Resource library
Guides for the long, careful work.
Practical, sourced methods for researching cold cases — timelines, evidence, OSINT, relationship mapping, and the ethical discipline that keeps the record honest. Written for researchers, journalists, historians, and responsible members of the public.
Timelines
How to Build a Cold-Case TimelineA step-by-step method for building an accurate cold-case timeline — separating exact, approximate, and disputed dates, and keeping every entry tied to its source.
6 min read
Evidence
How to Organize Evidence in a Complex InvestigationA practical framework for organizing evidence in large, long-running investigations — provenance, chain of custody, and how to keep thousands of items findable.
7 min read
OSINT
A Responsible OSINT Workflow for Cold-Case ResearchAn ethical, lawful open-source-intelligence workflow for cold-case research: legal collection, source evaluation, documentation, and privacy — without scraping restricted systems.
8 min read
Analysis
How Relationship Mapping Supports Investigative ResearchHow relationship mapping and link analysis clarify people, places, and events — and how to distinguish documented connections from inference.
6 min read
Method
How to Separate Confirmed Facts, Allegations, and TheoriesA working taxonomy for sorting confirmed facts, allegations, testimony, inference, and theory in a case record — and why the distinction must survive export.
7 min read
Ethics
An Ethical Guide to Researching Unsolved CasesEthical principles for researching unsolved cases: presumption of innocence, privacy, avoiding harm, and respect for victims and living people.
7 min read
Reference
Cold-Case Research GlossaryPlain-language definitions of the terms used in cold-case research — from chain of custody to statute of limitations.
6 min read
Template
Investigation Timeline Template and ChecklistA reusable timeline template and pre-publication checklist for documenting events, sources, and uncertainty in any investigation.
5 min read