After weeks of speculation, forensic analysts from the NYPD have confirmed this week that, yes, Jenn, Sam and Gina all posted the exact same photo to Instagram, albeit with different filters.
The news comes as a shock to supporters of Jenn, Sam and Gina, as they were left wondering for some time whether the photos were identical or just super similar and taken at the same time on different phones.
“Phone photography is hard because the pixel quality is actually very low,” explains Shelby Gross, one forensic expert on the case. “There’s not a lot of information there. So when we enhanced the images, it actually made it harder to tell if each photo was the same, or if the subjects had just stayed really still in that cute pose while the photographer snapped the photo on each girl’s phone.”
Forensic experts ran the photos through various tests, including isolating specific spots, lining them up side by side and running color analysis on them through various algorithms. They finally confirmed that the photos were the same, except that Jen used the Amaro filter, Gina used Clarendon, and Sam edited her photo in a still unknown third party app.
Their community in Williamsburg, Brooklyn is already taking the news extremely hard.
“I thought they were all different photos,” says friend Marci Broome. “I thought I was getting three distinct snapshots of the same interesting moment. But I was totally wrong.”
“When I imagine one of them texting the one photo to the other two so they could all post it, I feel sick,” said another friend who wished to remain anonymous so as not to get dragged into the scandal. “It’s really affecting me.”
The families of the girls are laying low, as expected, but have said in statements to the police that they are deeply disturbed by the news.
“Everybody saw the picture when Gina posted it,” said Kimberly Dean, mother of Sam Dean. “Sammy didn’t need to post it too. Neither did Jenn. You raise your kids to be independent thinkers then suddenly this happens. Who did they think they were fooling?”
At press time, the three had yet to comment publicly. But rumor has it they’ll be posting identical Insta stories any day now.
