Work

Manhunt: Using Keatley’s Winthropping to help find fugitives

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: • Fugitives are a large strain on police resources. • Fugitive decision-making lacks research. • Historical cases can provide key insights. • Winthropping provides a new investigative lens. • Fugitives’ behavior can be tracked with Winthropping. Tracking fugitives is an essential part of criminal investigations. When a fugitive is actively evading arrest, moving and hiding to escape, several issues arise. Technological advancements have greatly helped tracking individuals, yet still suspects are able to avoid arrest, sometimes for long periods of time. The current case study provides a review of an infamous fugitive case with modern decision-making analyses. The aim is to show how investigators can return to traditional investigative methods in situations wherein technology is lacking or ineffective. The outcome of the case study review shows the potential to track a fugitive’s behavior. It is suggested that this approach can be trialed and tested across other cold or historic cases to further improve the analyses. These desktop scenario sessions can provide effective training for real-time, current fugitive cases.

Source: Science & Justice

DOI: 10.1016/j.scijus.2025.101357

Author: D.A. Keatley

Institution: Murdoch University

Language: English

Topic: Deception detection and forensic psychology

Subfield: Social Psychology

Field: Psychology

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Peace, justice, and strong institutions

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $3,720