Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Can We Hinder Missing Person Searches?


                                                              by Peter Hyatt

When someone goes missing, commentators speculating on who might have caused the person to go missing does not hinder search and rescue efforts.

Blogs publishing the information, including the statements from the family, are helping promote the missing person's plight, with often family not caring whether the coverage is positive or negative, as long as it "gets out there."

When the husband of Leanne Bearden spoke to the press, it is presupposed that people will have an opinion on his words. It is part of human communication:  do we believe someone or not?

In Statement Analysis, the presupposition is innocence.  This is not a judicial or moral stance, it is a principle of Statement Analysis for the purpose of discerning guilt.

We presume innocence and seek to put ourselves into the subject's own shoes, giving voice to what we might say under the circumstances, particularly, where they may be doubt.  For example, if people thought you had something to do with your wife's disappearance, what would you say?

I would say that I didn't.

This is the "Expected" in Statement Analysis.

We find this in cases where someone is, for example, accused of murder and the subject will say anything and everything but "I didn't do it..." ranging from the sensitive responding to a question with a question, "How could you think this of me?" to the future/condition tense (usually coupled with minimization) such as "I would never harm my wife..." and so on.

"I didn't cause my wife's disappearance" is plain, simple, and easy to say.
Or,

"I caused my wife's disappearance inadvertently because we argued..." which is very different than saying "I caused my wife's disappearance inadvertently because she argued with me..." which uses the distancing word, "with" between people  The former uses the word "we", which shows unity and cooperation.

If my wife was missing and I had hope I would say that I would not give up searching until I found her.

OJ Simpson said he would search for the real killer for the rest of his life, leaving no hope of success.
John Ramsey said that they would search for the rest of his life, leaving no hope of success.

If I did not have hope, I might say something else.

These types of comments are not expected and in Statement Analysis, we are confronted by the "Unexpected"; such as Justin DiPietro not calling out for his missing daughter, Ayla.  This is not expected if we assume innocence.

This is what Statement Analysis does.

People who comment on a newspaper article, or on a blog do not stop police from searching.  They do not harm nor impede the investigation.  Statements to the contrary are concerning.

When someone calls in a fake tip, as do hundreds or perhaps even thousands of people who claim to have "psychic" powers, it can impede search efforts because they send police on tangents.  Doing so, not in good faith, can lead to criminal charges, as we now see in the Heather Elvis case.   If someone posts fake documents, for example, or finding of evidence and not turning it over to the police.

In short, "buzz" is good.

People talking about the missing person, regardless of what they say, is good.

What is expected is that the spouse of a missing person, for instance, will seek out all publicity possible, for his wife's name and face to be firmly implanted in the public mind.

Publicity for the missing person is good.  False information is not.

Discussion and speculation keep the interest high.  We are a nation which thrives on the "who done it?" mentality, as evidenced by the myriad of "CSI" like television shows, which leads to people contacting police departments as "experts" advising police based on tv.

With the public, just a bit of patience and understanding can go a long way.



13 comments:

Big Russian said...

http://www.click2houston.com/news/woman-missing-from-san-antonioarea-believed-to-be-in-houston/-/1735978/24177270/-/qrdi7jz/-/index.html

Big Russian said...

I am not trying to hinder a missing person search, I am just passing along the local news reports:
http://www.click2houston.com/

Anonymous said...

"buzz off" would be good too

Anonymous said...

I saw his comments and if my wife was missing I would be thanking every single blog and commenter that had her name in it. I would not get defensive and say that it is not helping, who knows what helps or not but any help in getting the word out there is indeed help to find her and bring her home. The more he talk the more I see.

Statement Analysis Blog said...

Anonymous said...
I saw his comments and if my wife was missing I would be thanking every single blog and commenter that had her name in it. I would not get defensive and say that it is not helping, who knows what helps or not but any help in getting the word out there is indeed help to find her and bring her home. The more he talk the more I see.
January 30, 2014 at 3:39 AM


Agreed. The more her name and picture is published, the better.

I have found families of missing persons grateful for publicity.

period.

Peter

San Antonio Searcher said...

Grateful for negative publicity? This blog doesn't compare with the powerful help we have received from MSM. You have no idea the emotions this family is dealing with daily. Get off your high horse and contribute something positive to the world.

Sincerely,
Searcher from San Antonio Texas who searched for Leanne to be helpful. Not a coward behind a computer screen.

Dr. Pepper said...

San Antonio Searcher....Peter Hyatt has Narcissistic personality disorder.

Some people diagnosed with a narcissistic personality disorder are characterized by unwarranted feelings of self-importance. They have a sense of entitlement and demonstrate grandiosity in their beliefs and behavior. They have a strong need for admiration, but lack feelings of empathy.[4]
Symptoms of this disorder, as defined by the DSM-IV-TR include:[1]
Expects to be recognized as superior and special, without superior accomplishments

Expects constant attention, admiration and positive reinforcement from others

Envies others and believes others envy him/her
Is preoccupied with thoughts and fantasies of great success, enormous attractiveness, power, intelligence

Lacks the ability to empathize with the feelings or desires of others

Is arrogant in attitudes and behavior

Has expectations of special treatment that are
unrealistic


Lemon said...

This just in: Soda as Psychiatrist - Updates at 11:00.

Anonymous said...

I don't understand. So many missing person's cases are covered on this blog, and very rarely it seems do the loved ones surrounding the case comment here. Even if a statement analysis is done in which possible deception is indicated by a loved one. Doing a statement analysis does not mean someone is "guilty." A "crime" hasn't even been committed. People go missing all the time and analyzing statements made around a case not only reveals information surrounding the person going missing - intentionally or unintentionally - but also is a useful tool used in cold cases. I don't understand why this statement analysis done in this case stands out among the others to the loved ones? For me, statement analysis is up there in usefulness with body language analysis and criminal profiling. There will always be people who don't see use in them, but I feel that is because they don't understand how they work and make assumptions. Professionals use statement analysis. The public can use it to help in their own lives just like body language analysis helps non-professionals alike know if someone is lying to them in a job interview, etc. In my experience, someone who says these tools are not useful and people who use them have problems... those people tend to be the people most sensitive to the information that is revealed. For those challenging statement analysis on this case, why do you not find it helpful in this instance? Why are you not commenting on all the posts? Do you find that this blog always finds people "deceptive"? Do you find this blog biased? Or is there a rhyme and reason to deceptiveness and non-deceptiveness? Could deceptiveness be separate from guilty or guilty knowledge? Why do you blanket it as the same? This shows a lack of understanding of the concepts.

Anonymous said...

San Antonio Searcher said...
Grateful for negative publicity? This blog doesn't compare with the powerful help we have received from MSM. You have no idea the emotions this family is dealing with daily. Get off your high horse and contribute something positive to the world.

Sincerely,
Searcher from San Antonio Texas who searched for Leanne to be helpful. Not a coward behind a computer screen.


Does this mean in your entire life you have never contributed to a conversation about an investigation?

Anonymous said...

Dr. Pepper said...
San Antonio Searcher....Peter Hyatt has Narcissistic personality disorder.

Some people diagnosed with a narcissistic personality disorder are characterized by unwarranted feelings of self-importance. They have a sense of entitlement and demonstrate grandiosity in their beliefs and behavior. They have a strong need for admiration, but lack feelings of empathy.[4]
Symptoms of this disorder, as defined by the DSM-IV-TR include:[1]
Expects to be recognized as superior and special, without superior accomplishments

Expects constant attention, admiration and positive reinforcement from others

Envies others and believes others envy him/her
Is preoccupied with thoughts and fantasies of great success, enormous attractiveness, power, intelligence

Lacks the ability to empathize with the feelings or desires of others

Is arrogant in attitudes and behavior

Has expectations of special treatment that are
unrealistic

Dr. Pepper. I have looked at Mr. Hyatt for a second opinion and I have diagnosed him with EXTREME AWESOMENESS. Side effects of extreme awesomeness include but are not limited to a great ability to stay calm and collected, great senses, and a sharp and agile mind. He is so awesome I recommended everyone take a dose of him daily.

pissed off said...

dont forget he misled the public in saying that sa was being interrogated this past spring

contacted Curtis and lured him here to post private case info

Anonymous said...

hear hear pissed off.
i think peter knows as well as the rest of us that if they can jail those two guys, they can jail us all.
i don't think peter is being hypocritical, in this blog he is defending our right to operate in this manner and the two guys in the elvis case maybe should not have been jailed.