FINDING WITNESSES WITH TWITTER/X GEOCODE SEARCHES
The majority of the adult population maintains at least one social media account. For a skilled investigator, these accounts can provide a treasure trove of information about people, places, and events.
Using geocode search strings, it is possible to locate posts on Twitter/X that were posted at or near a certain geographical area utilizing a combination of latitude, longitude, radius, and keywords. The idea is simple, but the uses are infinite.
Here is the search string for a basic geocode search.
Geocode:latitude,longitude,radius
If you want to add search terms, simply put the search term in front of the search string. Search terms will help narrow your results.
Back in December 2023, there was a hearing at the Arizona Supreme Court regarding the 1864 abortion ban. If one wanted to search for posts by individuals near the Court, a search would look like this.
Geocode:33.44745,-112.09216,5km
Abortion Geocode:33.44745,-112.09216,5km
At the start of your search, make a list of keywords, and then work through that list. Get creative.
Real World Example:
As a private investigator, I work on a large number of fatal vehicle crashes every year, whether it’s for civil litigation or criminal defense. In rural crash cases, it’s routine to get a crash report where few or no witnesses are listed. This is not to say that law enforcement didn’t do a great job, but unfortunately many times officers only speak to witnesses who remain at the scene or call 911. Using geocode search strings on Twitter/X, it is possible to locate those rural crash witnesses who posted about what they had observed, but whose names never made it into the officer’s report. Not long ago, Joseph Catone and I worked on a high-profile crash case in NV. Using the geocode search technique, we located over a dozen new witnesses not previously known to law enforcement. These witnesses were pivotal to the case, as they allowed us to uncover new information and video evidence which resulted in the prosecution of the defendants.