Big Increase in Number of Tips About Gaffney Murders

It may have been a holiday weekend, but there was no holiday for the operators answering Crimestoppers phone calls about the Gaffney murders.

From Thursday until Friday afternoon, about 50 calls had come in to a central location in Columbia that’s handling the calls. By Monday afternoon, the total had reached 214.

“According to my operators, it was definitely steady and the calls were coming in back to back,“ says the Crimestoppers coordinator, who wishes to remain anonymous for security reasons. “It went one night until 2 a.m. and then it kind of slacked off after 2 a.m. and I guess people are going to bed. But by the time the sun came up and news came up the next morning, the phone calls started again.“ 

The tips are mostly about people who resemble the killer in the police sketch and about vehicles that are similar to the one described as possibly belonging to the killer.

“We’re getting tag numbers. We’re getting people’s names. When we do that, we ask for a description of the person to compare to what the witnesses say for the composite,“ the Crimestoppers coordinator says.

Besides Crimestoppers, the South Carolina Information and Intelligence Center is also involved. Run by the State Law Enforcement Division, the center brings state and federal law enforcement agencies together in one location so they can more quickly and easily share information and resources. For example, the DMV can run a license tag while Probation, Parole and Pardon Services checks on known criminals who are in the area.

Having the calls come in to a central location frees investigators to work on the case. The operators also look for trends in different calls that might point to something important, and they’re trained to ask callers lots of questions, trying to bring out information that a caller might not realize is important.

As the phone continued to ring Monday afternoon, the Crimestoppers coordinator said, “214 tips on a case! That is a lot of people being vigilant and sending their tips in and calling in.“