This month, a disturbing missive appeared on the Craigslist page for Tulsa, Oklahoma.
"I was wanting to thank Tulsa for letting me have my first kill," the post begins. "It will not be my last thou."
The post has since disappeared from Craigslist, but not from the radars of concerned Oklahomans. A spokeswoman for the Tulsa Police Department said an investigation is ongoing. The homicide squad has found no open cases matching the murder described in the post, at least not within the past few months; they haven't ruled out the possibility that the post is a prank or a hoax.
Still, the post adds to a growing concern about Craigslist: that the site, far from just a good place to sell your stuff or meet a roommate, is also a platform for dangerous criminals to find their prey.
According to the Advanced Interactive Media Group, an industry watchdog and analyst, Craigslist passed the 100-murder mark just three weeks ago, when a 22-year-old man from Gary, Indiana, attempted to rob the middle-aged couple who'd arranged to buy his car.