I was wondering...
Have any of you ever tried (beyond discussions here) solving any of the unsolved mysteries on this site yourself? Have you ever considered it?
Also...Do you think it'd be possible for someone not involved with the police or law enforcement to track down or bring to justice a serial killer or murderer in general on his own? Basically go "undercover" but not as a cop, into the sleazy world in which some of these people reside? It'd be incredibly dangerous yes but could it be successful?

This might sound stupid but I saw the movie Cruising--an excellent movie for the open minded, starring Al Pacino as a cop who is placed deep cover (only his immediate superior knows about his assignment) into the sleazy world of late 70s-early 1980s Pre-AIDs New York City's gay S&M scene to track down a serial killer who has been targeting gays who "cruise" (strangers who meet up and have sex, a common practice back then). He is sent on this mission because he fits the profile of the killer's victims, and as such, his job is to "lure" out of the killer. I was inspired by it. I'd love to be involved with the FBI or the police and do undercover work.

Well I've tried to "solve" some cases from UM by trying to match unidentified bodies with missing persons, A la Porchlight International. But other than that, I haven't tried to dig too much into the murders or wanted people. The missing people are my favorite cases.

A lot of times the cases are solved but there is not enough evidence to bring to court. Sometimes the police are not willing to look at other evidence or if they do it is a "secret" with them.

It is extremely difficult to solve a case on your own unless you are willing to go the extra mile or are a detective in the legal sence.

I tried real hard with the Mary Morris murders and maybe my efforts helped and maybe not. It did open the doors to more thinking. By the way, the Mary Morris murders case can not be discussed on this forum. I'm just answering about the original question. I am not trying to dissuade others but in my case there has been no conviction. I think it helped though.

Ironically, my career aptitude tests in high school told me I should be a cop, CSI, fingerprint classifier, or PI. I like the sound of the last one the best and I would definitely take some criminology courses if my university had them.

For some reason, I have become drawn to the Charley Project, determined to at least view all the cases (it has been a slow summer, so I'm all the way to 1998!) and occasionally I look at web sleuths. I've tried analyzing several of the more baffling cases on my own or with others on web sleuths. I just wish I really could do more to help.