One of our priorities at crimeHQ is helping to shine a light on unsolved cases. Just like with our live CrowdSolve events, we believe the power of community and crowdsourcing can make a difference. With the assistance and direction of appropriate and well-qualified experts, we'll turn a laser focus to open cases that we believe are solvable. 

The first deep dive for the crimeHQ community was the 2015 disappearance of DeOrr Kunz Jr. With the guidance of moderator Nate Eaton, our community learned about the case and dug into the details, looking into every angle for a period of five months. Eaton is the news director and a reporter for East Idaho News and has been covering the case since the beginning.

Eaton kicked us off with a detailed overview, sharing case materials and answering questions. It was a perfect primer so that even crimeHQ members who weren't fluent in the case could start to research.

The next live event featured the Lemhi County Sheriff, Steve Penner. Penner has worked the case since 2015 and talked with Eaton to dispel some of the many myths and rumors swirling around this mysterious missing persons case.

By now, our community was hooked and determined to do their best to secure justice for DeOrr. Eaton hosted an intimate talk with the missing boy's grandmother, Trina Clegg, and it was as emotional as you'd expect. We were honored to have Clegg share her story with crimeHQ.

Next, Private Investigator Phillip Klein was our guest for a Q&A. Klein has a lot of history and exclusive knowledge of the investigation. Having his insider take was both "enlightening" and "explosive," according to crimeHQ members who participated.

In an effort to provide more insight into investigative techniques, Eaton spoke with Marcia Koenig of K9 Specialty Search Associates. Koenig's expertise in search-and-rescue and cadaver-dog usage was super interesting and useful in considering this investigation.

After all these amazing and significant guests who shared their time and insight with crimeHQ, Eaton presented his own wrap up of the case and fielded questions from crimeHQ members. One asked Eaton if he thought that DeOrr would ever be found, dead or alive. Eaton said that he goes back and forth with that all the time. She shared the story of another case he worked on involving a missing child who was found alive after several days of being lost in the outdoors. "I didn't think that kid would ever be found, and sure enough, he was. I wanna say yes, I hope he's found dead or alive. Either way. … I hope we're not here in ten years, 20 years, doing anniversary stories about where is DeOrr Kunz." Eaton also promised that if DeOrr is found or if charges are brought against anyone in the case, he'll be back with crimeHQ with a whole new series of events with updates.

Here's hoping! And please join us as well for our next Featured Case deep dive!