Dustin Reed Terry is a Gainesville, Florida-based journalist from Oklahoma, an entrepreneur, veteran, and advocate whose life has been shaped by an unwavering belief that justice should never be out of reach. A former U.S. Air Force aviation mechanic, Terry went on to work as a cyberthreat investigator, local newspaper reporter, and earned a master's degree in mental health, serving as a child welfare specialist and addiction counselor across North Central Florida. That rare combination of investigative instinct, public service, and personal resilience laid the foundation for everything he would go on to build. In February 2025, he founded TheColdCases.com, a publication dedicated to shedding light on unsolved cases, amplifying the voices of victims and their families, and pushing for the resolutions that justice demands.

But it was a specific and deeply personal experience that became the direct catalyst for PublicCrime.com. In 2017, Dustin was recruited by an Iowa state official to travel to Washington, D.C. to lobby against the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act — legislation that 9/11 victims and their families desperately needed to pursue justice in court. What he was never told was that the entire operation had been organized and funded by the Saudi Arabian government. He had been deceived and used as a pawn in a foreign influence campaign — a veteran, recruited to unknowingly work against the very Americans he had served to protect.

When he discovered the truth, Dustin did what very few people in that position would have the courage to do. He went on record. His account was published by 28Pages.org and picked up nationally by the Associated Press. The story exposed the operation, created significant political fallout at the highest levels of Iowa government, and directly contributed to new Iowa state laws prohibiting public officials from serving as registered foreign agents. Real accountability. Real consequences. Real change — because one person refused to stay silent.

That experience forced a question Dustin could no longer ignore: who holds the powerful accountable when the very institutions meant to do so are compromised? PublicCrime.com is his answer.

Built on the same mission-driven foundation as TheColdCases.com, PublicCrime.com exists to cover crime involving public figures — from Fortune 500 CEOs and corporate executives to elected officials, politicians, and public servants at every level. When those entrusted with power abuse it, the public has an absolute right to know. This is not tabloid journalism. It is accountability journalism — pursued without fear, without favor, and always, unequivocally, in the interests of the public.

Because no title, no wealth, and no influence should ever place anyone above the law.