A woman has reportedly been traced 45 years after she allegedly stole a gold necklace from a jewellery shop in Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh, India, after an old photograph trend on social media unexpectedly helped revive the case.
According to reports by local newspaper IND Today, the woman allegedly stole the gold necklace from the jewellery shop about four and a half decades ago before fleeing the scene.
Despite an investigation by the police at the time, she reportedly remained untraced and the case eventually went unresolved.
The woman is said to have later changed her name and relocated to another area, where she reportedly lived for several decades under a different identity.
However, the decades-old case reportedly resurfaced after the woman participated in a viral social media trend involving AI-generated photographs styled to look like images from the 1980s.
She reportedly shared an AI-generated image of herself on social media, unaware that the post would allegedly lead to her identification.
The jewellery shop owner, who reportedly came across the image, is said to have recognised the woman as the person allegedly linked to the theft that occurred at the shop decades earlier.
The owner subsequently contacted the police and provided information that reportedly assisted investigators in identifying and locating the woman.
Police later commenced an investigation and questioned her over the alleged theft.
During questioning, the woman reportedly admitted to being involved in the incident.
The development has attracted attention because of the unusual circumstances through which a decades-old case was reportedly revived, with social media and AI-generated imagery playing an unexpected role in helping investigators identify a person allegedly connected to the crime.
The case also highlights how publicly shared digital content can sometimes provide investigators with new leads in long-running investigations.
