Can a high school class crack a serial killer case? In Elizabethton, Tennessee, sociology teacher Alex Campbell and his students did just that. What began as a lesson in victimology became the Redhead Murders project, where students assembled thefirst behavioral profile of the offender who targeted red-haired women along southern highways in the 1980s and ultimately renamed him the “Bible Belt Strangler.”

 The class collaborated with FBI profilers, cold case experts, podcasters, and social media. Their groundbreaking work, not only pointed to long haul trucker Jerry Johns, who died in prison in 2015 but also definitively linked six of the victims— whom the class calls the ‘Six Sisters.” Their dedication even led to the identification of Tina farmer, the only victim officially tied to Johns through DNA evidence. The project reshaped how we think about true crime, proving that ‘hive knowledge,’ grassroots efforts, and social media, are valuable tools in solving cold cases.

 There’s still a lot of work to be done in the redheadmurders investigation, but the class has since expanded their efforts. With support from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigations, the students created JusticeForTracySue.com and established a tip line (1-800-TBI-FIND) for more information about Tracy Sue Walker.

 Be sure to listen to Alex’s acclaimed ten-episode podcast series with iHeartRadio: Murder 101