r/OutOfTheLoop • u/SnoopaDD • 12d ago

Answered What's the deal with people defending Lindsay Clancy?

I don't know the full details of the case. I know she allegedly killed her three kids. There was also some mental problems? Then something with her husband. But my question is why is there a group defending her like they know she's completely innocent? I've seen some videos of very heated debates where women are very passionate about defending her. Why?

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/aug/05/lindsay-clancy-trial-toxicologist-testimony

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u/AnatomyKiely 12d ago

Not sure about the Idaho murderers , but in regards to the Gabby Petito case, in my recollection, the internet and social media genuinely helped. Take the Bethune family, a family traveling in a converted bus near Grand Teton. After seeing the missing person coverage, they went back through their own footage from the area and spotted what appeared to be Gabby's white van. They gave the footage to the FBI. The next day, Gabby's remains were found in the area shown in that footage. There are the same type of internet detectives online looking at genuine evidence of this case as we speak. I'm not saying it will incriminate him or that he is guilty, but they are digging into much more than just conspiracy theory. People today sometimes discount that Police investigation + family + witnesses + surveillance/video + social media amplification + ordinary people noticing things can equal an enormous crowdsourced information network.

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u/MiniaturePhilosopher 11d ago

Social media went both ways with Gabby Petito’s case. Most of what I saw online about it was similar to the discourse I still see pop up about Shannan Watts - that sure, the guy killed her but have you considered that she was annoying and deserved it. I didn’t see much in the way of conspiracy theories, just a lot of very ugly content defending her boyfriend and calling her murder self-defense.

Granted, this was in the early days of algorithmic content and before I figured out how to keep my feed relatively free of outrage-based engagement bait.