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Investigators Combing Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's Deleted Instagram Account

Danny Lee |
April 27, 2013 | 2:52 p.m. PDT

Executive Producer

Investigators are looking into Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's deleted Instagram account for more clues. (Wikimedia Commons)
Investigators are looking into Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's deleted Instagram account for more clues. (Wikimedia Commons)
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's Twitter account has drawn heavy public scrutiny, but the Boston Marathon bombing suspect's deleted Instagram account could be a new focal point in the investigation, CNN reported.

The Instagram account with the user name "jmaister1" no longer exists, and friends of Tsarnaev said it was deleted only recently. CNN National Security Analyst Juliette Kayyem said the account could be vital in providing new clues.

"If I were an investigator right now, obviously the platform he deleted matters the most," she said. Traces of Tsarnaev's account were still visible in Google's Web cache this week.

More from CNN:

The digital traces that remain show that Tsarnaev added a "like" on several photos referring to Chechnya that were posted by other Instagram users. One shows Chechen warlord Shamil Basayev, a onetime government official who later masterminded terrorist attacks against Russia. Basayev was killed in 2006.

Another pro-Chechnya image that Tsarnaev "liked" carries a string of hashtags including #FreeChechenia #Jihad #Jannah #ALLAH #Jesus and #God. An academic Chechnya expert who CNN consulted said the images illustrated a familiarity with Chechen politics and iconography.

Authorities have also expanded the investigation 60 miles south of where the marathon bombings occurred. NBC News reported that investigators combed through a landfill in New Bedford, Mass. for items that might belong to Tsarnaev, including a laptop and receipts from the purchase of fireworks.

Dzhokhar and his older brother Tamerlan are suspected of setting off two bombs near the finish line of the Boston Marathon on April 15 that killed three people and injured hundreds of others.

 

Read more Neon Tommy coverage of the Boston Marathon bombings here.

Reach Executive Producer Danny Lee here; follow him here.



 

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