From facial recognition to dating apps, technology is helping investigators track down Capitol rioters

Authorities investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol are increasingly utilizing digital technology and social networks to identify and track down suspects.

In early March, just weeks after the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, FBI investigators met with an individual who had tipped them off to the possible identity of one of the rioters that day. According to a court document, the tipster told investigators that the suspect, Elijah Yazdani, had said that he had traveled to the Capitol and had sent videos from inside the building. But after both the suspect and the tipster deleted the videos from their phones, investigators were forced to take a different route. So according to court documents, they launched a facial recognition investigation in order to place Yazdani in the Capitol -- and they say it worked. He was arrested in May. The facial recognition probe into Yazdani, who has not yet entered a plea and was released on bail shortly after his arrest, is just one of a number of tools investigators have utilized in the sweeping investigation into those who descended on the Capitol that day -- a probe that prosecutors say is likely the largest investigation ever undertaken by the Department of Justice. Approximately 465 suspects have been arrested in nearly all 50 states, according to the DOJ, and investigators are still seeking the identities of more than 250 individuals involved in assaults on officers or other violent acts. To accomplish the task, investigators have increasingly utilized digital technology and social networks, according to court records analyzed by ABC News and experts in the field.