CrowdSolve: "We consider attendees to be our fellow investigators."

CrimeCon: CrowdSolve is an event that brings together hundreds of everyday citizen detectives, law enforcement, and investigative experts to re-examine two stagnant cold cases. From October 17-20 CrowdSolve participants will have access to the full un-redacted case files related to the investigations of Nancy Moyer and Karen Bodine as they attempt to turn over new leads and learn the fundamentals of criminal investigation.

When Detective Mickey Hamilton moved from Flagstaff, Arizona to Olympia, Washington in 2013 to escape the oppressive heat, he had no way of knowing that he would soon find himself deeply involved in the first major collaboration between private citizens and professional investigators.

As a detective with the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office, Detective Hamilton will help lead CrowdSolve participants as they investigate the cold cases of Nancy Moyer and Karen Bodine. For the past few weeks, Det. Hamilton’s department has been busy scanning page after page of the massive Bodine case file, which will be available in its entirety to CrowdSolve participants. It’s an unprecedented move and one that, it seems, Det. Hamilton is approaching with an open mind and cautious optimism.

We recently sat down with Det. Hamilton to get his thoughts on this unique event and his hopes for the outcome.

CC: Why did you sign on to participate in CrowdSolve?

MH: The idea was proposed to me by my supervisor. I didn’t mind, so I said “sure.” The more I got involved, the more I understood why we’re doing this. It’s a really interesting concept. These are cold cases and several detectives have already tried the best they could to solve them. If we can’t solve them and they’re just sitting in a box for ten or twelve years, why not broaden our scope and let fresh eyes take a look at them?

It’s especially beneficial to have people from a wide range of disciplines: I’m not a scientist, so I’m not going to think like a scientist. Someone with that background could interpret evidence in ways that I can’t. If people can take a look at these cases and see things we didn’t, it could help us finally get resolution for these families. It seems to be having positive effects already, so hopefully that will continue to be the case.

CC: Positive effects like the recent Eric Roberts confession in the Nancy Moyer case?

MH: Yes, absolutely. Regardless of whether he’s guilty or not, having the [Hide & Seek] podcast looking into the Moyer case plus the news that CrowdSolve was coming to town generated enough pressure to make him come forward. It generated many workable leads in a 10-year-old case where we’ve had no movement for years. Even if he’s not our guy, just having the word out about this event created movement in the case and that’s important.

CC: We brought Nancy Moyer’s case to Thurston County and asked if we could pursue it, but when we needed to come up with another case, Karen Bodine was one TCSO brought forward. What was it about Karen’s case that compelled you to bring it to our attention?

MH: Everyone in town talked about how strange Karen’s case was. The way she was killed, the way she was displayed, the way she was discovered - it was all very strange. The lead investigator at the time was a highly respected and accomplished detective, so it stuck out for the fact that even he couldn’t solve it. Karen’s murder was so cold and heartless. It struck a nerve with a lot of investigators.

Karen’s case is similar to Nancy’s in that we have a handful of good suspects and any of them could be our guy. That’s not typical in homicide cases. The running joke in the true crime world is “the husband did it,” but these cases aren’t that simple.

CC: What factors have prevented investigators from solving Karen’s case over the years?

MH: The roadblock is her lifestyle. Without giving away too much, she was surrounded by people who just won’t talk to the cops. On top of that, there were several people who had a motive. Time is good for these cases, though. Time passes, relationships change, people get out of the lifestyle and may be more likely to come forward.

CC: Do you have any concerns about opening up the case to a group of citizens?

MH: I’m not too concerned about it because the way the CrimeCon producers have organized it, everything will be consolidated into workable ideas. It’s not just hundreds of people throwing their opinions at the wall.

My concern is about leaks. Again, this has never been done before so we’re all going through this trying to figure out how it should work. Attendees will have signed non-disclosure agreements so there can be criminal and civil repercussions if those are violated, but worst of all, leaks will hurt the investigation and the families.

For the purposes of this event, we consider attendees to be our fellow investigators. The people coming to this event understand the gravity of the work we will be doing. We’ve put our trust in our fellow investigators and we have to trust them to do the right thing. We believe that the investigators coming to CrowdSolve have the victims’ best interest at heart.

CC: What is your biggest hope for CrowdSolve?

MH: I just want to see the needle move in the right direction. Of course we all want to solve the cases but if we get any leads at all, it will be worth it. Even if we find something that doesn’t help us solve them right now, a new detective may come along and be able to run with it. We’ll take it. Anything that can help bring resolution to these families is well worth the effort put in by us, the investigators, and the organizers.

CC: What advice would you give to your fellow CrowdSolve investigators before they arrive in Seattle?

MH: Get to know Karen Bodine and Nancy Moyer. Absorb everything you can. Read all the publicly available information and everything you can in the case files. It’s not an easy task; in the Karen Bodine case alone we have about 800 pages of reports and 600 photos. It’s a lot of material in a short amount of time, but the people coming to this event are the ones who are ready to dig in and do the work.