Sleep

It’s 3:33 in the morning and I can’t sleep... I decided to pick up Sarah’s diary again and see if I can find any more clues... I’m trying to understand where she was coming from. What she was thinking... I’m reading between the lines and wondering if maybe I will fall asleep and dream something, a clue... something I can’t see in the waking hours...

April 15, 1994

Why? Oh my god, why? This cannot be happening to me. What the hell do they want from me? They took the last thing that I had left on this earth that I truly loved. We went to the end of time together, then held each other and cried, ‘cause there was no where else to go but back!

I just wish I understood... I’m going back to sleep. I’ll post this tomorrow maybe you guys can help me understand...

Neighbors

It’s rare to have a happy ending to a story like Amanda Berry’s. You heard about her, right? The girl who’s been missing for a decade and was recently rescued by Charles Ramsey, the neighbor of her kidnapper… And I’m sure you've seen the video of Ramsey’s interview, it’s viral beyond viral and offers more than the superficial laughs from his unintentional one-liners like, "I barbecue with this dude. We eat ribs and whatnot and listen to salsa music." Look beyond the delivery of Ramsey’s statements to the words what they mean. They were neighbors for a year and not Ramsey, or any of their other neighbors had a clue that three missing women and a child had been captive on their street. It makes me wonder, how well do we know our neighbors?

Do you know who lives next door to you? Across the hall? Down the street? The people in this neighborhood thought they did -- they socialized with Ariel Castro, they let him take their children to the park, they ate with him and did other normal, neighborly things with him. He even helped look for one of the girls who he abducted, and consoled her family! The whole time, he had the three women and a child hostage in his house.

I remember when Erika's family was found dead. They found her remains with those of her twin sister. I remember Sarah's shock when learning Ericka had a sister that Sarah never knew about. Erika was Sarah's best friend before me -- how do you not know your best friend has a twin sister? Things aren't always what they seem.

I'm glad that the families of Amanda Berry, Michelle Knight, and Gina Dejesus have their daughters, sisters and granddaughters home. As hard as it will be to uncover the truth of what happened to them during their captivity, it will allow them all to begin to heal. I wish Sarah could have that. I wish we knew what happened to her and I wonder if we'll ever know what really happened so many years ago to Ericka, Owen, Jackie & Sarah's family. Until we find Sarah, none of us can ever really begin to heal. We don't have a lot of clues, but Sarah leaves us breadcrumbs from time to time. Between the sightings and her diary, there are clues. I still can't believe people don't believe me... how can you not believe when there's so much evidence?

The truth is revealed when we look beneath the surface. Don't be afraid to ask questions. Don't assume what you see is all there is.

Evidence

From my experience reality is always stranger than fiction. And where fiction gets strange my guess is that it’s firmly based on reality. My bet is that the strangest scenes from movies, the ones that seem completely unreal are often based on true crime stories that boggle our minds. 

I've been studying forensic science, and I watch an insane amount of real crime shows. What have I learned? There’s no perfect crime and even when there are no witnesses the tale will be told. Little bits of evidence, blood stains that seep through the floor and aren't removed by scouring and bleaching the surface. Small spots of blood splatter revealed by keen eyes and technology. Bugs and natural processes exposing the timeline, when death occurred. Lungs filled with soot when killers attempt to dispose of bodies, burning them still alive.

Every little detail tells a part of the story. Hair, finger nails wearing the nail polish last seen on the missing person, paint chips, phone records, strange behavior the list is endless. I don’t remember if Sarah was wearing nail polish the last time I saw her... Even with all of this knowledge and information, Sarah’s body has never been found. Her blood, her painted toenail, no trace of anything. I guess that’s why I believe that she’s out there, somewhere. Maybe reading this right now...