We awoke the last morning of the tour to rainy and cold weather. The bleak outdoors, however, had no affect on my mood....Recharged, excited to begin our last day...I thought I would be sad but I really wasn't, maybe a little pensive is all.
The rally stop, hosted by Peggy Bettis, was held at Chapin Park. The wind was really blowing and it was all we could do in the beginning to keep things where they should be. The missing persons posters on the clothesline, the candles on the table, and the playing cards...I had heard about the cards but I don't know if I had seen them before. Decks of cards featuring the pictures of the missing. Another effort to bring an awareness to cold cases, another attempt to bring in leads.
The group today were mostly familiar to me. Some Brittanee Drexel advocates with posters, here to keep the faith and also to support Dawn. The families and friends of Lisa Shuttleworth and Alice Donovan. Taking pictures of families smiling brightly holding photos and banners of their loved ones...
Susan Murphy Milano, a specialist in intimate partner violence, spoke about the link between domestic abuse and missing women, a theme that we are all well aware has permeated our tour this year.
Lisa Shuttleworth went missing from Beech Island in 2003. A 34 year old mother of 2,Lisa had
dropped her 9 year old son off at school like any other normal day. Yet by the time he and his 14 year old sister got home she had vanished..The car still in the driveway...As a mother of a recovered missing person my eyes go immediately to her mother. Having her child missing now for 8 years, having to raise her grandchildren without their mother...her daughter...the strength that must have took..Lisa's children are now young adults and were able to express having to grow up without their mother. All she missed, all they missed.. Facing the unknown every day for 8 years. Wondering, hoping, praying for answers..
Then Angie, Alice Donovan's daughter. Alice was 44 when she was abducted from a Conway Walmart in 2002 by 2 men who had escaped from jail. The men were caught, arrested and prosecuted, and received the death penalty for her kidnapping and murder in 2004. Yet Alice remained missing until 2009. Over 6 years..There is another missing woman, Samantha Burns, a 19 year old college student who was also abducted and killed by these 2 men. They pled guilty in her case also, yet she is still missing...since 2002...The search to recover her remains an ongoing CUE case..
The rallies have run the gamut from a handful of people to hundreds of people. From full out media assaults to no media. From small, intimate gatherings to stages and microphones.Each one has been unique. This group numbered about 20, I guess, with a small media presence. As Angie spoke she directed her comments directly to Lisa Shuttleworth's family..it was as if the rest of the group melted away and they were alone. Their eyes locking, connecting, the immediate bond..I was overwhelmed by it..the I know you, what you are going through, the I've been you, I am you..It happened every day on the tour because whether your loved one is still missing or has been found we know what it's like, and most people do not. So the bonding is always fairly immediate. As a matter of fact not a lot even has to be said..the moisture in your eyes as you meet someone and let them know yes me too..there are no strangers..
As each rally stop has been different so have the balloon releases. Some shout out as they release their balloon,some quietly pray, some wonder where their balloon might land, who will find it..Some watch as the balloons begin to group together as they rise..Sometimes balloons get stuck in trees as they travel upward which different families have interpreted in so many different ways. I released my balloon quickly, as I always did, so that I could watch, listen, and take pictures. As I watched Lisa's children they were standing side by side preparing to let their balloons go. Then Lisa's daughter lowered her balloon and gently kissed it before releasing it into the sky.
Elisa
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