Thinking aloud writing today’s updates

Laurie Lynn Bradshaw: *Googles the name of the guy driving her car* Weird…no sign of him on the internet at all. The article saying they can’t find him is from August 1987. I wonder if he ever did turn up?

Joanne Long Fugett: The date of birth given on this obituary would match Joanne’s age; this is probably her. I’ve seen such notices for MPs who have been declared legally dead. But why would Joanne get declared legally dead just seven months after her disappearance?

Donna Kay Gibson: My God, if someone abducted this poor woman (which looks likely) when she had laryngitis… She wouldn’t even been able to scream for help.

Miller Smith Harlow: This is a strange case. It looks like it must have been foul play, but why? Who would want to kill this harmless, likable retiree?

Abdallah Ahmed Hassan and Barkad Ilyas Hassan: Weird, two guys with the same surname disappear from the same city just two weeks apart. Probably not related though. Hassan is a really common Muslim name. Abdallah was apparently Somali. I wonder if Barkad and his friend Hamza Okie were too? The photos all look like passport-type pics.

Francisco Arroya Hernandez: The Virginia State Police page mistakenly calls him “Franciso” and then refers to him as “Francisco” in the text of the document; I wonder if “Arroya” is also a mistake and it’s supposed to be “Arroyo.”

From the VSP page also, La-Teasha LaMone Brooks and Heather Dialian Hodges have one new photo each.

Jacob Wetterling’s body found

Well, it’s hit the news like lightning today: it’s not officially confirmed yet with DNA, but yeah, Jacob Erwin Wetterling is coming home at last. The prime suspect in his case has lead the cops to human remains in an unspecified location.

I never had much hope that Jacob was alive, especially after all the crap about Daniel Heinrich came out, but this announcement still makes me feel pretty sick. Thinking about what that poor little boy went through before his death. And his family, what they’ve been through in the nearly 30 years since.

You just know that Jacob’s brother and the other boy that was with them must have blamed themselves for years, and maybe still do. Even though there was nothing they could have done, even though this was a grown man with a gun and they were terrified children. People always blame themselves in situation like this. It’s easier to say “This has to be my fault somehow” than face up to the cold hard truth that the world is a cold, ruthless, capricious place and everything you know and love can be taken from you forever in a random instant.

Jacob’s mom, Patty, texted the media this simple statement: “All I can confirm is that Jacob has been found and our hearts are broken. I am not responding to any media yet as have no words.”

Per the same article as Patty’s statement, Daniel Heinrich’s brother has said he feels so sorry for the Wetterlings and is glad they found their son at last. The family members of such people are usually-forgotten-about secondary victims in cases like this. Plenty of perfectly decent people have relatives who are monsters — believe me, I know — and I always try to remember the families of those monsters in my thoughts.

And I remember Jacob. The little boy who loved sports and video games and making models from kits. R.I.P.