don't think, there's nothing that we've seen warrants any type of public correction, but it did generate a lot of attention nationwide, which was great. And like I say, any things that we have seen that are inaccurate, that's just the nature of what happens. It hasn't negatively impacted our goal to get this case solved.
CM: How do you decide what information to share with producers while protecting the integrity of the investigation? Are there any ethical considerations to that?
DS: It's absolutely important to maintain the integrity of the investigation. The information that was provided to Netflix and aired, of course, isn't the full picture of the case by any means. But to protect the integrity of the investigation, of course, we have to withhold from the public certain information. Definitely not an ethical dilemma of any sort. It's just typical procedure in law enforcement that you need to keep some facts secret.
CM: How did the opportunity to feature the 2019 Rocky River Reservation murders on Unsolved Mysteries come about?
DS: Kate and Carnell's families were on board with it first. We certainly wouldn't initiate something like that without their support. But the families are still, after five years, looking for justice that they deserve and reached out to Netflix, and that's how this moved forward.
CM: What can the public do to be genuinely helpful rather than potentially harmful when following high-profile cases and providing tips?
DS: I don't think that anyone's particularly harmful with information they provide. And that's part of our work to, like I say, vet those things and let 'em go where they may. But no, the best advice for anybody in this case or any unsolved crime is to report anything that they think could be helpful.
That means no matter how small or insignificant they think it may be, the information is out there that can break this case or any other case open. So people should let us do what we will with the information and report anything, like I say, no matter how small they think it is.
Tips can be sent to the Cleveland Metroparks Police Department at 440-331-5219, the Cleveland Division of the FBI at 216-622-6842, or Crime Stoppers of Cuyahoga County at 216-252-7463.
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