They May Be Gone But Not Forgotten

They were all little girls once. Family members and friends have the pictures of the babies and toddlers and the young, growing girls with bright names of promise: Jennifer, Laurie, Darla, Linda, Sunny.

Somewhere, the lives of these girls took a turn away from the bright into the darkness of drugs, prostitution, homelessness, despair. And their paths crossed with the path of a serial killer, a maniac possibly still hunting and murdering women in the Spokane area.

Spokane city and county police officers are investigating 20 unsolved murders of women that have happened here since 1984. They are certain that several of the women were victims of a serial killer.

Because of the murdered women’s lifestyles, it would have been easy for some to dismiss the murders. Or distance themselves from the horror. Or blame the victims and attach a low priority to the pursuit of their killer.

From the beginning, however, many in our community respected the inherent dignity of the women and recognized the inherent evil of murdering another human being. Groups and individuals have come forward to remember and remind.

Church and community groups held vigils and last week, law enforcement officers and members of six of the victims’ families gathered near Hangman Valley Golf Course in memory of the women and to ask for tips for solving the murders.

“We need to keep this in the front of our minds,” said Daneka Keith of the victim/witness unit at the Spokane County prosecutor’s office.

A group called the “Coalition for Women on The Streets” is raising money and enthusiasm for a shelter for women turned away from other shelters. Women with substance problems, women without children, women with mental illnesses, women at risk for being plucked out of life by a madman. Those involved in the coalition include a nun, a cop, a community corrections officer, a media entrepreneur and Lynn Everson, outreach worker with the Spokane Regional Health District.

Everson said: “Most of the women we have worked with have never known safety and safety is something that every human being deserves.”

Everson carries cards with her now; she distributes them to women she meets on the street. The cards read: “Do you want to let us know …that you are OK …about a bad trick …that someone is missing. Call 532-6224.”

The number is a confidential lifeline and one more symbol that the dead women aren’t forgotten and people are working together to see that the murders finally end.