Their Loss Could Well Be Ours

The world seems like a much smaller place when tragedy enters your life. There is a sense of loneliness, where everyone else is far away - or at the least not understanding. It is a cruel fate to be a brother, sister, parent, or child of someone who has been taken away from you, never to be seen or heard from again. The anguish of not knowing your loved one’s fate is almost as hard as coming to grips with the likelihood that he or she will never return.

(photo right: Brianna Maitland, missing since March 19th, 2004)

I have been collecting cases of unsolved murders and missing persons for two years now. In every case, the family’s heartache has been a very heavy burden on their lives. Visit the website tribute of murder victim Zoltan Kiss, of Connecticut. Read the anguish of his mother as she tries to live on without her beloved son.

I have met many people who have had no interest and no time to listen to the stories that these families have to tell. But I will say this to any one of them who might be reading this message: Today it is another's anguish and sorrow; tomorrow it could be yours. No one on this earth is exempt from being abducted or killed by another. You are alive today and you have your friends and your family. You have a full schedule tomorrow – visiting people, going shopping, maybe a lunch date. But by this time tomorrow, you or someone you love could be gone.

Lori Leonard had plans. She was planning on going to New York City to pick up some Yankees tickets. But she never made it there. Just like that she was gone. Her family sent out letters and e-mails, and they pleaded with anyone who would listen to help them find their Lori.

Lori was found, and her ex-boyfriend was charged with her murder.

Other families go on without such closure. Tina Sinclair and her fifteen-year-old daughter, Bethany (right), disappeared from our sight on the night of Saturday, February 3rd, 2001. The last time either woman was heard from was when Bethany called her boyfriend after she got home from a movie date with him. She ended the call at about 12:30am to go do her laundry. Neither she nor her mother were ever seen or heard from again. There is a “person of interest” in this case – Tina’s then-boyfriend, whose home the girls lived in. But there is no sign of the women, and no charges have ever been filed.

Tina’s sister is still searching for her. It has been a long search, and a sad one.

Tina Sinclair

(More on Tina and Bethany can be found HERE and HERE.)

There are dozens of other stories just like these all across America. The families left behind are just like ours. The brothers, sisters, and children that have been lost are just like ours. So take the time to listen if you can, or if you care enough to hear them.

And remember this: The next time you read a story of missing person, that person may very well be someone you love.