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The Search for Rachel, a father's journal

Thursday, July 1, 2004

Today I met Greg Allen, the father of missing Sabrina Allen, for lunch. Greg just got back from another trip to Mexico. Sabrina and her mother are still believed to be in Mexico.

Greg told me about some of his activities while in Mexico. He sent out 700 postcards to places in Mexico and also visited many places where Sabrina and Dara may have gone. There are a few leads which might produce something, but as Greg and I have always found, most leads turn out to be deadends.

Friday, July 2

I guess I haven't made myself clear enough about how I feel about psychic leads. For the first six months after Rachel disappeared, I checked into leads from over 25 psychics. Not a single lead produced one piece of evidence about who took Rachel, where she is, or anything else.

I want to make it very simple. I do not want to hear about any more visions, dreams, feelings, etc. What we need are facts. I welcome psychics to check out leads themselves if they want to. I have kept an on-line journal for almost two and a half years. Any question a psychic might have can be answered by reading this or looking at everything on www.rachelcookesearch.org.

I do not want to hear from psychics unless they have one of the following: the first and last name of the person(s) who took Rachel, the exact location where Rachel is now (street address or GPS location), and/or the license plate of the car that Rachel was taken in.

Saturday, July 3 through Monday, July 5

I took most of the three day weekend off. It gave me a chance to catch up on e-mails and some things around the house.

Tuesday, July 6

We are still trying to get the word out about the next M.U.S.T. self-defense and awareness seminar. The seminar is this Sunday, July 11, from 2:00-5:00 at B's Gathering House in Round Rock. Directions and more information may be found on rachelalert.org/must.

I added a picture of the cookbook cover to the Rachel Alert Network Cookbook information page. The page is rachelalert.org/cookbook.

Wednesday, July 7

More notices about the July 11 M.U.S.T. seminar were sent out today. We haven't had the usual amount of reservations, and we'd like to have over 40 females at the seminar. It's hard to get a good turnout in summer. Everyone is busy with other activities.

Some good news came out about an Amber Alert issued this week for an abducted 8-year-old Indiana girl. The Indiana State Police and the Lafayette Police canceled the Amber Alert yesterday afternoon after the girl and the suspect were found in Nuevo Laredo Mexico. The suspect is in custody, and the girl is safe. I'm glad my friend JR posted this on Rachel's Message Board. The man and girl traveled through Texas on the way to Mexico.

Thursday, July 8

A few more reservations for this Sunday's M.U.S.T. seminar are coming in. It looks like we may have a good turnout after all.

The Center for Missing Adults called me today. They are finalizing the missing person case training course for law enforcement. The CEO course will have a final "walk through" in early September and the first course will follow a few weeks after that.

The CEO training course is for sheriffs, police chiefs, and other high ranking law enforcement officials. I will be flying to Phoenix to deliver a victim's impact statement as part of the course.

Friday, June 9

More reservations are coming in for Sunday's M.U.S.T. seminar. Angela, our host at B's Gathering House, has been working hard to spread the word about the seminar in the Round Rock area. B's is a great site to hold the seminars. Everything always goes smoothly there.

I'm still working to acquire a donated site to teach a South Austin M.U.S.T. seminar in the fall. We hope to have a seminar in the October timeframe there.

Saturday, July 10

Today marked two and a half years since Rachel disappeared. We have had two and a half years with no answers. Who took her and why?

Sunday, July 11

Around 40 women and teens attended our M.U.S.T. self-defense and awareness seminar today. That is good attendance for a Sunday afternoon in the summer. We will have the next seminar in September. The exact date and time will be announced later this month.

Project Jason has been adding new missing persons to its "Adopt a Missing Person" program. People who are interested in spreading the word about a missing person may visit www.projectjason.org/adopt.

Monday, July 12

We had the Rachel Alert Network Officers' meeting tonight. We reviewed the cookbook status and talked about the upcoming children's health and back to school events. My sister Elaine discussed a Texas crime victims' handbook we purchased.

Tuesday, July 13

We have 14 people registered for this Sunday's advanced M.U.S.T. seminar. A few others may also decide to attend. It's good to have the advanced seminars smaller because we can give more one-on-one attention.

I should have the date of the next M.U.S.T. seminar posted next week. The seminar will be on a weeknight in late September or October.

Wednesday, July 14

I received a notice from the cookbook publisher that the Rachel Alert Network cookbooks are about to be shipped. I will probably put the order forms on-line tomorrow on rachelalert.org.

I was hoping the cookbooks would arrive early. There are a lot of people who want to buy one or more of them.

Thursday, July 15

The cookbooks will arrive tomorrow. I put the order form on rachelalert.org this morning. We have already sold more than ten books. I expect to sell several cookbooks in the first few days because a lot of people have been waiting to purchase them. People may order the cookbooks on-line using a credit card or by printing out a form and mailing their order to us.

We are already getting requests from Canada and Europe for the cookbook. I need to calculate the postage before I can add foreign country shipments to the order form.

Friday, July 16

The cookbooks arrived today, and I even mailed 15 out to people. I'm very pleased with the books; I'm glad we went with the hardback cover and noncontinuous recipes (the recipes don't span pages). Mary Lyall told me those were the most important extras to pay for. Mary and Doug used the same publisher for their cookbook to support the search for their missing daughter Suzanne and their organization.

The cookbook sales are starting to take off. I am going to write an e-mail to all of the recipe contributors and let them know the books are ready.Several of the contributors want to buy one.

Saturday, July 17 and Sunday, July 18

Sixteen females attended Sunday's advanced M.U.S.T. seminar. A ROUND ROCK LEADER reporter and photographer covered the event. The students were taught additional self-defense moves and then paired up with each other to practice the moves.

I sent out notices to about half of the cookbook recipe contributors informing them that the cookbooks are now on sale. I will finish sending e-mails to the rest of the contributors today.

Monday, July 19

We have now sold over 100 Rachel Alert Network Cookbooks. We expect they will continue to sell well the rest of this month. In the fall we will be selling them at different events around Central Texas. The cookbooks will make great Christmas presents.

Tuesday, July 20

I'm putting together some information to send to the National Center for Missing Adults in Phoenix. I will be sending them a rough draft of my victim impact statement I will be making to the law enforcement training class on missing person cases.

I mailed another batch of cookbooks today. The orders are still coming in. We have been mailing them out everyday but starting next week we will only mail 2 or 3 times a week. People will still get the cookbooks in a reasonable amount of time.

Wednesday, July 21

I was interviewed on KVUE's Day Break morning show today. We discussed the new Rachel Alert Network cookbook. The interview informed the public about RAN and its mission. Hopefully a few cookbook sales will also be generated from the show. Rachel Alert Network will be at two back to school events on Saturday, August 7. One will be in Austin, and one will be in Round Rock at the new Round Rock sports complex at Highway 620 and Parmer Lane. We will be handing out safety information. More details on the two events will be available soon.

Thursday, July 22

We sold 140 cookbooks in the first week of sales. That's not bad at all. I hope we sell many more before the cookbook publishing bill is due. By winter I expect to have to order more cookbooks.

I mailed our first international cookbook order to Canada. We also have people in Finland, Norway, Australia, and the U.K. who want to order a cookbook.

Friday, July 23

I sent a copy of my Dallas presentation at the TDCJ Crime Victim Clearinghouse Conference to the Center for Missing Adults. I will use part of that information in my victim impact statement at the CEO training on missing adult cases.

Several requests for help have come in this week. Eric Sears is missing from Joshua Tree National Park in California. Jennifer Wilkerson is missing from Lubbock. The most publicized missing person is Lori Hacking from Salt Lake City. Rachel Alert Network, Project Jason, and Texas EquuSearch are all concerned with these cases.

Saturday, July 24 and Sunday, July 25

Searchers who were looking for missing Eric Sears in Joshua Tree National Park, California, found human remains on Saturday. The remains are those of a male in his late teens, which means it is probably Eric. My thoughts and prayers go out to Eric's family.

Another psychic called me this weekend. When I explained that I have already talked to over 25 other psychics which produced nothing, she understood. She also admitted that a psychic will probably never be able to produce a person's first and last name or car license plate number.

The cookbook sales are still going strong. We received our second cookbook order from Canada. That order and others will be shipped out this week.

Monday, July 26

I met with law enforcement late this afternoon. They had a few questions about Rachel's habits and activities. I was informed that some new leads have come in on Rachel's case. The leads are currently being checked into.

I added another missing young woman to the links page on Rachel's web site. Twenty-four-year-old Tamika Antonette Huston has been missing since early June, 2004, from Spartanburg, South Carolina. Tamika's web site is tamikahuston.com.

Tuesday, July 27

While I was tied up with personal matters the last few days, several cookbook orders came in. Orders are arriving from all over the United States. We also received two orders from Canada and one from Norway.

I received a surprise package from our Laci Peterson ribbonmaker. She sent a new batch of Rachel's ribbons. These ribbons have a built-in pin, which makes them easier to wear. Gina is so wonderful. She will be getting a package from Rachel's team soon. I wonder what it could be?

Wednesday, July 28

I spoke with Tim Miller from Texas EquuSearch. He called the Lubbock Sheriff's Office and offered assistance in the search for missing Jennifer Wilkerson. The Sheriff's Office did not need any help at this time. Rachel Alert Network and Project Jason have both extended an offer to help Jennifer's family with flyers, buttons, and other things.

Thursday, July 29

Law enforcement called me twice today to ask questions about Rachel and the reward. Hopefully one or more of the leads they are working on will pan out.

The $50,000 reward for information about Rachel's disappearance is still in place. A reward committee made up of three people decides who will get the money and how much of the $50,000 they will get. It could be that multiple leads help solve the case. If that happens, the reward will be divided between the people turning in tips.

Friday, July 30

I spoke with Tim Miller from Texas EquuSearch. He called the Lubbock Sheriff's Office and offered assistance in the search for missing Jennifer Wilkerson. The sheriff's office did not need any help at this time. Rachel Alert Network and Project Jason have both extended an offer to help Jennifer's family with flyers, buttons, and other things.