Media

Driving westbound on Interstate 80, you can't miss it near 99th street — a bright billboard with Ryan Larsen's picture, reminding drivers the autistic boy is still missing. "I think it's awesome. The more the word gets out, the more the word continues to stay out and he isn't forgotten," La Vista Police Chief Bob Lausten said. Soon after, the national non-profit A Voice for the Voiceless and an online sleuth group, True Crime Sisters, started making their own videos and flyers. "You communicate, you're on social media and say, 'What can I do?' and it just becomes a ripple effect and everybody does what they can, and at this point, we've got billboards and awareness," founder Whitney Sich said. Direct Link: https://www.ketv.com/article/online-mom-searching-for-ryan-larsen-instrumental-in-new-billboard-bus-bench-campaign/39113588#

Some people help themselves by helping others – it was a common theme at CrimeCon 2023 over the weekend, where the final panel featured a group of victims' families who had all begun advocacy campaigns or charity foundations as they coped with their own trauma. But it's true for regular people too, including Whitney Sich, a Florida mom whose recovery from an unexpected stroke in 2020 coincided with the growth of an online true crime sleuth community she founded while she could barely walk or talk. Sich created the True Crime Sisters, a network of Facebook groups dedicated to missing persons and other notable cases, as well as A Voice for the Voiceless, a nonprofit dedicated to raising awareness of cases. Direct Link: https://www.foxnews.com/us/florida-mom-turns-online-detective-post-stroke-helping-make-real-life-arrests?fbclid=IwAR2d1u79yta7bEOs-Gd5YjibzT8vdldmtCa8IV-5XQUwjRKMJNYL4o4Injo

Olivia Fowler, 26, was last seen near Manchester, Georgia, on August 13, 2021, at her boyfriend’s home around 2 a.m. At 10:30 a.m. that same morning, a Department of Natural Resources ranger spotted Fowler walking along Pebblebrook Road in Meriwether County. After that sighting, there has been no trace of Fowler. Direct Link: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=853794386038885 https://www.crimeonline.com/2022/11/22/crime-stories-with-nancy-grace-young-mom-of-3-vanishes-on-morning-walk/

“The system failed her.” If you ask anyone in the Shenandoah Valley about Khaleesi Cuthriell, that’s what you’ll hear. Khaleesi was two years and 10 months old when Child Protective Services signed off on an agreement to place her with Candi Royer. In the months that followed, she would be abused and killed. On Wednesday, Aug. 30, Candi Royer’s then-boyfriend, Travis Brown, was found guilty on three charges, felony homicide, aggravated murder and child abuse. Direct Link: https://www.whsv.com/2021/10/14/search-augusta-county-three-year-olds-remains-garners-national-attention/

The brutal attack and kidnapping of a woman in east Charlotte has not only impacted people locally but across the country as well. Direct Link: https://www.wbtv.com/2021/12/17/we-needed-help-women-across-country-come-together-bring-awareness-after-domestic-attack-charlotte/