Bayfield journalist and family friend Denise Hess is continuing the page that was initially devoted to finding Dylan Redwine. She has turned it into a sort of virtual grieving site for all those who have followed the prolific postings for half a year. She also has created a second page, Justice for Dylan Redwine, that encourages fans to study details of the disappearance in hopes they might shed light on something law enforcement might have missed. (Special to The Denver Post)
Dylan Redwine's remains were found two weeks ago scattered across a mountainside 10 miles from where he was last seen at Vallecito Lake.
Dylan Redwine had been missing less than a day last November when his face and his story popped up on a Facebook page called Find Missing Dylan Redwine.
Interested people around southwest Colorado, where he disappeared, and across the country quickly began turning to Facebook for a constant feed of information about the missing 13-year-old. As days, weeks and months went by, the Facebook page would become a powerful tool for bringing searchers together, advertising fundraisers and vigils, collecting donations for reward money that would top $50,000 and gathering tips about specialist private investigators who might help.
Facebook offered a place for strangers to feel a connection to the missing teen by clicking on a link to hear Dylan's favorite song or to read about his love of baseball. Fans would leave messages on the page for Dylan in the event that he were out there somewhere with an Internet connection. "We are looking for you," they would write. "We hope you are somewhere safe."
The hopeful tone of early postings would fade with time. But the number of followers on the page would grow to nearly 30,000 before his remains were found two weeks ago scattered across a mountainside 10 miles from where he was last seen at Vallecito Lake.
The Dylan Redwine Facebook phenomenon ? one that mushroomed with the addition of half a dozen other Facebook pages linked to his disappearance ? became an example of how social media can be used to help family and friends feel less powerless in the face of an inexplicable crime. It also demonstrated how this use of social media can veer into an ugly tool for finger-pointing ? and for exploitation.
"We are trying to keep our page focused on awareness, sharing and testimonials, said Bayfield journalist and family friend Denise Hess, who started the original page at the request of Dylan's mother, Elaine Redwine.
Hess is continuing the page that was initially devoted to finding Dylan. She has turned it into a sort of virtual grieving site for all those who have followed the prolific postings for half a year. She also created a second page recently, Justice for Dylan Redwine, that encourages fans to parse details of the disappearance in hopes they might shed light on something that law enforcement could have missed.
Dylan Redwine went missing on Nov. 19, a day after he had flown from his mother's home in Colorado Springs to spend a court-ordered Thanksgiving visit with his father, Mark Redwine.
He had been planning to meet friends the morning after his arrival but never showed up. Mark Redwine said Dylan was asleep when he left to go to nearby Durango to run errands that morning, but was gone when he returned.
The Redwines had been locked in a bitter seven-year-long divorce battle. That gave rise to a lot of armchair sleuthing among Facebook posters who decided Mark Redwine had done something to his son to get back at Elaine Redwine.
Mark Redwine could not be reached for comment. Elaine Redwine has asked for privacy at this time on the Facebook page.
Mark Redwine supporters created their own page in the face of all the invective against him. Elaine Redwine's friends followed with another that became the go-to site for making ugly accusations about the father. Three other Facebook pages soon popped up with Dylan Redwine in the titles.
Two of those pages were created by out-of-state women who had never met Dylan Redwine or anyone in his family but developed a strong interest in the case.
"I had been watching the case from the beginning and talking it over with my friends. I care deeply," said Ohio businesswoman Becca Thompson, who said she created a page so she could control the "explosion of hatred and vitriol" that had been exchanged on other pages.
A Denver-area woman, Kimberly Kay Bowman, disturbed the Redwine family and friends with a Dylan Redwine page she was administering. Bowman had been associated with unsanctioned fundraising in another Colorado child disappearance, and Dylan's family didn't want that to happen in his case.
Prior to her Facebook involvement with the Redwine case, Bowman had been ordered by attorneys to stop collecting online funds for Jessica Ridgeway, a 10-year-old Westminster girl who was abducted and killed on her way to school last summer.
Bowman took down her Redwine page at the request of Dylan's mother.
Hess, who also used the name Katt Hawkins on Dylan's Facebook pages, said she has had people contact her from around the country asking how to set up such a page for other missing people.
She calls it a "powerful, powerful tool" for keeping a case in front of the public.
Hess said she has also learned about the power of social media in a more personal sense. She was diagnosed with colon cancer in the middle of her Facebook campaign to find Dylan. Friends set up a Facebook page for her, Katt's Warriors.
She now has more than 400 people following her treatment saga, donating to help with her medical bills and offering her prayers and support.
Nancy Lofholm: 970-256-1957, nlofholm@denverpost.com or twitter.com/nlofholm
Kate Middleton photos Chi Magazine Kate Middleton Nude Photos Coptic Christian saturday night live julio cesar chavez jr Topless Kate
No comments:
Post a Comment