The show portrays the police department as fairly apathetic, with the Brannocks having to push for them to run DNA tests on the letters. They suggest that maybe their neighbors could be to blame, but Detective Chamberland (Christopher McDonald) never pursues it. The only person that’s ever investigated is Dakota (Henry Hunter Hall), the 19-year-old that runs the security company that installed the cameras at the house. He willingly provides a DNA sample, only to be cleared.
When the Broaddus family went to the police initially, they took it more seriously. Within a week, Detective Lugo had brought one of their neighbors, Michael Langford, in for questioning. He is parallel to the show’s Jasper Winslow (Terry Kinney). There was no direct evidence linking Langford to the incident, with much of the argument riding on the location of their house and the ability to see an easel at 657 Boulevard. The easel was mentioned in a letter, but could not be seen from the main street.
After the DNA analysis determined that the genetic material on the letter is from a biological female, Detective Lugo brought in Michael’s sister Abby. She was a real estate agent and there was speculation that she was “upset about missing a commission right next door” (via The Cut). Her DNA was not a match, leaving detectives without a suspect. Investigators even asked Andrea Woods for a DNA sample, but she was not a match.
