The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "missing persons" ...
-
Lost to History: When War Records Go Missing
"Lost to History: When War Records Go Missing" revealed that military field records from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were never kept, destroyed or simply could not be found, leaving veterans with combat injuries or disability claims unable to prove they saw action. The widespread failure by the military to keep and preserve these records - records that have been kept since America's Revolutionary War - leaves war historians in the dark about the granular details that, when woven together, tell larger stories hidden from participants in the day-to-day confusion of combat. “Lost to History" showed that dozens of Army units and U.S. Central Command lacked adequate war records, how Pentagon leaders had years of warnings but never sufficiently addressed the problem, and how commanders failed to take record keeping orders seriously. The stories vividly narrate the personal costs of this failure. The lack of field records forced Spc. Christopher Delara to struggle for years before receiving treatment he was entitled to for post-traumatic stress syndrome. And the missing material deepened the grief of Jim Butler, who searched for years to find the truth about his son’s death in combat.
Tags: War; war records; Iraq; Afghanistan; veterans
-
Police Illegally Buying Machine Guns
"An ongoing, in-depth investigation, coupled with ongoing Freedom of Information litigation, of the secret, illegal purchase of dozens of machine guns by officers of the Albany, NY Police Department who used their agency's authority to buy automatic weapons for official use only as a means to acquire restricted firearms for personal sport and amusement. Eventually, the guns began turning up for sale in at least two gun stores. To this day, several machine guns remain missing and unaccounted for while the department refuses to comply with New York's FOI Laws and has fought disclosure of the truth at every turn."
Tags: police; weapons; fireams; FOI; city government; law enforcement; gun control
-
Gone Forever: A True Story of Marriage, Betrayal, and Murder
Susan McFarland was reported missing in November, 2002. Her charred, decomposed body was found 53 days after her disappearance, and investigators suspected her husband Richard McFarland. He maintained his innocence as circumstantial evidence mounted, but finally admitted his guilt on the first day of jury selection. Author Diane Fanning examines the months leading up to the crime, and delves into information about Richard and the details of the police investigation.
Tags: Murder; domestic violence; missing persons; jury trials; plea bargains; murder confessions; non-fiction book
-
Seeking Justice for Jill: The Behrman Murder Investigation
WXIN-TV reporter Kimberly King spent most of 2006 looking into the police investigation of the death of Jill Behrman, an Indiana University-Bloomington sophomore who disappeared in May 2000. Her body was found in 2003, "miles from where detectives thought (she) had been killed." For the intervening three years, "investigators built their case around a convicted woman's false confession." But after the body was discovered, a lead detective sealed the public records regarding the case and did little to pursue it further. Spurred by a request from a relative of Behrman, WXIN worked on the story for three years, finally spending 2006 blowing it open. As a result, police moved further on the case.
Tags: Murder; Indiana University; police; homicide; closed cases; homicide investigations; missing persons; false confession
-
"Without a trace: People go missing, killers go free"
A 10-part series revealed that "because of ignorance, indifference or poor training, police in Washington state and around the nation routinely fumble missing-person reports." In its investigation, the newspaper built its own database of missing persons cases using reports from more than 270 police agencies statewide. The newspaper also built a second database of unidentified bodies through autopsy records and other reports.
Tags: missing persons reports; missing children; cold case; police; police records; National Crime Information Center; CAR; computer-assisted reporting; unsolved murder; homicide; unidentified body; Freedom of Information Act
-
U.S. Rep. Karen McCarthy's Troubling Performance
The Associated Press reveals that five-term congresswoman, Karen McCarthy, has a pattern of skipped votes, high staff turnover and questionable office spending. For years she had missed important votes on the floor and in the House Energy and Commerce Committee. She hired, fired and lost aides at a seemingly dysfunctional rate. Her legislative record shows she passed only one bill in eight and a half years. And she was trying to stick taxpayers with a campaign consultant's bill in violation of House rules. McCarthy announced her retirement one month after AP broke the allegations.
Tags: Congress; Missouri Rep. Karen McCarthy; House Energy and Commerce Committee; taxpayers; House of Representatives; House Administration Committee; legislative record; campaign bill; campaign credit card; travel itinerary; votes; Congressional Observer Publications; Congressional Management Foundation; House spending records; National Conference of State Legislatures; Select Committee on Homeland Security; National Taxpayers Union; campaign consultant; campaign funds; personal spending; House Ethics Committee; Ways and Means Committee
-
The Strong Arm of the Law: They call themselves 'bail enforcement agents,' but most know them as bounty hunters, people paid to collar recalcitrant, usually petty, criminals. But sometimes they miss.
Story explains how bounty hunters can sometimes use extreme measures to arrest a person who owes bail money. Article also talks about Rep. Asa Hutchinson's (an Arkansas Republican) calls for a "Citizen Protection Act" or "Bounty Hunter Responsibility Act" because sometimes bounty hunters make mistakes, or act inappropriately.
Tags: law; bounty hunters; bail; bail bondsmen; bond; bail bond; law enforcement; criminals; jail; Asa Hutchinson; Citizen Protection Act; Bounty Hunter Responsibility Act; fugitive
-
The Woman Who Disappeared Twice
CNN en español investigates the disappearances of political dissidents in Argentina between 1976 and 1983. They follow the case of a woman whose body was thrown from an airplane into a river, where it was found by fishermen. Local officials said the body could not be identified, but that was not the case. CNN tracked down the victims family, one among thousands who disappeared in that bloody time.
Tags: TAPE; TRANSCRIPT; Latin America; Cold War; disappearances; missing persons; Operation Condor; Dirty War; Argentina; dictatorship; Uruguay
-
Death Without A Ripple
The Los Angeles Times Magazine reports on just one of L.A. County's Jane or John Does that the medical examiners office tries to match with an identity each year. Jane Doe #59 was found in a gully, strangled to death and afterwards burned. No one ever called to claim her and she was never matched to any missing persons reports. Eventually she was cremated and placed into a grave simply marked "1996" in the county cemetery.
Tags: Jane Doe; medical examiner; forensics
-
False Hope
"Our report revealed the dark side of the relationship between so-called 'psychic detectives' and the families of missing children. There exists a widespread misperception on the part of the public regarding the success of these individuals in solving missing persons cases. We found some of the most famous modern psychic detectives have no credible track records at all, and yet are cashing in on the grief of families desperate for answers."
Tags: TAPE; TRANSCRIPT; DISKETTE