Joseph Helt

Found this article about Joseph Helt, who’s been missing from New York since 1987. He was 17 years old at the time. He was only recently added to the NCMEC and I had little information on him, but this article provides more. It still looks to me like he simply became lost in the snowstorm and died of exposure, but his family and friends would like to see him returned home no matter what condition he’s in.

Missing Afghan exchange student found safe in Canada

I hadn’t written about this before, but I had been following the case of Mohammed Karim Azizi, a 15-year-old boy from Afghanistan who had been missing since October. He was in Ohio on a cultural exchange thing, living with a host family and going to school. He disappeared in Indianapolis after going to an FFA (Future Farmers of America) convention. He had cleaned out his school locker, which indicated he was planning to leave.

There were a lot of comments about how perhaps he had joined a terrorist cell or some such thing, but the police focused on the theory that Mohammed had defected to Canada. If Mohammed obtained political asylum in Canada and citizenship, he could bring the rest of his family over. He has seven siblings and his dad is a shopkeeper.

Well, word got out today that Mohammed Azizi has indeed been found in Canada, though it’s unclear whether or not he’s applied for asylum. Best of luck to him, whichever path he chooses for his future.

Memorial service for Clara Grunst

The mother of Clara Marie Grunst, a 21-year-old who disappeared from Missouri in 1984, is holding a memorial service for her sometime later this year. This article says the service will likely be in early May. Clara’s mother, Virginia, had accepted the fact that her daughter is most likely dead. The police questioned the truck driver who picked her up hitchhiking, and he gave inconsistent stories about her disappearance, but there was never enough evidence to charge anybody.

Gah, gah, gah, gah…

So Dr. Easley referred me to a neurology clinic, who called and left a message asking me to schedule an appointment. I called, and they said the earliest they could see me was…August 23.

Seven months from now.

“I’m taking morphine,” I squeaked. “I’ve been in terrible pain for months and it’s getting worse.”

“Would you like to be put on the waiting list in case there’s a cancellation?” the secretary asked.

“I’m taking morphine,” I repeated desperately. Did I mention the appointment was seven months from now?

“There’s nothing else I can do.”

So I told her to sign me up for August 23 and put my name on the waiting list. Then I went to my father crying. I could not believe that I would have to wait that long. NO ONE should have to wait that long for a doctor’s appointment, especially for an unknown condition that is causing excruciating pain. By August, at this rate, I will be a vegetable.

Dad called Dr. Easley’s office for me (since I was sobbing uncontrollably at the time) and told them about the August 23 thing. He spoke to a secretary and then to a nurse. Both of them, he claims, said an August appointment is ludicrous. He hung up and said they had promised to find someone else for me. Well, a few hours later I checked my voice mail and I got a call from Easley’s telling me that they’ve got me booked with someone for…next Tuesday. I don’t even know who, they didn’t say, I will have to call back tomorrow for more info. But next Tuesday sounds wonderful. Certainly better than August! Go Dad! Go Dr. Easley’s office!

Meanwhile, the morphine seems to be keeping my pain under control. I start to feel prickly around 7:30 a.m., when I wake up, and then again twelve hours later… both times when I am due to take another morphine pill. Which makes me inclined to believe that it’s the morphine, not the steroids, that are working. But who knows? I certainly hope the neurologist will.