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The Search for Rachel, a father's journal |
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Sunday, June 1, 2003 I finished a few projects around my house today. Over the past few days, I've started to feel like I'm coming down with something.Monday, June 2 I picked up some kind of head cold or virus and stayed home from work today. Hopefully I can get over this illness quickly.Tuesday, June 3 I'm still battling with this head cold or virus I caught. I'm starting to feel a little better. There are still a lot of things to work on with Rachel's case and I need to get well to pursue them.I spoke with Tim Miller, the director of Texas EquuSearch, today. A documentary on search and rescue teams is being made, and the producer wants to interview me about the Texas DNA Database. Wednesday, June 4 The cookbooks are selling well. We are down to the last 30 copies. If anyone wants one, send an e-mail to rachelalert@yahoo.com. They are $15 plus $2 shipping. ($17) The money goes to the Friends of Kristen Modaferri Foundation, which helps families of missing adults.I'm finally shaking this head cold or virus. It is a pretty bad one. I have a lot of items to get caught up on now. There is some news with the search for missing Molly Bish. A swimming suit was found last month by a hunter about five miles from where she disappeared. After a new search of that area, an arm bone was discovered. DNA tests are currently being done on the bone. My heart goes out to the Bish family. They have had years of hearing nothing, and now the worst outcome might be upon them. Thursday, June 5 I received an e-mail from missing Shawn Hornbeck's family. A cookbook is being designed as a fundraiser for the Shawn Hornbeck Foundation. Shawn's family has honored us by including something on Rachel and Sabrina Allen. I will pick out one of our family recipes which Rachel would like to include in the cookbook.I'm still avoiding people so they won't catch this cold I have. I wouldn't want anyone to go through being sick if it can be done. Friday, June 6 I am in the process of paying the last bill from the 2003 Run/Walk for Rachel. It is a long process to complete everything. I still have four medals being made for winners who have not gotten theirs.Next month Rachel will have been missing for a year and a half. I don't feel we are any closer to finding her now than we were last year. I can't understand how someone could commit this evil act and not get caught. There are only a few of these sick animals living among us. Why can't we find them? Saturday, June 7 I got caught up on e-mails and journals today. Since I still have a bit of a cold left, I rested a lot today.At some point in time, I want to start working on creating a national organization for families of missing persons. I believe there are a lot of things which need to be done to help with missing persons. People should listen to an organization made up of family members of missing persons. Sunday, June 8 I went through a big stack of Music for the Missing and Run/Walk for Rachel stuff which was left over. It's amazing how much we accumulate in a short period of time.At least we are done with fundraisers for now. They are a good way to keep Rachel in the news, but they take a lot of time and effort. As soon as I am over this cold enough to concentrate, I will finish the non-profit forms for Rachel Alert Network. We are so close to completing them, I want to get them in the mail to the I.R.S. as soon as possible. Monday, June 9 The AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN had a nice article today about my friend Greg Allen's trip to Mexico. Greg is in Mexico City for four weeks to post missing person flyers for his daughter Sabrina and to talk to the Mexican police. I wish him luck in his quest to bring Sabrina home.The bones found in Massachusetts last month have been identified as those of missing 16-year-old Molly Bish. DNA results returned a match today. My heart goes out to Molly's family. She was taken by some sick animal. I just hope that person will be caught soon. I spoke with a couple of people on the phone today about Rachel's case. Both of the leads are a long shot and probably will not go anywhere. Tuesday, June 10 Over the past two days I have spoken with or e-mailed several of the families of missing persons. We are all saddened after Molly Bish was found. It's not the kind of outcome any family wants to have.I e-mailed the webmaster of lacipeterson.com and requested that a link to Rachel's site be added on their links page. The webmaster was kind enough to add the link. Since Laci's disappearance, that web site has had a lot of traffic. We are always trying to think of ways to have Rachel's story spread across the nation. As I've always said, at least one person knows what happened to her. It's time for him or her to come forward. Rachel needs to come home to her family. Wednesday, June 11 I received a call from Tim Miller, the director of Texas EquuSearch tonight. He told me a 34-year-old Llano woman has been missing since Monday. JoAnn Campuzano was last seen in Marble Falls between 10:00 a.m. and noon on Monday, June 8, 2003. She was on her way home to Llano. Her car was found Monday night parked in a residential area of Northeast Austin.I spoke with JoAnn's brother, and he is sending a photo of her to Texas EquuSearch to be used on her missing person flyer. JoAnn's flyer should be created tomorrow morning. We are asking people to go to the Texas EquuSearch web site, texasequusearch.org, download her flyer, and post it. Some kind of search or flyer-posting campaign will probably be announced soon. Thursday, June 12 I talked to JoAnn Campuzano's family several times today. They created a missing person flyer for her and have begun to post them. I contacted three television stations and asked them to televise her story.Around 8:30 p.m. I received a call from JoAnn's brother. His sister had called him from Austin, and he had picked her up. JoAnn told her brother her car had been stolen. It's kind of strange, but I'm glad she's safe. Friday, June 13 Today has been a crazy day. When I checked my e-mail this morning I had an e-mail from Greg Allen, the father of missing Sabrina Allen. Greg included an e-mail from a Mexican teacher who knew a little girl with dyed hair and eyebrows. The girl told the teacher her father's name is Greg and her name used to be Sabrina. That little girl is Sabrina Allen.Greg said they were on the way back to Texas from Mexico. I found out later that authorities told Greg Sabrina and her mother were in custody when they were actually not in custody. Sabrina's mother has Sabrina and they are staying in a house in Mexico. Mexican authorities are watching the house. I pray that Sabrina's mother releases Sabrina as soon as possible. Saturday, June 14 Today we celebrated my grandmother Sarah's 100th birthday at our family reunion. My grandmother is a sweet lady, and the world has been graced by her presence for the past one hundred years.There is still no news on Sabrina Allen. I almost called her father Greg several times today. I felt like he needed time with his family. I will probably call him tomorrow. Father's Day will be very hard for both of us. Sunday, June 15 I spoke with missing Sabrina Allen's father Greg today. The situation in Mexico is still about the same as it was yesterday. The Mexican authorities may take action tomorrow. I told Greg there are thousands of people hoping and praying for both Sabrina and him.This Father's Day was a little easier than last year. I kept busy helping my daughter JoAnn move to a new place. Her summer classes at the University of Texas started last week. I haven't heard from the Williamson County Sheriff's Office in quite a while. Tomorrow I will probably call them. It's time for an update. Monday, June 16 I've always been bothered by the fact that law enforcement never dragged Lake Georgetown after Rachel disappeared. Early this year a submarine was brought in to search for missing Erika Dalquist in Minnesota. I contacted Erika's mother last week and asked her for the company's name.I wrote the Trident Foundation and asked them if it was too late to do a sonar search of the lake. The president responded and offered to review the case and help if possible. I will be following up on it this week. A few new leads came in last week on Rachel's case. Most of them involve psychics. and I do not pass those along to law enforcement. At least one of the other leads is worth giving to the Sheriff's Office. Tuesday, June 17 Today was a horrible day. First I heard from Greg Allen in the morning. He confirmed what I had heard - that the Mexican government did not do anything to get his missing daughter Sabrina back yesterday. Later in the afternoon it got worse. Greg told me the Mexican government quit watching the house in Mexico City where Greg's ex-wife Dara was holding Sabrina. Dara and Sabrina just left. Now no one knows where they are.I'm sorry, but it's time for me to flame the U.S. Government. I don't care if it's Mexico. They did not try hard enough to work with the Mexican government on this. Sabrina is being starved and mentally abused. An American citizen is in trouble. It's time for Greg and Sabrina to get the help they need. I'm sorry if I'm overstepping my bounds. I'm very upset about this. Sabrina needs to come home now! Late tonight I spoke with Tim Miller, the director of Texas EquuSearch. The Travis County Sheriff's Office has asked TES to come and search for missing 55-year-old Armando Solis Ramirez in Eastern Travis County. Mr. Ramires has been missing since last Sunday, and his truck was found on FM 979. We will have information available on KLBJ/AM, KVUE, and the other television stations about volunteer searcher needs tomorrow. I just spoke to Travis County Search and Rescue and they will also be helping with the search. The last piece of news is the body found in April near the Georgetown airport has been identified. The body is that of Georgetown resident 68-year-old Charles Kelsey. Mr. Kelsey was reported missing by his family in March. I don't understand why I never heard about his being missing. Wednesday, June 18 I took part in the search for missing Armando Ramirez in Manor today. Volunteers from Texas EquuSearch, Travis County Search and Rescue, and members of the Rachel Cooke Search Team participated. Nothing much was found today. The search will continue tomorrow. Volunteers should meet at the Manor Fire Station on Hunters Bend, which is just off of FM 979.I keep forgetting to mention that my friend Thad put the entire SHOWPLACE SHOWCASE program about Rachel on-line. The program was recorded on August 10, 2002. It features Pastor John Selle from Faith Lutheran Church in Georgetown, Jerry White from kvue.com, Tim Miller from Texas EquuSearch, and my wife Janet and me. I placed a link on the home page of rachelcookesearch.org. Click here to view the program. Greg Allen and I talked on the phone today. A friend of mine had a good idea; I told Greg about it and he liked it. We are asking everyone who knows someone living in or visiting Mexico to print out and post Sabrina Allen's flyers. We want to saturate Mexico with her flyers. If we do this, then his ex-wife Dara will no longer be able to hide there. Please do this for Sabrina's sake. Thursday, June 19 I forgot to mention yesterday where to download and print out missing Sabrina Allen's flyer. Her web site is findsabrina.org. Greg has just updated the "Latest Update" section.New people are looking at Rachel's web site this month. Most of them are coming from the new link on lacipeterson.com. I'm hoping some new tips on Rachel's case will come in now. Friday, June 20 The Travis County Sheriff's Office ended the search for missing Armando Ramirez last night. The area where he would most probably be found was covered by searchers and search dogs. A Department of Public Safety helicopter also was involved.I e-mailed one of Rachel's favorite recipes today to the Shawn Hornbeck Foundation. They are creating a cookbook. The cookbook will raise funds to help search for Shawn and other missing children. When the cookbook is available, I will announce it here. Saturday, June 21 My wife Janet talked to the Sheriff's Office this week. They want to have a briefing with us next week. It's been quite a while since we've talked face to face with them.I have a few suggestions and tips on Rachel's case that were e-mailed from several people. I will go over these suggestions with the Sheriff's Office. I like to check into any reasonable tip we receive. Sunday, June 22 I helped my daughter get her PC moved today to her new place in Austin. She won't have to commute to her UT classes now.One of the local Catholic churches made some rosary beads for Rachel. I think it is so kind of them to do this. Even though Rachel and I are not Catholic, maybe this will bring me closer to God. We need all the help we can get to bring our baby home. Monday, June 23 The Child Protection Education of America is doing a fundraiser involving the drawings of missing persons when they were children. I have been asked to provide them with a Christmas drawing Rachel made in elementary school. I looked through our keepsakes of her and was unable to find something from Christmas. Why didn't I save more of her things?I keep regreting not buying a video camera when the kids were young. All I have are a few segments of Rachel from friends and family who videotaped her. I remember thinking the money could be used in better places. Now we don't have Rachel. What good is the money now? Tuesday, June 24 We will have another search this Saturday and Sunday in Manor for missing Armando Solis Ramirez. The search will be in the mornings because of the intense heat. Last week we were out in 100 degree temperatures. That kind of heat drains you fast.We will meet at the Manor Fire Department on Hunter's Bend Road and FM 979 around 7:00-8:30 a.m. The search area will be expanded this week. I received the fake missing Penny Brown e-mail again today. I know everyone is concerned with missing children, but make sure to verify that they are really missing first. The best way to do this is to go to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children web site. (missingkids.com) If the child is not listed there, then it's probably a hoax unless you personally know differently. Wednesday, June 25 I spoke with Joan, the president of the Friends of Kristen Modaferri Foundation this morning. I told her we still have around 40 cookbooks to sell. I also gave her a couple of names of other missing adults' families. She is going to contact the families and offer her assistance.The Friends of Kristen Foundation is one of the few organizations which exists to help with missing adults. Joan feels the same as I do. Everyone is important. No matter how old they are. Thursday, June 26 There will be a BBQ fundraiser for Sabrina Allen this Saturday, June 28. The exact North Austin location has not been finalized. Check her wesite findsabrina.org/updates.html for the final location today or tomorrow.I updated some of the links on Rachel's site which had become out of date. All of the links should be working now. Friday, June 27 I picked up some kind of stomach virus today. It doesn't look like I will be able to search for Art Ramirez tomorrow morning. Hopefully this is only a 24-hour thing.Saturday, June 28 The virus got much worse last night. I almost went to the emergency room. It's made me really weak.I spoke with Marie this afternoon. She, along with John and Charlie, searched for Art Ramirez this morning. I'm glad some of the members of the Rachel Cooke Search Team were able to participate in the search. Sunday, June 29 I was still feeling awful, so my sister Elaine took me to the emergency room tonight.Monday, June 30 After five hours in the emergency room, I got home at 4:00 a.m. The I.V. and medicine for a stomach virus the doctor gave me seem to be helping. |
