Well, that was fun

Yeah, so I’m back from Reynoldsburg, Ohio, where they held an event today to honor the missing children of Ohio. Although I showed up in an unofficial capacity only, I had a blast.

I mainly came cause Gina DeJesus, one of the Cleveland kidnap survivors, was speaking. The event was at the Messiah Lutheran Church. I showed up slightly late and had to sit in the back. There were several speakers before Gina, and I spent some time trying to figure out which one of the people sitting in the audience was her. It was fairly easy because half or more of the attendees were black, and most of the rest were white. I zeroed in on two brown-skinned women in the front but couldn’t figure out which one was Gina. They turned out to be Gina and her older sister Myra.

My view from the back of the church during the sisters’ speeches; Gina is on the right and Myra is on the left.

Anyway, Gina read a speech off several sheets of paper about how it was important to pay attention to missing persons bulletins, and it was important to pay attention to your surroundings and the people in your neighborhood and so on because you never knew who might be hiding something. I mean, people went inside Ariel Castro’s house and had no clue about the women held captive there. I think a lot of that is because the idea that your friend, neighbor or relative might have three kidnapped women locked in his basement is just something that would not occur to most people.

Myra spoke also, and talked about what life was like having a missing family member. One of the things she mentioned was how a man known to the family told her parents, reassuringly, something like “Don’t worry, they won’t find her dead.”

That man was named Ariel Castro.

There was an intermission before a middle school choir showed up to sing a song. I went around talking to people — not Gina, I was not sure whether to approach her or not at that point — and handing out business cards. There were booths about various topics set up in the lobby and an adorable remote-controlled talking boat that went around telling people about boat safety. I told the boat about the time I nearly drowned in Lake Michigan at age five, failing to mention the fact that this near-tragedy did not involve a boat, just some poorly supervised beach time.

Me and the talking robot boat.

Gina (far right) with members of the anti human trafficking group Break Every Chain.

So after all that was over we had a balloon release in the parking lot. Fortunately the wind cooperated.

Just before the balloon release.

Post balloon release. Each one has a missing child’s name attached.

Just before we all left, I decided to approach Gina after seeing some other people do so. We didn’t really talk but she consented to have her photo taken with me before we parted ways. I wish I had remembered to smile in the picture. It was one of those days where it was cloudy out (it rained later) but the light hurt your eyes anyway, and I was squinting so hard I forgot about smiling.

Gina DeJesus (right) and me.

And then I went home.

Altogether it was a most profitable visit. I made some contacts and hope to return next  year.

Reading a book about the Ariel Castro case

Right now I’m reading a book called Captive: One House, Three Women, Ten Years in Hell by Allan Hall. It’s about that notorious Cleveland case, of course. It’s British. I’m 40 pages in and the author hasn’t even begun to discuss the abductions; he keeps talking about Castro’s background instead. Apparently he came from a more or less normal family — I mean, they weren’t perfect, but weren’t horrendous either — and none of this relatives are psychos. The next chapter is going to be about Castro’s horrible maltreatment of his wife.

Read Michelle Knight book

I haven’t updated in the last few days, partly because Michael and I have both been sick (throat infection, taking antibiotics) and partly because I had to read the book about Susan Powell and also Michelle Knight’s memoir by today because I had to give them back to the library. Well, I managed to finish both in time and will thus avoid the fine.

Michelle’s memoir is called Finding Me: A Decade of Darkness, a Life Reclaimed: A Memoir of the Cleveland Kidnappings. It says “by Michelle Knight with Michelle Burford” but I’m pretty sure Burford (described on her website as a “ghostwriter and story surgeon”) was the true author.

Not that it much matters: the more important thing is the quality of the book itself and that, I’m happy to say, is spot-on. I finished this story much more quickly than I did the Susan Powell book, moving at a fast clip (and not just because I was on a deadline). The story covers Michelle Knight’s sad childhood and adolescence in detail but without taking up too much page space, since the book is supposed to be about her ordeal with Ariel Castro. The descriptions of what she went through after the kidnapping were vivid and harrowing, but no more so than they needed to be.

In conclusion, I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in MPs. Even those who are not involved in the missing persons world, or even big true crime fans, would enjoy it.

MP books I need to read

I’ve already read quite a few nonfiction books and novels about MPs, but here’s a list of missing persons books I’ve heard about and have yet to read, in alphabetical order by author. The MP or former MP who is the subject of the book is included in parentheses. Once I have read them I’ll probably review some or most of on this blog.

You’ll note that some of the subjects of these books aren’t on Charley. That’s because either they’ve already been located, or they are non-US cases.

Hands Through Stone: How Clarence Ray Allen Masterminded Murder from Behind Folsom’s Prison Walls by James A. Ardaiz (Mary Sue Kitts)

A Stolen Life: A Memoir by Jaycee Dugard (Jaycee Dugard)

A Case for Solomon: Bobby Dunbar and the Kidnapping That Haunted a Nation by Tal McThenia and Margaret Dunbar Cutright (Bobby Dunbar)

We Is Got Him: The Kidnapping that Changed America by Carrie Hagen (Charley Ross)

Memoir of a Milk Carton Kid by Tanya Nicole Kach and Lawrence Fisher (Tanya Kach)

3,096 Days in Captivity: The True Story of My Abduction, Eight Years of Enslavement, and Escape by Natascha Kampusch (Natascha Kampusch)

Finding Me: A Decade of Darkness, a Life Reclaimed: A Memoir of the Cleveland Kidnappings by Michelle Knight and Michelle Burford (Cleveland girls)

Shannon: Betrayed From Birth by Rose Martin (Shannon Matthews)

Finding Everett Ruess: The Life and Unsolved Disappearance of a Legendary Wilderness Explorer by David Roberts (Everett Ruess)

My Story by Elizabeth Smart and Chris Stewart (Elizabeth Smart)

Also, a movie:
Abducted: the Carlina White Story (Carlina White) This is a Lifetime movie you can watch for free if you have Amazon Prime.

If anyone has any suggestions about more books I should read or movies I should watch (nonfiction only) I’d be happy to consider them as well.

Quotes in Australian media

Back when the girls in Cleveland were located, I got contacted by a whole bunch of different media people wanting to interview me. One of those was from Australia. I spoke to the reporter on the phone but never heard back from him as to what had been published, so I figured he hadn’t used my material. (That happens sometimes: not everyone who gets interviewed by a news source gets published. It’s like how if you’re researching a paper or a book you’re writing, you’re not going to use every source you come across.)

Well, I stumbled across quotes my Australian interview while looking for something else. It appears they used it after all, and just forgot to tell me about it. Here it is: The World Today: Finding missing women alive a rare occurrence.

I’m pleased that my quotes are included in the same article as Elizabeth Smart’s. I admire her very much.

This makes four continents I’ve been in the news at: North America of course, and Europe (I got interviewed by a TV station in Paris after the Cleveland girls story broke), and South America (in May 2012 I got interviewed by a TV station in Colombia) and now Australia. There remains Asia and Africa. And, I suppose, Antarctica, but what are the chances of that ever happening?

Something to chew on

This is a pretty interesting Slate article that argues that, although nobody liked Ariel Castro, we should not be rejoicing that he managed to kill himself in custody. That his death indicates some serious problems with the system that was supposed to keep him alive.

Unfortunately, much as I hate to admit it, I’m inclined to agree with them. I’m not thinking about Castro so much as other people I’ve heard about, people locked up for far lesser crimes, who were also permitted to kill themselves behind bars. The article points out that suicide is responsible for about one-third of all inmate deaths — and that’s not something anyone should be proud of.

Internet commenters can gloat that Castro’s no longer a guest of the taxpayers, but he’s also not serving his sentence. And if you want to talk about where your taxpayer money is going, you might also want to ask how it’s managing to pay for a system of “protective custody” that makes it that easy for a man to die in it.

Quite so. As for Castro himself, as the article points out:

And on NBC Wednesday, psychologist Dr. Linda Papadopoulos said that Castro “decided his fate, something [his victims] were never ever able to do for themselves. He had ultimate control. To some extent this was in a way his last slap to their faces — ‘I’ve got this over you.'” […] Today, it appears instead that Ariel Castro got to choose a means of escape – an escape that came mere weeks after his confinement — in sharp contrast to the years of isolation his victims knew. That death suggests that a man whose entire modus operandi was about power and control got to exercise his power and control right up to his final breath. And there’s no way you can convince me that’s any kind of justice, for anybody.

Ariel Castro hangs self in prison

According to absolutely everybody (but I heard it first from Justin): Ariel Castro has done the world a favor and offed himself in his prison cell.

I cannot think of anyone in the world more friendless, and less mourned, than him. Is there anyone out there, with the possible exception of his own mother, who’s going to be sorry he did it? I’m just happy that my parents’ and siblings’ hard-earned tax dollars don’t have to go towards feeding him anymore.

The only other thing I have to say is directed at the idiot on Slate who said, “They should have saved him, or at least caught him with these staggered rounds. It takes more than 30 minutes to die from hanging, sometimes hours (unless he successfully snapped his neck or crushed the esophageal tube).”

Uh, no. It does NOT typically take more than half an hour to die from hanging; I’d wager it usually takes half that time or less. I wrote about one judicial execution where the prisoner was pronounced dead after a minute and a half; for judicial hangings, the average time is around twelve minutes, whether the person’s neck breaks or not.

Ariel Castro takes plea deal, will rot in prison for the rest of his days

Ariel Castro — I need not introduce the man — has taken a plea deal to avoid a trial and inevitable conviction and death sentence.

Castro was charged with 977 counts, including aggravated murder on suspicion of ending the pregnancy of one of his captives. Under the deal, he agreed to plead guilty to 937 counts.

[Judge Michael J.] Russo told Castro that the deal would mean he would go to prison for life, plus at least 1,000 years.

That life-plus-a-millenium will probably be spent in solitary. If he so much as sticks his nose into the general population, the other prisoners will tear him to pieces.

Castro’s family, oddly enough, seem to be decent enough folks; he’s an anomaly. I feel sorry for them — imagine finding out your son, or your brother, or your dad, is such a monster. Castro’s son Anthony gave a media interview saying Daddy deserved what he got, and he doesn’t plan to visit him in prison.

A YouTube message from Michele Knight, Amanda Berry and Georgina DeJesus

I got this from Peter Henderson’s Facebook page: the three young women rescued in Cleveland have made a YouTube statement thanking the community for their support. You get to see Georgina and Michelle’s faces for, I think, the first time since they were rescued.

Gina Michelle’s statement brought tears to my eyes: “I am strong enough to walk through hell with a smile on my face and with my head held high and my feet firmly on the ground. And I will not let my situation define who I am. I will define the situation.”

State money to help the Cleveland girls

State Rep. John Barnes Jr. (D) is sponsoring the Survivors of Abduction Act, which would provide Amanda, Gina and Michelle a minimum of $25k for each year they were held captive, plus tuition and other expenses for any public college, assuming they complete their education and decide to go. (I’m not sure if Amanda’s daughter is included in this deal.)

In contemplating the case that shocked his city, Barnes said he knew nothing policymakers did could bring back the decade or more of everyday activities Berry, DeJesus and Knight missed through their ordeal: going to the beauty shop, taking a walk, attending prom, throwing a snowball.

He settled on offering them education, health care and an annual stipend from one of the crime victims’ reparations funds overseen by Attorney General Mike DeWine. Under the bill, those payments would continue for at least as many years as the abduction survivor was held in captivity.

I think it’s an excellent idea. Most people in the comments section of the article think so too. Some of them, however, are saying taxpayers should not foot the bill for this, and that the girls should just get private donations and Ariel Castro’s assets to pay for their treatment and recovery. But let’s face it, Ariel Castro isn’t worth much, and while the amount of money raised privately thus far has been considerable, it’s not nearly enough to pay for the long-term (possibly lifelong) treatment these women will need, especially considering it has to be split four ways. Other people are saying there’s no point in paying for their treatment because they are basically lost causes and will never become productive members of society.

The idea that the girls will never become productive members of society is simply incorrect. Plenty of people who have gone through experiences like that have gone on to get an education, work, raise families and live reasonably happy lives. Elizabeth Smart is the most prominent example. That young woman is amazingly well-adjusted. Shawn Hornbeck has taken some college classes, then went on leave to take a full-time job, and plans to return to get a degree in criminal justice. Alicia Kozakiewicz, who was held in a dungeon and tortured on a live video feed for several days, is in college now. Midsi Sanchez (kidnapped by at age eight and held for three days before she escaped) struggled in adolescence and did not complete high school, but she is working and has custody of her child. I think Sabine Dardenne and Natascha Kampusch both have jobs.

Obviously their recovery will be long and it will not be easy. But even if it should turn out that these women are too traumatized to work, they can still be productive members of society. People who are classified as disabled can still contribute to the world in other ways. In my opinion, helping to pay for the girls’ recovery out of the public purse will wind up saving money in the long run.

Furthermore — I don’t know about Ohio, but in a lot of states, victims of violent crime are already entitled to restitution from a crime victims fund. The money from the fund (each state has their own, I think) comes from various sources. I know that in Virginia (the only state where I have personal experience in this matter), some of it comes from the criminals themselves; that is, part of their sentence is that they have to donate money to the fund. Some of it comes from private donations. But — I’m not sure but this seems like a good guess — I bet a lot of it comes from the state.

When I was attacked in Virginia, I received information to the affect that I could apply for restitution for all sorts of expenses that might occur as a result of the crime. I did wind up applying for some reimbursement, but not as much as I was entitled to. I only asked that they cover the lab fees for my STD testing, because I was working a horrible minimum wage job and it was something like $400 and not covered by my insurance. The crime victims fund sent the money directly to the medical lab.

I could have applied for a lot more, even for gas money going to and from medical appointments, or the cost of the clothes I was wearing that night which the police took away and never gave back. But that just seemed insignificant. I already had regular counseling appointments, so I didn’t really spend anything more on gas, and I took medication already and would have kept taking it whether I had been attacked or not, and they didn’t have to raise the dose or put me on a new medicine. My clothing — jeans and a shirt from Wal-Mart — was worth like $15 or $20 at most, and I have too many clothes anyway. I could also have applied to be reimbursed the wages I lost from missing a week of work when I had that post-traumatic stress reaction and had to spend a week recovering under careful observation. But I didn’t apply for that either.

As to whether Virginia is representative of the country as a whole, I don’t know. But I think their crime victims fund was very impressive in its offerings. I hope Ohio has something similar. And I hope Rep. Barnes’s bill comes through. If we can spend billions bombing foreign countries, we can spare a little for the unfortunate people in our own country. Especially as it’s looking like (as in the Dugard case), the police dropped the ball with this and the girls might have been rescued a lot sooner than they were.