Police take to social media for 21-year-old cold case

PUYALLUP, Wash. — When Misty Copsey disappeared in September 1992, few people had heard of the Internet and social media were still more than a decade away.

But now Copsey’s mother, Diana Smith, and police in Puyallup are hoping to use the global reach of social media sites in their search for clues in picture and video.

Police are asking anyone who was at the Puyallup Fair the night of Sept. 17, 1992, to send them copies of any pictures and video they can find so they can scour them for images of Copsey, or any clues into her disappearance.

“I think at this point, going on 22 years, anything is better than nothing,” said Smith, “and it’s possible that someone would catch her in a picture.”

Copsey was 14 years old, and headed home to Spanaway after attending the fair with some friends.  But she missed her bus.

She called Smith for a ride, but Smith was at work and couldn’t leave.  So she told the girl to call her grandmother for a ride.

Copsey was never seen again.

Puyallup police admit the request for pictures is a long shot.

The idea came to detectives going over cold cases, looking for some way to uncover new clues, “and somebody threw out the idea that social media is so big these days, let’s throw it out on Twitter and see what kind of response we get,” said Puyallup Police Detective Don Bourbon.

Smith says she believes Copsey was abducted and murdered, and she claims she knows who did it.

Police said they interviewed and polygraphed all persons of interest long ago without making any arrests.

KIRO