Normally, solving a crime requires police to put together a jigsaw puzzle of the evidence to form a clear picture of who committed the crime.
But in a disturbing new case for local authorities, it’s the exact opposite – they have the complete picture, but still don’t know exactly what it shows.
But Toronto detectives are hoping you'll be able to use them to halt the ongoing abuse of a young girl. They discovered pictures of a nine-year-old female being sexually abused while probing an Internet newsgroup.
They think the photos were taken sometime in either 2001 or 2002, but they don’t know where the incidents took place or who the child is.
Their hope: someone will be able to recognize the resort type location depicted in the photos. The pics show a variety of scenes, including a hotel room, an elevator, a hot tub, an arcade, and in what could be the key clue to the entire case, a very distinctive fountain.
“I can't tell you exactly when the latest images have come out,” confirms Detective Sgt. Phil Gillespie. “There are times we can retrieve information from inside pictures and or movies, but not very often, so we're not sure, but the abuse certainly didn't occur at one place at one time. This is simply one of the scenes of the abuse.”
Cops think the victim, who would now be around 12, may live in the northeastern U.S. or Canada, and fear she’s still being molested. She’s been digitally removed from the photos, and is described only as being white with long blonde hair.
