Sistahs, Doing It for Themselves...

When Jayme Closs' parents were killed and she was kidnapped in Barron Co., Wisc., investigators initially were stymied.  They put in booku OT hours investigating every "tip" that came in, but their independent investigation came to naught.  Eventually, they pulled back the hours, and asked for the public's help and prayers to find the missing girl.  At the courthouse, at Christmas time, they put up a memorial tree for Jamie, to let her know -- if she was alive out there, that she was not forgotten. 

She was however, on her own.  They were clueless to help her.

Jayme was being kept under the bed of her abductor, a young man -- one of ours -- who had graduated local public school in the northwoods.  She eventually freed herself and ran, into the arms of a social worker out walking her dog that winter day, who recognized the girl, took her in, and with the help of neighbors protected her until police arrived...

This weekend, another woman worked with law enforcement to provide the missing clue that brought the body of another missing young woman home.  She went through video she and her husband had captured on their dash-mounted GoPro camera, and found footage of Gabby's travel van, where it was parked that day at a remote campground...

From this video, police were able to focus their search, locate the body and bring some comfort to the family, having her "home" in one piece at least. (The poor parents of the service members killed in Afghanistan sadly did not even get that... they got body parts, not all intact either.)

It's not the fault of law enforcement, but a gentle reminder that sometimes information is more valuable than big men with guns, being masculine but needing help in solving crimes, or better: preventing crimes before they happen.  Now, the hunt is on for Gabby's killer...  Let's hope the police fare better at finding him alive.  White women deserve justice too.