A Reddit User Posted a Pic From Hit-and-Run Accident, and the Internet Solved the Crime in 5 Days

This event, that is still hard to believe, happened in the US at the beginning of August. Reddit users, a famous network made up of thousands of communities, helped solve a fatal crime that had only one piece of evidence—a small black car part.

Would you have thought this was impossible? Well, we at Bright Side were sure it was until we read the details. And now we can’t wait for the moment to share this story with you!

The background

The story started with this tweet shared by the Public Information Officer of the Washington State Patrol on August 9.

A car part was the only evidence they had.

On the same day WSP shared 2 more photos: one of them showed the damaged bicycle, and the other showed a black car part. This part was supposed to belong to a car that had left the scene, “Troopers and detectives are still looking for a black vehicle believed to be involved in this morning’s tragic bicyclist fatality.”

When you least expect it something great comes along.

A photo with the car part was posted on Reddit. And here is where the case that appeared to go nowhere took an unexpected turn. One of the Reddit users, JeffsNuts, suggested in the comments that the part belonged to a 1988 Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck and added a link showing a complete car part.

People sent this information to the WSP representative and got the following answer, “Thank you everyone so much for your support in this investigation. I’m meeting again with the detectives tomorrow and will share this new information.”

The result.

Just 5 days after the initial post, Johnna Batiste confirmed the arrest of the culprit. People (including us) were shocked with the detective work by JeffsNuts and wondered how it was even possible. The now famous Reddit user explained that he had been a Maryland state inspector for a long time, and part of each car and truck inspection used to be a mandatory headlamp adjustment until recently. This experience helped him make this significant contribution.

This story proves that any impact (even if it seems trivial to you) can be important. What do you think about this story? Tell us in the comment section below!