Wikipedia Weighs in on Clark Rockefeller’s True Identity

In this Web 2.0 world, you’re nobody until you have a Wikipedia entry. The user-generated encyclopedia has become the go-to source for people who want to know more about a historical figure or celebrity, and don’t particularly care about all the details.

Which got us thinking. What identity has the Internet intelligentsia bestowed upon Clark Rockefeller? Wikipedia users have followed the lead of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and dubbed the alleged kidnapper Christian Gerhartsreiter.

Searching for Christian Gerhartsreiter on the site brings up an imageless entry for the chimera. Clark Rockefeller and Christopher Chichester both redirect to the Gerhartsreiter page, while searching for Rockefeller’s stockbroker alias Christopher Crowe brings up an American film director, a British football player, and a link to the entry about the German man with multiple identities.

While Wikipedia users and the authorities in L.A. have decided that Gerhartsreiter is Rockefeller’s true identity, the FBI and Suffolk County DA Dan Conley aren’t so sure. A Conley spokesman tells the Herald “Any identification we obtain, especially for this defendant, must be checked, double-checked, supported and verified by every means possible.”

That’s all a formality at this point. If Wikipedia says he’s Christian Gerhartsreiter, it must be true.

Image from Wikipedia