True Crime Survivors Own Their Stories on TikTok

[Pelican Press 0]

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True ****** Survivors Own Their Stories on TikTok

On Feb. 9, 2004, Maura Murray went missing on Route 112 in Haverhill, N.H., after a string of puzzling events. A neighbor who witnessed a single-car ****** reported it to the police. When officers showed up, Murray’s car was locked and she was nowhere to be found. She hasn’t been seen since.

Her sister Julie Murray thought there were more strange elements that didn’t add up. Maura’s computer revealed a confusing internet search history, and she had made seemingly random A.T.M. withdrawals. Different people Maura had spoken with before her disappearance reported that she had lied to them about various things.

Julie spent years trying to find out what happened to her sister, creating a website and trying to get coverage in traditional media. But it wasn’t until 2022, when

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she uploaded to @mauramurraymissing on TikTok amassed more than three million views, that she drew wider attention.

“I was able to sort of take agency over my sister’s story for the first time,” she said. “I can just go on and on and on about the wonders that TikTok has done for me.”

True ****** podcasts, movies and investigative TV series are wildly popular, often raking in profits for their producers and platforms. Many, though, are made without the consent or involvement of those most closely affected. A growing number of survivors of *******, and family members of the victims of unresolved attacks and disappearances, say that TikTok has given them more control over their stories.

“TikTok is the only equal playing field out there where a random person can create an account today and go just as viral as Kim Kardashian,” said Sarah Turney, whose stepsister, Alissa, went missing in 2001.

Alissa Turney’s ******** were never found. It took calls from her friends, who reported to police allegations that her stepfather, Michael Turney, had been abusive, to spur an investigation seven years later. Home videos, including footage that Michael Turney shot from a parking lot of Alissa at work, helped convince Sarah that Michael (her biological father) was responsible for the *******. Police said the evidence wasn’t sufficient to make an arrest.

Sarah posted her first TikTok in April 2020, after not getting as much traction as she wanted on many other social media platforms.

“I actually typed in ‘true ******’ into the search bar, and almost nothing came up and I realized that this was an open market for true ******,” she said. She now has more than a million followers on the app, where some of her videos have been viewed more than 20 million times. Turney has founded a true ****** media company that hosts her podcast, “Voices for Justice,” and “Media Pressure,” led by Julie Murray.

Murray said being able to communicate directly with followers brought them more deeply into her story. In most of her posts, she speaks directly to camera, often using the green screen feature behind or above her to share photos of her sister, maps, and examples of physical evidence in the case.

The best thing about TikTok, she said, was that it provided “the humanity behind the tragedies,” which is missing in a lot of true ****** content.

People could see her and see the pain in her voice and hear her voice shake, she said, and that “established some level of empathy.”

She credited TikTok’s algorithm with serving her posts to viewers who like to engage with true ****** narratives. Turney said the platform also gives her a forum to describe her sister’s case accurately.

The police opened Alissa’s case as a ******* investigation in 2006, after her boyfriend told them that Michael Turney had checked her out of school the day she went missing. Michael

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with second degree ******* in 2020, but a judge granted an acquittal in 2023 because of insufficient evidence. Sarah still posts to TikTok what she says is evidence of his guilt. He has

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.

TikTok has also given survivors a way to own their stories, and point out ethical concerns over their consumption.

Kara Robinson Chamberlain was 15 when she was kidnapped in South Carolina, outside a friend’s home in 2002. Richard Evonitz held her captive in his apartment for 18 hours and assaulted her before she escaped. She identified him to police, and evidence from her abduction helped connect him to the murders of three teenage ******.

Chamberlain posts on TikTok about her experience, recounting details of her kidnapping. She said that it was “kind of cool” to be able to challenge viewers to consider the ethics of engaging with true ****** content. She wants consumers to pay attention to whether survivors have had a hand in the narrative, “because whenever you are monetizing content and telling someone else’s trauma, that’s exploitation.”

That criticism was levied in 2022 at Ryan Murphy, the showrunner of “******* — Monster: The Jeffrey ******* Story,” which was a

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and

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when it released on

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that year. Friends and family of some of the 17 men ******* ******* said that they were re-victimized by the portrayal, and were not asked for their consent or involvement.

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producers reached out to nearly 20 friends and family members of victims “and not a single person responded to us.”

Rita Isbell, whose brother Errol Lindsey was murdered by *******, wrote in

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about the experience: “It’s sad that they’re just making money off of this tragedy. That’s just greed.”

According to Chamberlain, the kidnapping survivor, TikTok offers a fair monetization of content. By enrolling in the TikTok Creator Fund, she said she made about 2 to 4 cents for every 1,000 views, meaning that Chamberlain’s most popular videos could earn her hundreds or thousands of dollars.

The TikTok fame can also help creators earn additional income from paid appearances and advertising. Chamberlain gives speeches, hosts the podcast “Survivor’s Guide to True ******” and was the executive producer of a Lifetime movie that fictionalized her experience.

“I have literally watched people learn what it means to be a conscious consumer of true ******. And it’s kind of cool to be on the front lines of that,” she said.

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#True #****** #Survivors #Stories #TikTok

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