News and Success Stories

Tag Archives: Photograph

The gift that keeps on giving, more than expected found was in suspect search on LeadsOnline

“Our agency recently arrested a person who broke into an automobile and stole numerous items, including two firearms. While searching LeadsOnline for possible activity of the offender, I discovered that he had sold other items from the car that the property owner did not know had been stolen. Not only will there be more charges filed against the offender, but thanks to LeadsOnline, there is no alibi that will be able to come up with explaining why he was in the area of the theft. He was photographed by the business wearing some of the same articles of clothing that he was wearing the night the theft occurred.”

Inv. Eugene Smith
Glynn County Police Department
Georgia

Police solve homicide of scrap metal recycler because he reported to electronic transactions to law enforcement via LeadsOnline

“We began investigating a homicide case in which the victim, Jack Markowitz, was the buyer and seller of catalytic converters and also reported to LeadsOnline. The victim was found dead inside his burning vehicle on Hwy 57 in Gautier, Mississippi. With little to go on, Investigators soon began piecing together the puzzle. Witnesses who passed by the area described to police a black dodge pickup truck with a metal cage on the back that was seen parked next to the victim prior to the crime. Investigators began using LeadsOnline to run inquiries on each person that the victim recently did business with since he was a reporting dealer. During this search, investigators ran the name Steven Brown who was supposed to meet the victim earlier in the day. What investigators discovered, cracked the case wide open. A recent transaction of catalytic converters between Steven Brown and the victim showed a photograph of the catalytic converters, as well as the back of Brown’s black dodge truck and metal cage. Using this information from LeadsOnline helped investigators solve their homicide case in less than eight hours and resulted in a charge of capital murder against Steven Brown. LeadsOnline has been an invaluable tool for the Gautier Police Department, allowing us to solve countless property crimes. In this case, LeadsOnline helped a reporting scrap metal dealer lead police to the criminal who took his life. We look forward to continued service with LeadsOnline.”

Det. Jonathan Whitfield
Gautier Police Department
Mississippi

Caught red handed with evidence found on LeadsOnline

“Using LeadsOnline I was able to collect a photograph showing two of my suspects in a breaking and entering case driving into a scrap yard. The photo showed the stolen items in the back of their pickup. When confronted with the photograph and statements provided by the scrap yard employees, both suspects confessed and I closed my case.”

Det. Brian Finney
Camden Police Department
Arkansas

LeadsOnline and ecoATM help identify a jewelry shoplifter

“I was investigating an incident involved shoplifting numerous pieces of jewelry valued at over $200. The victim had security cameras and decent footage of the female suspect. The victim was able to obtain the license plate number of the vehicle the suspect left in, which belonged to a male. Through my investigation, I was able to find a female matching the description of the suspect. Initially, the only pictures I could find of the female were old, making it difficult to identify her as the suspect in the incident. Through LeadsOnline, I was able to find a recent pawn by the female in which she sold a cell phone at ecoATM. Because ecoATM takes pictures of the individuals, I now had an updated photograph which led to identifying the suspect. LeadsOnline has been an invaluable investigative tool, not only for finding stolen items but personal information on potential suspects, photographs, and current information. Thank you.”

Det. Calvin Beveridge
Chesapeake Police Department
Virginia

Retail thieves identified easily with help from LeadsOnline

“Here’s one that’s a bit unusual. I received an email from a loss prevention person at one of our department stores with surveillance photos of a couple who had been shoplifting game controllers from the store. She was asking if anyone could identify the two suspects. I used LeadsOnline to identify nine potential individuals. I narrowed the list to two based on relative age of the individuals in the surveillance photos. I found that they both had been selling, not only game controllers, but also cell phones to the ecoATM machines at our mall. Knowing that ecoATM takes photographs of people transacting business at their kiosks, I pulled up the ecoATM tickets with attached photos and had perfect pictures of both suspects with their identifying information, drivers licenses and thumbprints. One of the photos even showed both suspects together at the kiosk.”

Tom Haynie
Medford Police Department
Oregon

Nationwide metal theft database solves homicide in less than eight hours

“We began investigating a homicide case. The victim, Jack Markowitz, was found dead inside his burning vehicle on Hwy 57 in Gautier, Mississippi. With little to go on, investigators soon began piecing together the puzzle and discovered that the victim was a buyer and seller of catalytic converters and reported to LeadsOnline. Witnesses who passed by the area described to police a black dodge pickup truck with a metal cage on the back that was seen parked next to the victim prior to the crime. Having a suspect vehicle to look for, investigators began using LeadsOnline to run inquiries on each person that the victim had recent contact with. What investigators discovered cracked the case wide open. A recent transaction of catalytic converters between our newly discovered suspect and the victim showed a photograph of the catalytic converters, as well as the back of the suspect’s black dodge truck and metal cage. Utilizing this information from LeadsOnline helped investigators solve their homicide case in less than eight hours and resulted in a charge of capital murder against the suspect. LeadsOnline has been an invaluable tool for the Gautier Police Department allowing us to solve countless property crimes. In this case, LeadsOnline helped a reporting business lead police to the criminal who took his life. We look forward to continued service with LeadsOnline and hope to attend the conference this year in New Orleans, Louisiana.”

Det. Jonathan Whitfield
Gautier Police Department
Mississippi