Activist Uses Christian Network to Seek Tips, Prayers to Solve Crimes
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A community activist in Kansas City who helped police solve the mysterious "Precious Doe" murder case has moved to an unlikely venue — GodTube, the Christian networking Web site — in his efforts to track down other killers.
Alonzo Washington is posting video from crime scenes on the upstart GodTube, providing clues that he believes could lead to arrests and offering prayers to help find suspects.
“I wanted to bring the Christian community into the world of fighting crime,” Washington said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}GodTube, launched in August to unite Christians, is one of the fastest growing sites on the World Wide Web. It drew more than 4 million unique visitors during October and maintains more than 150,000 registered users with active profiles.
The site allows users to watch and post videos, and send and receive messages. Washington is using the site to create an online Crime Stoppers, with the hope of putting criminals behind bars.
Washington, who previously had posted tips on MySpace and YouTube, recently began reaching out to the Christian community through GodTube.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"I thought it was a new audience to use," Washington said. "It's another way to use the Internet to make people conscience of what's going on in the Kansas City area."
Washington believes in the power of prayer to help solve cases.
"I try to use this medium to reach the people who might have a good heart who could pass on good information, who could pray, and who could inform the community of what's going on," Washington said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Chris Wyatt, founder and chief executive officer of GodTube, said he believes the video is the first of its kind on the site asking for prayers for crime victims.
"This is exactly the kind of forward thinking that this technology allows people to extend their message, their mission online," Wyatt said.
GodTube has 800,000 hours of video on the site, including a video posted by Washington — who goes by "kccrimefighter" — from a prayer vigil for a murder victim.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Click here to view a video from a crime scene.
"I'm asking for your tips and your prayers," Washington tells viewers from the scene where Terri Wisley, 39, was found partially nude and dead in a Kansas City street. Police are investigating the case as a homicide.
GodTube featured Washington's video on its homepage.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"We wish him the best," Wyatt said. "Everyone is welcome."
Washington, who is also comic-book creator, has tirelessly been working to solve crimes in the Kansas City area, and has dedicated himself to pursue crimes that go underreported in mainstream media. He also works on high-profiles cases, too.
One of Washington's tips helped solve the case of an unidentified girl whose headless torso was discovered in a wooded area in Kansas City near a church in April 2001.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Police, who were unable to identify the girl, named her "Precious Doe." Washington spent years seeking information about the girl, helping investigators solve the case with a tip that led them to her mother and stepfather.
Michelle Johnson, of Muskogee, Okla., and her husband, Harell Johnson, were charged in May 2005 with the murder of 3-year-old Erica Michelle Marie Green. The stepfather admitted to police that he kicked Erica and threw her to the ground, later severing her head.
Washington took out newspaper ads seeking information on the anniversary of Erica's death, which helped bring forward a tip from the girl's grandfather. Washington then passed information to Kansas City police, which led to the arrests of the girl's parents.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"I was able to solve that case from persistence," Washington said.
Maj. Anthony Ell, commander of the Kansas City Police Department violent crimes division, said the department welcomes the Washington's help.
"No matter how much science and technology we have, we still need people to come forward with information to solve those cases," Ell said. "Police departments don't solve all homicides by themselves."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Ell talks to Washington often to see what he's heard about unsolved crimes, calling the "Precious Doe" tip a "home run."
"It was significant enough that it resulted in us actually solving the case and identifying those two individuals," Ell said.