The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "vanish" ...
-
Seattle Police:Vanishing Videos
This story began as a relatively simple venture; how to get copies of police dashboard camera videos to provide watchdog oversight of a police department facing growing criticism. It grew into a major expose of questionable police tactics and a battle for public access to critical public records that is currently before the state Supreme Court. Over the course of a year and a half, KOMO TV’s fight for videos and the video database became a game of strategy and attrition as the Seattle Police Department denied us access to public records at every opportunity. We tried every means at our disposal to get these records including direct appeals to elected officials. Finally, with no other recourse, KOMO TV sued the SPD and the city of Seattle. Only then did we make our fight for these records public. What followed in 2012 was a cascade of stories; people coming forward alleging police misconduct and an attempt to hide the videos that would tell the truth. In addition to KOMO TV’s public records lawsuit, our investigation has prompted state legislators and other open records advocates to pursue changes in state law to ensure these records can no longer stay hidden.
Tags: police; camera videos; SPD; Seattle Police Department; public records
-
Empty-desk epidemic
For years, Chicago officials published upbeat statistics that masked a crisis in the city's schools: Nearly 32,000 of the city's K-8 grade students — or roughly 1 in 8 —miss a month or more of class per year, while others simply vanish from school without a trace. This devastating pattern of absenteeism, which disproportionately affects African-Americans and children with disabilities, came to light only after Chicago Tribune reporters dug it out during a years-long FOIA battle to obtain internal district data.
Tags: K-12 education; schools; absenteesim; Chicago; statistics manipulation
-
SPD's Vanishing Video
The story investigates the Seattle Police Department using their dashboard cameras to examine what, if any, trends exist regarding misconduct and use of force.
-
The Stolen Child
This is a story of the disappearance of Misty Copsey; currently it remains a cold-case left unsolved. A fall afternoon in 1992, the day Misty never came home from the county fair. This series sheds “new light on an investigation plagued by police blunders”. It also “uncovered the malignant impact of an intrusive bystander’s obsession and exposed the foibles of small-town cops whose missteps and misstatements went unchallenged for two decades”.
Tags: police; law enforcement; kidnapped; Diane Smith; Puyallup; police department; runaway; vanish; abduction; evidence; investigation
-
Vanishing Act
“Nine-year-old Christian Ferguson went missing one summer morning in 2003 while in the custody of his father”. At first the story received a great deal of coverage, but as the years passed only a few stories covered the disappearance. Further, the public hadn’t heard the account from the police and that they had a suspect in custody, until now.
Tags: cold case; vanish; detectives; law enforcement; investigation; mystery; family; judicial system
-
Fugitive in the Philippines
The story investigates an “unsolved disappearance and murder of a little boy and two mothers”. It is believed the serial killer is hiding in Southeast Asia, which is where the investigation led and even brought them to the suspect. He was the last known person to see the victims alive and detectives believe the” interview has helped them gather additional information”.
Tags: murderer; cold case; homicide; mystery; evidence; hiding; criminal; suspicion; vanish; depart
-
The Credit Trap
This series ties lax credit card lending and punishing fee practices to the housing boom, to consumers' mounting financial distress, and to the economic downturn. The reports revealed that during the housing boom, banks sharply raised card limits in part because of a surge in home equity, much of it now vanished. Then banks guided borrowers to tap into rising home equity to pay off card balances, putting their homes at risk.
Tags: credit card; credit card debt; home equity; housing market; economy; rate hikes; mortgages; banking industry; card lenders
-
Dirty Bombs
"Radioactive devices are stolen from cars, disappear from construction sites, fall off trucks and generally go astray at a startling pace. A computer database compiled by The Canadian Press showed how dozens of these tools - from a darkroom truck in northern British Columbia to a device used for molecular separation in Montreal - have gone missing in the last five years. The items vanished despite federal disaster planning reports that warn terrorists could wreak multimillion-dollar havoc if a nuclear gauge was used to build a crude 'dirty bomb.'"
Tags: radioactive; dirty bomb; bioterrorism; terrorism
-
Vanishing Wetlands
The authors used satellite imagery to determine how many acres of Florida's wetlands had disappeared since 1990, when President George H.W. Bush promised to ensure no net loss of wetlands. The Army Corps of Engineers is responsible for maintaining the wetlands, but the organization's record-keeping is so incomplete that they have no accurate record of how many acres of wetlands were saved and how many were destroyed. The reporters found that government records regarding the creation of new wetlands were full of "creative accounting and questionable science."
Tags: environment; wetlands; preservation; ecosystem; wildlife; Army Corps of Engineers; FOIA; data analysis; satellite imagery; mapping
-
"Sidewalk law shows its cracks,"; "Some worry sidewalks will vanish,"; "Varying walkway widths prompt county guidelines"
Sidewalk builders of both the city and county of Tennessee were found in residential neighborhoods pouring sidewalks in violation of local sidewalk ordinances during ongoing new construction. While 4-foot sidewalks in residential areas are required by ADA guidelines, local builders were pouring sidewalks in some neighborhoods that were under 3-feet wide.
Tags: sidewalks; construction; violation; residential area; ADA guidelines; neighborhoods