Toronto cold case investigators turn to social media for new leads

Toronto’s cold case homicide investigation squad is using social media in an effort to generate new leads on the more than 500 unsolved murders in the city’s history.

Det. Sgt. Brian Borg, a 33-year veteran of the police force, created a Twitter account recently, and he plans to tweet the anniversaries of unsolved murders and victims’ birthdays.

It’s a direct appeal to the public for information, Borg said.

“Time is a friend in cold case investigations. It changes people, changes their situations. Whether it’s a murder that happened three years ago or 30 years ago,” he told CBC News.

Borg admits the new “campaign” is still in its earliest days, and he isn’t sure whether it will lead to any valuable tips or information. But he said that Twitter is an “important way to highlight all of our cases.”

The CBC’s Sue Sgambati met with Borg to discuss the new technique, and his hopes for bringing closure to the families of victims of unsolved murders.