Hiding In Plain Sight: Name Redacted

I’ve scrapped my first investigative blog post, and I’m kind of bummed.

I managed to track down an individual wanted by the United States who had been convicted of a sexual assault, but skipped bail and fled the country over 13 years ago. I found him living out of a country with no extradition treaty, where he managed to start a business of his own that has suffered its own ups and downs and as of this date, he appears to now be an active and upstanding member of his community.

I didn’t scrap the story because I didn’t think it wasn’t good or interesting, because I think it was solid work. I spent a couple of months really working out details on it but when I was finished writing, I realized the harm that could come from posting it, outweighed any benefit to the public and might actually put his family still living in the United States in danger. I had confirmed my subject’s identity using three different methods including matching vital information, the use of court records and making connections through his family still living in the US. I was having issues finding photographs that indicated I had a 100% match and this was definitely something that bothered me although I understand people can change after 13 years. After mulling it over in my head and bouncing ideas off of some people much smarter than me, I decided it was best just to shelve the story.

The reason for this non-story post is just to say that I’m learning as I go along and lessons like this are important for me. It won’t keep me from continuing my open source investigations and I’m actually currently working on a couple more stories to publish in the next few months, although I think my best pieces will most likely be the taco recipes that I plan to sneak into the blog very shortly.