Authorities balance case integrity with victims’ families’ need to know

BURLEY, Idaho – William Streling waits for a call that doesn’t come.

In the weeks since his daughter Tiffani Streling vanished May 15, he’s gotten just a handful of phone calls from investigators, he said.

“The hard silence, the not talking,” he said. “To me it’s just like ‘whoops, we lost the case.’ ”

While some law enforcement agencies in the Magic Valley have specialists who deal with victims and their families, most do not. Communication about the status of cases, new information and suspects is left to detectives in their spare time.

Behind the scenes, law enforcement could be sitting on sensitive information. Or none at all.

William Streling said he understands, but he wishes it wouldn’t stop the detectives from calling and checking in.

Stephanie Albert, Tiffani’s stepmother, said she’s frustrated with the Cassia County Sheriff’s Office and rarely hears updates from detectives unless she goes to the office.

“Sometimes we want to call and tell them ‘hey, we’re doing this’ or ‘we’ve got this information,’ but we can’t because we don’t want to compromise (the investigation),” Cassia County Undersheriff George Warrell said.

“We don’t want to give them false hope,” he said. “We want to follow up and make sure that information is correct.”

The sheriff’s office receives a lot of tips and leads that end up being false, he said. Detectives try not to share those with families unless the information is accurate.

However, they do try to sit down one on one with families to answer their questions.

When detectives can’t, they refer people to the county prosecutor’s office.

Cassia County Prosecutor Doug Abenroth meets with families and victims when a criminal case is forwarded to his office. He talks to them about their rights and gets their input on the case.

“If it’s a crime that has an actual victim involved, we try to make it as a matter of practice to communicate with (the family) prior to making a decision on charges,” he said.

In addition to the prosecutor’s office, victims’ advocates from other counties are called upon by the sheriff’s office.

Lori Stewart, a Twin Falls County Sheriff’s Office victims’ advocate, is sometimes called on by deputies to meet with victims and families. She becomes a support system for them. She consoles them, helps them fill out documents and goes to court with them to explain procedures.

After court, Stewart tries to stay in touch with the families to see how they’re doing. It’s hard to break that bond, she said.

“I know that the (Streling) family is probably watching every drop of information, and they must be desperate,” she said.

In less populated communities, even where victims’ advocates aren’t available, keeping families updated can be easier. In Shoshone, where the population is less than 2,000, police officers have a good rapport with the community, police Chief Marshall Emerson said.

“A lot of times what will occur is we will wind up with the family contacting us on a pretty regular basis,” he said.

Jerome County Sheriff Doug McFall said his agency likes to keep families of victims in the loop without jeopardizing the integrity of the case. Touching base is something McFall knows is important but something he’s cautious about.

“People appreciate that, but sometimes the case runs cold and there’s absolutely nothing to say,” he said. “The more time you spend doing that, the less time you have to spend following the case.”