Sierra LaMar: Anatomy of a Search Day 68

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Sierra LaMar: Anatomy of a Search Day 68

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Midsi Sanchez at Find Sierra Search Center

Midsi Sanchez is not a household name like Elizabeth Smart or Jaycee Dugard, but she is a kidnap survivor. Unlike Elizabeth or Jaycee, Midsi demonstrated extraordinary courage during her darkest moment and affected her own escape.

On August 10, 2000 8-year-old Midsi Sanchez was abducted while walking home from school in Vallejo, California. After being chained to the gear shift of the kidnapper’s car for 44-hours, she grabbed the keys when he left momentarily, unlocked her ankle shackles and fled. Her courageous act not only saved her own life, but it resulted in the arrest and successful prosecution of Curtis Dean Anderson, a known pedophile who subsequently admitted that he kidnapped and murdered another young Vallejo resident named Xiana Fairchild.

Sandra Cantu

Midsi returned home in triumph and was showered with honors and awards, including National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s first ever Courage Award on May 17, 2001. The next several years were difficult for Midsi. Schoolmates demanded to know the gruesome details of the ordeal that she only wanted to forget. Girls at school taunted her, ostracized her, and finally pushed her to the point of no return. Midsi ended up on the streets of Vallejo, strung out on drugs and alcohol.

On March 27, 2009 8-year-old Sandra Cantu was reported missing by her family. Seeing Sandra’s missing flyer helped lead Midsi to her true purpose in life. She reached out to console Sandra’s family and can still see the pain in her mother’s eyes. Midsi says that, “I had to dig deep down inside of the little girl who escaped from the pervert and recover that same courage that helped her get away.”

Midsi and Marc Klaas

On May 1, 2009 Midsi was involved in a drinking and driving automobile accident. She flew out an automobile window at 90 mph and broke her neck. “I saw that as God’s way of saying stop, be still. This is not the path I want you to follow.” Exactly two weeks after being discharged from the hospital, Midsi learned that she was going to be a mother. She says, “That was the day my life took a change for the better. I became sober, healthy and able to think and plan with clarity.”

For the past two years Midsi has been an active volunteer for the KlaasKids Foundation. “Working with KlaasKids has taught me the importance of utilizing the press in missing persons’ cases, that I can help the families of missing children by providing council, organizing fundraisers, or simply providing a hug or smile. At the end of the day I want the families to see me as an example of what is possible, not what is probable.”

Midsi and Marlene LaMar

Shortly after learning of the disappearance of Sierra LaMar Midsi started attending vigils to support the missing girl’s family. At the first vigil Midsi introduced herself to Sierra’s mother, father and sister. After telling her story to the attendant crowd Marlene LaMar thanked Midsi, telling her that, “You made me feel so much better.”

In the months since Sierra’s disappearance Midsi has been a regular presence at the Find Sierra Search Center, always ready with a hug, a word of encouragement or a project. In early April Midsi and her friend Davina Joy organized a youth brigade to give Sierra’s peers a way to help in the search. They organized flyer distributions, poster creations, car washes and other activities.

Midsi Sanchez is not a household name like Elizabeth Smart or Jaycee Dugard, but she is a kidnap survivor and she is in the trenches regularly sharing her special gift with those who need it the most: the families of the missing.

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Sierra LaMar: Anatomy of a Search Day 66

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He’s been to court twice now without entering a plea. The only words that he has spoken are, “Yes your honor”. There have been no developments in the case since Antolin Garcia-Torres was arrested for kidnapping and murdering Sierra LaMar on May 22. Sierra’s disappearance, which seemed on the verge of being solved 15-days ago, now seems as far from resolution as ever. Clearly, something needs to be done.

That’s why the terms of the $25,000 reward for the safe return of Sierra LaMar are being changed to include, “Information leading to the conviction of the person or persons responsible for the disappearance of Sierra LaMar”. Rewards aid law enforcement in arresting and successfully prosecuting crimes by providing financial consideration in exchange for information that will resolve a crime.

In theory, there are always people who know more about a given crime than they are initially willing to admit. They may be family, friends, acquaintances or simply somebody who saw or heard something that they were not supposed to see or hear. Often times these people require incentive before they are willing to come forward and divulge closely held secrets.

Rewards are clearly viable and have assisted in numerous cases over the years. One organization, Secret Witness, in Reno, Nevada has been providing rewards for more than 30-years. Secret Witness has grown from taking five or six calls a month to more than 200. Tips have helped solve more than 1,000 crimes, including 30 murders. That includes information leading to the arrest and conviction of the individual responsible for the 2008 kidnap and murder of 19-year-old college student Briana Denison.

Good people clearly want to do the right thing. Sometimes they just need motivation. First of all, providing valuable information that will result in a conviction is the right thing to do. Sierra and her family deserve nothing less. We all have, or love children. So we should put ourselves in Steve and Marlene LaMar’s shoes. If our daughter were missing we would want others to assist in bringing our child home. Finally, at the end of the night most of us are exhausted and ready for bed. The last thing that we need to ponder as we surrender to sleep is whether or not God knows what is in our hearts and minds.

If you are not the perp, but you know more than you are saying, providing information is not simply about good or evil. In the final analysis it’s simply about getting your priorities straight. Whether you are bound by humanity, spirituality or some other moral value, sometimes we simply need an extra incentive to do the right thing. That’s what rewards are about. Or at least we hope so, and after all, the reason that why we continue to show up to look for Sierra day after day is because hope reigns eternal.

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Sierra LaMar: Anatomy of a Search Day 59

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Wherever I go and whatever I do things and events are in a constant state of change. Hopefully they are evolving, growing and getting better. Sometimes they are in decline or seemingly dormant, but even majestic mountains and ancient glaciers change with the season and over the ages. However, when I am at the Sierra Search Center progress seems to be stuck in time. The faces of the volunteers are the same, although they may reflect heightened levels of grim determination. The search assignments become redundant although the lush green hills that were searched in April now glimmer golden in the sun.

This case is getting inside people’s heads. As improbable as it may seem, they dream about Sierra returning home, even walking through the big double doors of the Search Center. They struggle with their own emotional well-being as a child that most of them have never met is somewhere out there. They feel guilty that her best possible scenario has her distressed, hopeless and afraid. Some volunteers have taken to dark moods; some to drink. However, there are no social services available to these good men and women, so they put their heads down and try to move inexorably forward.

The arrest of Garcia-Torres, the punk who victimized her, had a positive vibe despite the Sheriff’s contention that she was dead. It reenergized Sierra’s troops, suggested new search sites, and seemingly brought us that much closer to the truth.  However, that was 10-days ago and nothing further has happened. That’s the nature of professional criminals. They know how to work the system; when to talk and when to keep their mouths shut. In other words, if it isn’t self-serving there is no reason to talk. If Sierra is alive and under his control, then it must be assumed that she has been alone since his arrest which means that she is hungry.  we still don’t know where the vivacious 15-year-old cheerleader is.

People who are not already invested in this case are avoiding it like the plague. We got our first taste at a Giants game about a month ago. As volunteers were handing out flyers at the ticket gate, they were being blown off by fans who said, “Why bother she’s dead,” or “I’ve got no time for this.” Even now, as saturated as this case has become in this community, there are still those who profess to know nothing about it. They must live under rocks.

By 10:00 a.m., more than 80-volunteers have been dispatched to search for Sierra. Somebody dropped off breakfast burritos, and as always the kitchen ladies have laid out a spread of bagels and other pastries, loaded with carbs, to provide the energy burst that is so needed in these dog days.

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Sierra LaMar: Anatomy of a Search Day 51

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The Smirk!

The beloved fairy tale Beauty and the Beast ends happily ever after, but alas, this real life tale of Beauty and the Beast may have tragedy written all over it.

 

Sierra Lamar has been missing since shortly after leaving home for the school bus at about 7:15 a.m. on March 16, 2012. Sixty-six days later, at approximately 6:00 p.m. on May 21, 2012, Antolin Garcia-Torres was arrested and charged with kidnapping and murdering the vivacious 15-year-old Morgan Hill high school student. The Sierra LaMar task force has had the 21-year-old Safeway Supermarket employee under surveillance since March 28, after DNA linked him to items found in Sierra’s Juicy Couture bag. The Juicy bag was discovered by the Sheriff’s Search and Rescue team two days after Sierra disappeared.

 

His DNA was on file in the nationwide CODIS database because California law allows for DNA collection in cases of felony arrest. Garcia-Torres has a misdemeanor conviction for interfering with a police officer as well as a past arrest for felony assault. The felony assault charge was ultimately dropped, but not before his DNA was extracted. There are many who argue that collecting DNA without a conviction is a privacy violation. Without that linkage, this creep might still be on the loose and young girls in Santa Clara County would still be endangered.

 

A red VW Jetta with a black hood and sunroof that is owned by Garcia-Torres has been in law enforcement custody since April 7. It was identified as a vehicle of interest through witness accounts and surveillance video. Forensic testing has been conducted on the vehicle, and although some test results remain outstanding, the authorities have evidence that places Sierra in the red Jetta. That means that Sierra and Garcia-Torres can be linked at two separate crime scenes: the location of the Juicy Couture bag and the vehicle owned by and registered to the suspect.   

 

This sucker has a history, has assaulted women in the past but is not a registered sex offender. Besides the misdemeanor conviction and felony arrest Garcia-Torres has also been linked to at least one of three 2009 unsolved assaults on young women in Morgan Hill. During her press conference Santa Clara County Sheriff Laurie Smith alluded to the fact that, “Since January of 2011 in Santa Clara County alone there are 43 missing females that have never returned home.” Was she suggesting that Garcia-Torres might be a serial killer?

 

The arrest was made for public safety concerns. Although the Sheriff had hoped that he would lead them to Sierra’s remains, he has not done so. It was quickly noted that surveillance isn’t perfect and that anybody who would kidnap and kill a young girl poses an extreme safety threat. The authorities are still seeking information from the public that will help establish the timeline that will lead them to Sierra.

 

There is no evidence whatsoever that Sierra had ever met or had knowledge of the suspect’s existence. It is believed that Garcia-Torres acted alone and that it was a random crime of opportunity. This makes it one of the most frightening and difficult crimes to solve for they are looking for the proverbial needle in a haystack. It is a large world full of billions of people and she is a small girl.

 

Garcia-Torres is a small time thug who has always lived in Morgan Hill. Although the task force has spoken with him several times, he had not been questioned in a controlled environment until after his arrest last night. 

 

After KTVU broke the story last night I called Sierra’s mother Marlene. I asked her, based on this latest development, if she wanted us to continue looking for her daughter. Her answer was an emphatic, “Absolutely!”

 

Garcia-Torres has been charged with kidnapping and murder, but he does not have an extensive criminal history, has not been previously charged with murder or rape, there is no weapon, we don’t know how Sierra was killed, and her remains have not been found. Perhaps there has been a rush to judgment. Perhaps Sierra is alive after all. It is now up to us to find the truth.

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Sierra LaMar: Anatomy of a Search Day 47

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I‘m so God damned angry that I can barely see straight. We have been searching for Sierra LaMar for 64-days now. That’s more than two months. I’ve watched this community rise to the occasion on multiple levels. I’ve seen support come in from all over the Bay Area. I’ve thought, more than once, that today is the day that we will find Sierra. Yet here we are, still: looking; hoping; and engaged in internal dialogues, trying to negotiate with a God who forces families to reach into the depths to endure open ended misery. I understand that life isn’t fair, but this is ridiculous. Where is the mercy?

 

Somewhere out there a goon who does or doesn’t drive a red Jetta with a black hood has created an intolerable situation that only he can end. Was he born without conscience or is he a product of of a dysfunctional environment? Does hate and destruction come naturally or did he hone his demonic skill set over time?

 

He turns his back in indifference, eating pizza, drinking beer and generating a vibe so negative that it has a community up in arms and a family caught up in emotional free fall. I wonder if he thinks about Sierra on a daily basis or only when the flyers and news reports remind him that many are still looking? In the final analysis it doesn’t really matter. And all we can do in response is send out search parties, keep open minds in the face of near statistical certainty and encourage the family to stay strong for their girl. The only thing that is important is bringing Sierra home.

 

Listen turd. You have the power to end this right now. You don’t have to turn yourself in. Just clean up your business and cover your tracks. Let Sierra’s family have her back, whatever that means. Then you can go about your business, target your next victim and reign terror on somebody else’s community. Just understand that you can’t get away with this forever.

 

Ultimate Survivor Midsi Sanchez

At some point you are going to mess up. You’ll leave your DNA, or there will be a witness, or your victim will escape like Midsi Sanchez did back in 2000. Then and only then it will be your turn to pay. The wages of your sin will be steep. Hopefully yours will be a long and painful death. Then you will rot in hell forevermore.

 

I know something about guys like you. My family was bedeviled at one time. He haunted and tormented us as he looked away in indifference. It lasted for 65-days. Finally, he is in a place where he has no influence, no future, and most importantly no hope.

 

When we began looking for Sierra there was a vacant lot across the street from the search center. Now there’s a housing development. Sometimes I wonder if we’ll still be here when the children of the young families that move into these houses graduate from high school.

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Perfect Endings: Rot in Hell Adam Mayes

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“Fairy tales can come true”…Frank Sinatra
How many lives did Adam Mayes destroy? He murdered Jo Ann Bain and her daughter Adrienne in a frenzied obsession over Jo Ann’s two younger daughters. Those girls, Alexandria 12, and Kyliyah 8, will undoubtedly require years if not decades of therapy in order to cope with two tragic weeks that they endured and survived. Their father, betrayed by his best friend, has lost his wife, daughter and some might say his dignity. Then there is Mayes’ skanky wife and mother, neither of whom will ever walk in freedom again. Like the ever expanding concentric circles created by a pebble skipped across the pond, in varying degrees numerous people will have to reexamine their lives and adjust to a new normal.

Adam Mayes was a useless human being. Had he been captured alive we would have had to endure his trial: a publicly financed opportunity for him to excuse and justify his evil actions and murderous intent. Alexandria, Kyliyah, and their father would have had to endure the lies, twisted fantasies, and obfuscations.  

There is no mistaking what he did. His wife was an eyewitness to all of it and has provided the grisly details to the authorities. Most likely, he would have ended up on death row. Then people would have prayed for him, held vigils for him, spilled tears in misplaced anguish, and protested man’s inhumanity to man as they unstrapped his worthless carcass from the death gurney.

Yes, sometimes there are perfect endings. Like Hansel and Gretel breadcrumbs, or a $171,000 reward, lead the children home and the wicked witch dies in the end.
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Sierra LaMar: Anatomy of a Search Day 37

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Sierra 2For the first time in 47-days the Santa Clara County Sheriff had something new to report. They were looking for, no, wait, they found the 1999 red VW Jetta with a black hood and sun roof that they believe is connected to the abduction of Northern California teenager Sierra LaMar. They haven’t disclosed how long they have had the car, who owns the car, what they found inside the car, or the results of forensic testing that has been conducted upon the car. Obviously, this is a good thing because the Jetta may finally lead us down the path that will result in Sierra’s recovery. However, if you are Sierra’s parents Steve and Marlene or her sister Danielle, things are a bit more complicated than that.

Sierra 3Human nature demands that you keep hope alive until proven otherwise. Sierra’s immediate family has been holding onto a thread of hope ever since she disappeared on March 16. They have played out various scenarios, trying to figure out what really happened on that cold, wet Friday morning. Inevitably, thos scenarios end with one resolution: that Sierra is rescued alive, is reunited with her family, and is able to put her affairs in order and lead a productive and happy life. Now, cold reality may be staring them in the face. Perhaps something entirely different went down. Perhaps the end game will not be as they imagine in the silent hours of the predawn morning.

Sierra 4This creates high anxiety. Not the kind of anxiety you feel when you might not get to the airport on time, or when you don’t get the promotion that you feel you deserve. No, this is anxiety that their beliefs, their dreams, their God and their prayers will supernova if this doesn’t play out the way that they have demanded these past months. This is anxiety that physically vibrates your body and incessantly pings your brain like a jagged pinball until some truth at long last reveals itself. It invades your fitful sleep, causes your feet to sweat and makes you want to fall down on your knees and banshee scream at the moon. But you don’t scream at the moon: at least not when others are present.

Sierra 1It has been a long, difficult slog to this place. The community has been magnificent, the media has been consistent, and the cops are working overtime. But at the end of the day we go home to our families, our homes, and our lives. We eat, sleep and awake renewed.

Sierra 5Not Marlene, Steve or Danielle. They aren’t eating right, they haven’t had a full night’s sleep in nearly two months and their consciousness’ have been dominated by one thought and one thought only: find Sierra! They need our help and support as they need each other. But what do you have left emotionally if every fiber of your being has been focused on one point? Not much. I know, because I have been there.

Sierra 6We all want to be there for those we love. We want to support and encourage them in their time of need. But what if those you care about the most share a common crisis that is so over the top that you cannot calculate the enormity of its impact? You stand there alone, emotionally naked, sweating between your sheets at night and shivering as the morning dew evaporates in the breaking dawn. You ar spent with nothing to give back. You simply em bark on another cycle of the living nightmare. You hope as you despair. You laugh so that you will not cry.

Sierra 7Will the red Jetta reveal more truths in the coming days? Let us hope so, but let also keep this family in our thoughts and prayers, because they need us now more than ever.

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Maniac on the Move: The Bain Murder Mystery

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He stalked the family for two days. During the day he lurked in the bushes and watched through binoculars. After dark he used night vision goggles. Theirs was the first house off of the interstate: the one people with car trouble would seek out. Strangers were always welcome, because the family was friendly and helpful. A man and a woman lived in the rural white house with three children, a teen-aged boy and two small children: a boy and a girl.

He waited until after the BBQ, after the friends had gone home, the sun had set and peace had settled over the valley. Then he struck viciously! By the time it was over the man, woman and teen-aged boy were dead. The young boy and girl were missing. It was as if hellfire had reigned down upon their tidy little world. The authorities were baffled, because the family didn’t have any known enemies: at least none who would inflict this kind of mayhem.


Shasta & Dylan Groene

It took seven weeks for the truth to be revealed. First, surveillance video captured the little girl; she was eight years old, in a convenience store with an unknown man. Then, once the community had been notified, they were seen in a neighborhood Denny’s having dinner. Employees contacted the police. He was arrested without incident. The little girl survived. Her 4 foot, 60 pound brother was not so lucky. The pervert, because that is what he was…is, tortured, raped and murdered the little boy some weeks before. Then he torched and buried his remains. That incident occurred in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho in 2005. The pervert, who had an extensive and sordid criminal history, now sits on death row.

I only illustrate this grisly crime to provide hope to those following the Bain case out of Tennessee. On April 27, 31-year old Jo Ann Bain and her three daughters were kidnapped by so called family friend Adam Mayes, a 35-year old handy man who still lives with his mother in Northern Mississippi. On Monday, May 7, authorities announced that the bodies of Mrs. Bain and her 14-year old daughter Adrienne had been found in shallow graves at the house Mayes’ shares with his mother.
Convenience store video of Shasta and the perv

On Tuesday, May 8, Mayes’ wife, Teresa Mayes, and mother, Mary Mayes, were arrested for “especially aggravated kidnapping” in connection with the kidnapping of Mrs. Bain and her three daughters. Many hope that Mayes will now turn himself in to the authorities in hopes of gaining leniency for his wife and mother. I don’t believe that there is a chance in Hell of that happening.

Adam Mayes lovely wife and mother

The authorities believe that Mayes is on the run with the two little girls. They believe that he has altered their appearance by cutting their hair. One of the largest manhunts in the history of the South has been launched in hopes of recovering the girls alive.

 

Maniac on the Move!

If that is to happen then we, the people, have to help. We need to be on the lookout for a tall (6’3”), slim (173 lbs.) man with two young girls. All three will have bad haircuts. They will be at gas stations, convenience stores, or fast food outlets, or on the road. If you see them, don’t approach. Instead call the police.

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No Tears for Isabel

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Six-year-old Isabel Celis was last seen at approximately 11:00 p.m., on Friday, April 20, 2012. She was discovered missing around 8:00 a.m., on Saturday, April 21. Isabel’s parents called 911 as soon as they determined that she was not in the family home. The case has since captured the attention of the nation; however Isabel’s family has made only one public appearance to speak out on behalf of their missing daughter.

I’m a firm believer that families are the best advocates for their missing children. If there is a perception that Isabel’s family is not doing everything that they can to help their young daughter it creates concern within the community. They have to wonder, “If the family is not doing everything that they can, then why should I do everything that I can to recover this child?”

At one point after my daughter was kidnapped a news reporter told me that she could get Polly more attention with fifteen seconds on the evening news than I could generate nailing flyers onto telephone poles for a hundred years. I took that to heart and have rarely turned down an interview since. My advice to Isabel’s parents is to get out there and start fighting for your child.

Get over your fears, realize that you always told her that you would be there when she needed you, and that she’s never needed you more than she needs you right now. Therefore, get out there and give the interviews: create a portrait of Isabel. Tell us what kind of a girl she is. Let us know what she likes and what she doesn’t like. Start sharing more photographs and share video of her. Build her up in the public’s mind so that they become invested in who this little girl is and demand that law enforcement do whatever they need to do to bring her home. Involve yourself in the community of hope that has sprung up around you, is supporting you and is fighting for Isabel’s return. Hug some folks and thank some folks. She deserves nothing less.
One of the most difficult kinds of crimes to solve is the stereotypical stranger abduction, because that scenario is about some goon crawling out from under a rock, stealing your child and then disappearing back under that rock. It’s a big world and these are very small children. Law enforcement is obviously going to investigate that scenario, but the numbers always bring you back to the family. The vast majority of kidnappings in America are non-custodial parental kidnappings. The most vulnerable population of children to that scenario are pre-teen girls. Everything about this case will continue to turn right back onto the family until they eliminate themselves as suspects. The best way to do that is to submit to any questioning, to submit to any polygraphs and to get out there on the airwaves and advocate on behalf of Isabel.
Look at what happens when you don’t do that. Take the case of baby Lisa Irwin, who disappeared from her bed in Kansas City, MO on October 3, 2011. Lisa’s parents did not advocate on her behalf, they did not cooperate with the police. That case has effectively gone cold. It went cold because people thought, “Gee, if the parents aren’t going to be out there fighting for her, why should I be out there fighting for her?

Baby Lisa’s case is going cold. By not cooperating with the authorities and stonewalling the media baby Lisa’s parents have made themselves look guilty. It has allowed law enforcement to pull back their investigation. Instead of hundreds of multijurisdictional officers and agents focused on baby Lisa, now there are several.

We kept our case alive for two months because we never stopped speaking up for and representing Polly. We have a case here in Northern California for a missing teenager named Sierra LaMar that has been active for six weeks now, and there is still an enormous amount of interest in her case. However, in Isabel’s case law enforcement admitted on April 27, that the investigation has already been reduced from 200 to about 50 officers. On April 29, Tucson Police Lt. Fabian Pacheco acknowledged that the case could turn “cold.”

I think that we are looking at very limited options here. If something doesn’t pop soon. If the parents don’t change the way they are handling Isabel’s disappearance, then the case may very well go cold. The unfortunate thing about that is that people are concerned that there may be a monster loose on the streets of Tucson: first because of Isabel’s case; and then because of the more recent case of a man breaking into the home of three young sisters in the wee hours of the morning only miles away from Isabel’s home. If this goes cold and we don’t know who that monster is, then we have a situation where the people of Tucson, AZ are living in a community where the safety of children isn’t even secure in the sanctity of their own homes, and law enforcement does not have the will to resolve this public safety crisis. That creates an atmosphere of fear and the last thing we need in America is more home grown fear.
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Sierra LaMar: Anatomy of a Search Day 20

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Milestones

By Krystine Dinh

Sierra’s search center was buzzing.

Today was productive. Though it has almost been a month since Sierra’s disappearance, over 300 volunteers came ready to search. Brian, armed with new search assignments, successfully dispatched 34 search teams to Morgan Hill. It was a cold day, but the sun shined bright. If Sierra’s nearby, I thought, at least it isn’t raining.

Today may have been productive, but not easy. The month milestone is approaching in two days. That means 31 days of unanswered prayers. 31 days without Sierra: A month too long.

We are people of milestones. Together, we celebrate birthdays, anniversaries, engagements, weddings, promotions, graduations. Then there are those who are tied together by milestones of a darker kind – deaths, tragedies, kidnappings, murders, abductions. Dates forever branded in your memory. For Polly’s family:  October 1st. Our family: May 27th. Now, Sierra’s family: March 16th.

At points throughout the day today, I found myself angry – disgusted at the monsters that have imposed those dates upon us. Those days will never just pass by without notice. For Sierra’s family, March 16th will never be just another day.

One reporter said to me, “I heard there were over eight families here who have gone through a similar situation. Can you tell me about them?” I was almost paralyzed by that question – where do I start? We are connected by milestones of tragedy – ragged, pained threads that bind us together. Given the choice, we would have much rather lived in ignorance – our families untouched and our loved ones unharmed. But, here we are.

As the month milestone approaches, I pray for all the strength in the world for Marlene, Steve, Danielle, Rick, Ashley, Connie, Keith, Sierra’s cat Chester, and the rest of her family, so they may find solace in each other on Monday the 16th. I pray for persistence and leadership for the volunteers so they may continue their efforts as time continues. I pray for safety for our search teams.

I pray for Sierra – for her life, her warmth and her safety.  I pray that one day we will celebrate another milestone – the day she returns home to her family.

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