I've been debating about whether or not to share this publicly because I don't want to give attention to this kind of thing. But recently the attacks on this site and anything connected to True Crime Addict have increased dramatically.
It started with notifications from Blogger that someone was trying to reset my password through a similar email. Shortly after that, and just before the release of my book, there were two DDos attacks on my personal website, jamesrenner.com They succeeded in shutting down the site for a couple days. I have since hired a private security firm that monitors the site and handles additional attacks quickly.
Then came the "official" looking emails that contained links to Google docs related to information in Maura Murray's disappearance but when clicked would download keywood-logging software. Luckily these were flagged by Google before I clicked into it.
Then came the most disturbing attack. Someone created an email to make it appear that my publisher was contacting me and asking me to review a document. They used her name, my name, and everything looked official. I should have been suspicious as normally the publisher doesn't contact me directly - I work with her assistant, mostly. So I clicked on it. It asked for my password and without thinking, entered it. What followed was a difficult day of resetting every single password I had and scrubbing the sites.
Following this, someone successfully posted porn on the site. Security took that down, too.
Beyond the attacks, there has been a very organized disinformation campaign on Reddit that focuses mostly on two narratives: 1. That Maura simply wandered off into the woods to die and there's no mystery. 2. Bill Rausch's actions after the disappearance don't amount to anything.
When I've been able to track the emails, it tends to lead back to rerouting services in the Netherlands.
The question is, where are these attacks coming from?
Do I think they're coming from the Murrays (Julie Murray worked for Booz Allen, the same CIA contractor that Snowden worked for). No, I don't. I don't think Julie would waste her time on something like this.
Do I think it's coming from Bill Rausch, who has a history working for the elite propaganda and misinformation office of the U.S. military? No. I don't see him doing anything so brazen.
Someone who knew them? A coworker? Alden Olson? Some troll with nothing better to do?
In the end, I doubt it really matters. I doubt it would change anything to know their identity.
For what it's worth, the Cold Case Unit has some of the original emails. That's about all I can do.