Story Created:
Jul 21, 2009 at 4:46 PM CST
Story Updated:
Jul 21, 2009 at 4:47 PM CST
Thousands of vehicles drive past digital billboards on a daily basis in Oklahoma County. It's meant for advertisements, but now drivers have seen information that could help authorities solve a murder.
24-year-old James Elton McCandless is the fourth and last suspect wanted for the murder of 38-year-old Richard Tucker.
McCandless' picture and information has shown up all over the metro.
For the past 18 months, Lamar's advertising company has donated nine of their digital billboards to the Oklahoma County Sheriff's Department for emergency incidents.
Officials say it's just another way for authorities to try and find criminals on the run.
"They provide us information of what we would display on those displays to help them apprehend or capture or get the bad guys off the street," said Bill Condon, vice president of Lamar.
"They are definitely partners of law enforcement and they want to do what they can to make the community much safer," said Mark Myers, Oklahoma County Sheriff's spokesperson.
Myers said that with tens of thousands of people driving along the interstate each day, keeping up with technology is key.
"We use every avenue available to us, because criminals do. Criminals use technology to their advantage. So we need to at least try to stay up with them or try to stay one step ahead of them," said Myers.
The digital billboards have been quite effective.
"At least a couple of cases, those faces have gone up, those mug shots have gone up and someone would call with information, and that's really what we need to bring these fugitives in. We just need information," said Myers.
County authorities are not charged for using the billboards. They say most times, it's just one simple phone call that leads them to an arrest.
If you have any informtion on James Elton McCandless, call the Oklahoma County Sheriff's hotline: 405-713-6262