Lost... Unfound: a Blog Review

Call me morbid, but murder mysteries in particular have always had a peculiar lure for me. Perhaps it's the challenge of a good puzzle waiting to be solved, or maybe it's the underlying compulsion to grasp a murderer's motives - whether to protect ourselves from becoming victims or becoming these very people we fear. Or perhaps it is a little of both.

Apparently, this is a fascination shared by millions the world over, if the huge success of TV crime dramas like the CSI franchise or the multi-million mystery publication business is anything to go by.

Fans of the immensely popular crime and suspense genre will probably find the blog Can You Identify Me? Do You Know Me?, a site I found through Entrecard, an interesting and compelling read.

In this blog, the reader crosses the line separating the gripping world of crime fiction, whether in the form of books or television, into the gruesome yet an even more fascinating reality.



This site brings into focus those who are lost - murder victims found without any identification, people who are alive but who have forgotten who they are - and are still waiting to be found. The blog's author serves the victims who deserve to come home and find rest, as well as the loved-ones they left behind who cannot mourn their loss because they have no closure.

Each blog post describes an unidentified victim in detail - when and where she was found, what she was wearing, what was with her when she was found. But instead of describing these facts dispassionately, the author taps into our sense of outrage and pity by writing each entry from the point of view of the victims themselves.

The effect of using a first-person narrative is both powerful and eerie, as the reader hears voices from the grave begging for anyone to at least give them back their identity even if they cannot give them back their lives.

There are also composite drawings or pictures of the victims themselves, as well as objects that could possibly help those who knew them identify them. Posts end with contact information of the agencies in charge of each case and where to find these unidentified victims.

The posts I've browsed so far are about people who were found in the continental United States. I know most of my few readers are from the Philippines or around Asia, but I'm sure some of you know more high-profile bloggers who could possibly give this particular blog the attention it deserves. Check out the site - then pass the word.

These people deserve to be found. After all they have suffered, they deserve to come home.