ATHENS, Ohio – As indicated in an earlier statement, Ohio University police received a report this morning (April 29) of an anonymous threat posted to the location-based social media app Yeti. Although it was initially believed that the post was made to the “Ohio University” group—thus tying the threat to Athens—further investigation, with assistance from Yeti application technical staff, has revealed this was not the case.
Users on Yeti can monitor key words in posts which will cause material to appear in their feed that is not associated with the group to which they belong. Investigation has shown that the threatening video was posted by a user in Europe who is not affiliated with any group on Yeti. Although the complainant belongs to the “Ohio University” group, the video appeared in the complainant’s feed based on key words, not location. With assistance from Yeti application technical staff, detectives were able to confirm the user who originally generated and posted the video was not in the United States. Based on this latest information, we do not believe there is any specific threat to Athens or Ohio University at this time.
We would like to commend the complainant who reported the video, as it is always best to take threats seriously and “See Something, Say Something.” We would also like to thank Yeti application’s staff for their assistance with the technical investigation.
This case was another example of coordinated investigative work by local and federal law enforcement to bring the matter to a quick close.
City of Nelsonville, Ohio Information Blog 