Internet sleuths helped the FBI find a 19-year-old Indiana woman they say tortured and killed cats and dogs for videos she shared online
Editor's Note: This story contains graphic details about animal abuse and cruelty.
- The FBI arrested a 19-year-old Indiana woman they say was torturing and graphically killing cats and dogs, federal court documents show.
- Private citizens helped identify Krystal Cherika Scott using social media and providing the information to law enforcement.
- She was charged with two counts of making and distributing animal crush videos.
On June 18, Instagram user "SERIAL_DOG_KILLER_DUDE" shared a video of a small gray kitten bound and hanging.
The kitten could be seen gasping for breath several times before before its legs hung limp.
This kitten was one of many cats and dogs the FBI says 19-year-old Krystal Cherika Scott tortured, skinned, and killed over the last three months, sharing the videos on Instagram and TikTok.
The FBI, partnering law enforcement and the ASPCA, was able to identify Scott with the assistance of internet sleuths dedicated to ending animal abuse online, according to federal court documents obtained by Insider.
She was arrested Tuesday on charges of animal crushing and making animal crush videos.
When police raided the teenager's Kokomo, Indiana, home, they found two dead cats in her freezer, among other disturbing items, according to the court documents.
"As decent human beings, we have a great responsibility to protect and have compassion for the animals that inhabit this earth," United States Attorney Josh Minkler said in a statement. "It is unconscionable to think that any human being could possible bring themselves to such acts upon an animal."
Using the internet, good Samaritans assisted police in tracking down Scott
Prosecutors say Scott has been making graphic videos killing cats and dogs since at least early May.
When a group of internet sleuths discovered the images, they began collecting any information they could find on the Instagram user.
They scoured Reddit, YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok for clues. Based on an old post, they believed Scott was living in Boise, Idaho, and provided the information to the police department there on June 16.
Boise police were able to identify other Instagram accounts they believed the suspect was using and started preparing a search warrant.
The same day, prosecutors say the user sent a message in a group chat.
"I'll be killing a pregnant Siamese and a kitten later on today," she wrote, according to the court documents.
Using the search warrant, police traced the accounts to an IP address owned by Scott's father, Kelly Scott, in Kokomo, Indiana, then arrested Scott on Tuesday.
She obtained the animals by responding to online ads from people who were giving away their unwanted pets for adoption, prosecutors say.
Scott denied to investigators that she killed the animals found in her home. Insider could not locate an attorney for Scott on Friday.
"This case is an outstanding example of society's intolerance to animal cruelty and the public's willingness to do the right thing," Special Agent in Charge Paul Haertel of the FBI's Salt Lake City Field Office said in a statement. "Tips poured in from all over the world, assisting in an intense and technically complex investigation to find the alleged perpetrator and put a stop to the senseless and horrific abuse of innocent animals."
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