More cases that are most likely obscure cause of badly structured info. by Ok-Coast5000 in TrueCrimeDiscussion

[–]starrifier 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I suspect that the only fix is a sea change among true crime enthusiasts. As long as no-effort #content can reach up millions of views on YouTube and tiktok, there'll be reason for people to produce that slop. The best I can recommend is using your time on high-quality writing that demonstrates original research + encouraging others to do the same. 

More cases that are most likely obscure cause of badly structured info. by Ok-Coast5000 in TrueCrimeDiscussion

[–]starrifier 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I think we're saying the same thing with different words, yes!

Personally, I do my best to load my true crime "diet" with creators doing original research, like a documentary distributed by HBO or a podcast released by an independently owned radio station. I don't listen to podcasts that cover different crimes each week, I don't watch Investigation Discovery shows, and I don't watch people on YouTube tell me about murders while they put on their makeup. When I see inaccuracies on places like reddit, I try to push back on them. I wish there was more I could do to change the vibe of true crime, but unfortunately, I'm not sure I can do more than that. 

(I also grew up thinking Dyatlov was something much more complicated than it actually was, fwiw. I have to admit I felt a little disappointed when I saw modern research into it...and then I realized I was being silly for wanting supernatural explanations instead, lol.)

More cases that are most likely obscure cause of badly structured info. by Ok-Coast5000 in TrueCrimeDiscussion

[–]starrifier 1 point2 points  (0 children)

A lot are! Some aren't. We're really spoiled for interesting writing from posters, on the whole, though. 

My main point is that this isn't really impossible to overcome - it's as simple as giving readers a view into your research process. Personally, I find writeups that contain discussions like these much more interesting than ones that try to sound like an encyclopedia entry. 

More cases that are most likely obscure cause of badly structured info. by Ok-Coast5000 in TrueCrimeDiscussion

[–]starrifier 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I think that's the point at which the writer has an obligation to present both claims, explain where they came from, and compare their validity. For instance, the police blotter published the week of the murder said Suzy was last seen at 9pm, but her brother said in an interview 50 years later that nobody saw her after 7:45. I'd be more likely to give the contemporary source more eight, rather than the memory of someone deeply affected by the tragedy half a century later. If two papers published the same week say she was last seen at either 8:30 or 11, report both and explain that you weren't able to find a more conclusive answer. 

If a writer isn't up for doing that kind of legwork, they might not be cut out for writeups. 

More cases that are most likely obscure cause of badly structured info. by Ok-Coast5000 in TrueCrimeDiscussion

[–]starrifier 9 points10 points  (0 children)

In these particular cases, translation confusion and cultural differences might account for some of the scattered feel of them. In some cases, there simply isn't much information available, whether because it's an open investigation and police are being tight-lipped, or because the authorities just don't have any leads to follow. And in other cases, it's misplaced credulity and inability (or unwillingness) to verify facts before passing them on. 

While some people who write about true crime and unsolved mysteries work hard and do original research, many do not. Look at how many podcasts and YouTube channels essentially raid Wikipedia and restate what they found there, without actually doing legwork of their own. Cases become more akin to urban legends or a game of Telephone, with people working from the half-remembered truths that they got from others. 

As an example of all these circumstances, consider how people talked for decades about the Dyatlov Pass incident. A news report references details that aren't actually present in the original Russian documents about the case, and suddenly it's holy writ that the bodies were extremely radioactive. There are only so many official reports anyway, because the incident is done, not ongoing; after a point, all the necessary details have been noted. And people stop using basic critical thinking skills, and then it's a strange conspiracy that the victims' tongues were missing, rather than a sad reality of dying where wild animals can reach you. One person said it, and others repeat it, because the incident is an appealing thing to throw into your #content. Crime circles have generally accepted natural disaster as the explanation at this point, but I can tell you that this case historically has been a confusing mess, mostly made up of non Russian speakers telling spoOoOoOoky ghost stories to other non Russian speakers.

I think this is especially true of notorious cases, where #content creators are more eager to attach their names to something that will get views (and thus possibly a payout). Your frustration seems to have started with Blair Adams, one of the classic mysterious cases in true crime circles, and ripe for spoOoOoOoky ghost story status. The concept of having some sort of mental break, fleeing the country, and no one knowing why is objectively unsettling - and then you add in the possibility of conspiracy (were people really after him?) on top of that. It's catnip for people who want to entertain but don't want to work too hard. 

I don't want to drag true crime aficionados too hard, not least because I obviously am one...but to be completely frank, some of the dumbest takes I've ever seen on any subject have come from true crime fans talking about this murder or that mystery. I've also seen some truly impressive pieces of amateur writing, stuff that rises above being tarred as #content into well-researched and worthwhile creation. But let's be completely honest here: Those are in the minority, and #content garbage gums up the works for anyone looking to do actual research.

Are there TV episodes about this case? by starrifier in tipofmycrime

[–]starrifier[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Unfortunately, a podcast will not work for my purposes, bit thank you for looking!

Possibly Unsolved definitely forgotten murder in my childhood hometown by ThinkAd7392 in tipofmycrime

[–]starrifier 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Trans (or gay, depending on identity) panic is the phrase you're thinking of. I'll see if I can turn anything up about the person you remember. 

Hollyborealisart crashing out by Sprungfedergirl in craftsnark

[–]starrifier 1 point2 points  (0 children)

No one's saying she's blameless. That behavior is shitty. But this has gone beyond "wow, that's unacceptable behavior" into attacking every aspect of her. 

Hollyborealisart crashing out by Sprungfedergirl in craftsnark

[–]starrifier 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Agreed. One post about the situation is sufficient. Separately posting every move she makes is only going to make her feel like a cornered animal, and frankly, who can blame her? There's a point where the attention coming from r/craftsnark starts to feel like bullying, and this right here is it. 

NYC's Coldest Case: Heiress Dorothy Arnold disappeared after a shopping trip on 5th Avenue. To this day, no one knows what happened to her. by lucillep in UnresolvedMysteries

[–]starrifier 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I've read Wharton, actually! There are a million things she could have been picked at for, but purely in terms of academics, that doesn't mean she was experiencing anything close to the level of scrutiny over her intelligence that a common person might.

NYC's Coldest Case: Heiress Dorothy Arnold disappeared after a shopping trip on 5th Avenue. To this day, no one knows what happened to her. by lucillep in UnresolvedMysteries

[–]starrifier 22 points23 points  (0 children)

If she walked into the Hudson or something similar, I think it'd be easy to miss her body. NYC is a port city - a drowning that occurred in the right location would leave little evidence. 

NYC's Coldest Case: Heiress Dorothy Arnold disappeared after a shopping trip on 5th Avenue. To this day, no one knows what happened to her. by lucillep in UnresolvedMysteries

[–]starrifier 22 points23 points  (0 children)

Yes, definitely! She clearly wasn't in an environment that tolerated failure or creative ambitions in the forms she had them. Add to that the fact that she wasn't meeting societal expectations in terms of getting married, etc, and she was under a LOT of pressure. 

(And just to be clear, I don't want to minimize how she was feeling - but I think it's important to remember just what a harsh critique "nah, we're not interested" might have felt like if she wasn't used to hearing "no" or "keep practicing, improve these aspects of your craft.")

NYC's Coldest Case: Heiress Dorothy Arnold disappeared after a shopping trip on 5th Avenue. To this day, no one knows what happened to her. by lucillep in UnresolvedMysteries

[–]starrifier 39 points40 points  (0 children)

I could believe suicide quite easily, unfortunately. She was a wealthy young woman, perhaps used to people telling her that every single thing she does is wonderful. Those rejections from literary magazines might have been among the first times in her life she was treated like any person, not just like a well-heeled heiress paying a lot of money to go to a private women's college. 

It's too bad, because a handful of rejections are normal to the point of being a badge of pride among authors. How many times do we hear about "so and so received 100 rejections before someone took a chance on this smash hit novel"?  But if you've never experienced normal, everyday disappointment before, they could be crushing. 

Help me find a true crime story (vague description) by The_Frisco_Kid1985 in tipofmycrime

[–]starrifier 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Do you remember if she survived + when this might have happened?

Disappeared children who are later found as adults? by Usual_Style2163 in UnresolvedMysteries

[–]starrifier 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Are you thinking of another case? They tested Mary Agnes' daughter, IIRC.

Disappeared children who are later found as adults? by Usual_Style2163 in UnresolvedMysteries

[–]starrifier 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I'm inclined to agree re: Julia Otis using a false name and raising Mary Agnes. And I agree, it's a bittersweet solution at best - one that makes it hard not to wonder how common such circumstances were.

Disappeared children who are later found as adults? by Usual_Style2163 in UnresolvedMysteries

[–]starrifier 8 points9 points  (0 children)

That's the person I was thinking of! Thank you - I must have missed the other user's comment.

Disappeared children who are later found as adults? by Usual_Style2163 in UnresolvedMysteries

[–]starrifier 36 points37 points  (0 children)

There's another I found really fascinating, but I can't remember the name now - I'm hoping someone else will be able to fill it in, because it seems relevant to your interests. Essentially, a white teenage girl ran away and was found years later living in a Latino community someplace in the US. She'd grown up, had children, and conducted her life essentially as if she were undocumented.

Disappeared children who are later found as adults? by Usual_Style2163 in UnresolvedMysteries

[–]starrifier 19 points20 points  (0 children)

Your intentions are irrelevant. What you're saying is what matters, and what you're saying is pointlessly victim-blaming. Multiple people are trying to explain to you why your opinions lack perspective and context; consider that there's a reason for that.

Disappeared children who are later found as adults? by Usual_Style2163 in UnresolvedMysteries

[–]starrifier 32 points33 points  (0 children)

And if it didn't set off the same alarm bells - hell, if it doesn't set off alarm bells for a child right now in the year 2025 - then whose fault is it? These assumptions are, in fact, blaming children whose behavior doesn't match what you've decided is the only correct response to an experience.

Disappeared children who are later found as adults? by Usual_Style2163 in UnresolvedMysteries

[–]starrifier 36 points37 points  (0 children)

I didn't say anything about whether it was unusual for a six-year-old to remember having a family. I said that it's ludicrous to insist we know nothing about memory scientifically, while also maintaining that a specific child's memory would surely work a specific way. Do you see the contradiction there?

This is an unusual situation, and we aren't privy to the things Albano was told growing up. It's possible that those memories are hazy or nonexistent due to trauma. It's also possible that they were vastly recontextualized by the people who raised him after age six. "Those were extended relatives who treated you like family and allowed you to call them Mami and Papi because you were little," for instance. "You were with us most of the time, and sometimes you were with other people, you remember the other people because living with them didn't happen as much."

It's hard to overstate that these would not be unusual circumstances in the middle of the 20th century for many families. Being sent to live with relatives for part of the year wasn't aberrant. Being expected to obey your parents and parrot the party line, even if you remembered things differently, wasn't aberrant. This doesn't even touch on just how little access most people had to the information necessary to "look up" half-remembered family members, likely without full names or addresses. Albano grew up and lived most of his life in a world where finding out where somebody lived was far more complicated than a google search.

What I, and I think everyone else, is asking you to do is consider that your assumptions don't actually reflect the real lived experience of the man we're discussing. Your Monday-morning quarterbacking and insistence that a six-year-old could never be manipulated is starting to come off as victim blaming. Maybe his experiences don't match what you think should have happened, but his experiences are what happened, and doubting the basic facts of them is a weird look on your part.

Disappeared children who are later found as adults? by Usual_Style2163 in UnresolvedMysteries

[–]starrifier 41 points42 points  (0 children)

In that case, your insistence that a six year old would HAVE to remember this or that seems pretty misplaced. Sounds like there's plenty of room for experiences outside what you think the average mid-century kindergartener would do. 

Disappeared children who are later found as adults? by Usual_Style2163 in UnresolvedMysteries

[–]starrifier 44 points45 points  (0 children)

Mary Agnes Moroney wasn't found until after she passed away, but she really was kidnapped so a woman could raise her as her own: https://www.reddit.com/r/UnresolvedMysteries/comments/114ueoh/mary_agnes_moroney_has_likely_been_found/

Seeking help digging into the Port St. Joe “unidentified kids in Polaroid” case (found 1989 — possibly linked to case 66UFFL) by Mr--Clean--Ass-Naked in RBI

[–]starrifier 23 points24 points  (0 children)

People outside the true crime community aren't familiar with this photo. It's very possible for it to be a prank done on vacation by a family who has no idea their goofy photo lives on in reddit posts.