As you all know, I usually write funny stuff, or stupid stuff or satire. But today I am going to be serious, because this is a serious issue.
Chillicothe, Ohio is a small town of approximately 22,000 souls located along side the Scioto River. It’s a beautiful little place, the people are friendly and the landscape is beautiful. The rolling hills are dotted with red, gold and dark green as Autumn settles in. For those of you who know nothing of this area, it was the center of the Hopewell tradition, ancient Native American who traveled across to the land to the Rockies thousands of years ago. It is also the site of Mound City which is one of the largest concentrations of burial mounds in the world.
Besides the historical and cultural aspects of this area, Chillicothe is basically a nice little town in the center of nowhere.
Sounds boring?
Not the the denizens of Ross County Ohio.
Sounds like a place no one wants visit?
Not if you ask the millions of folks that have attended the Moon Flower Festival or visited the renowned burial mounds.
Sounds like a safe little town where the most exciting thing is the occasional speeding ticket or drug dealer getting busted, just like a million other places in America?
You’d be right about that, well, until recently that is.
You see, Chillicothe Ohio has become a frightened little town in the last year. Particularly if you are a woman with children. Or if you love a woman who has children.
You see, two women disappeared on a mild day in May, 2014. These two women, 27 year-old Charlotte Trego and 30 year-old Tameka Lynch, were friends. Both women had battled drug addiction and Ms. Lynch was suffering from Lupus as well. Ms. Lynch was known to prostitute from time to time to support her habit.
Both women were mothers.
Both women had troubles.
Both women were struggling.
Ms. Lynch’s naked body was found lodged on a sandbar in Paint Creek about 20 miles from Chillicothe exactly 21 days after she went missing.
Ms. Trego has not been seen or heard from since that fateful day in May.
People having a difficult time coping with their lives disappear or even overdose while trying to escape the pain they deal with on a daily basis. It happens all the time, right?
Well, on November 3, 2014, exactly 6 six months to the day after Trego and Lynch disappeared, another woman, 37 year-old Wanda Lemons “disappeared out of thin air”. She is the mother of five children and she has yet to be found.
All was quiet in Chillicothe after that day in November. The search continued for the two missing women, although the death of Tameka Lynch was treated as an overdose and not really investigated too deeply. The children of these women cried over their mothers, they had nightmare, they had behavioral problems, they worried.
And yet the two missing women were not found.
On Christmas Eve, 2014, a young woman announces that she is pregnant. She was happy as she shared this wonderful news with her family. She visited with family and was honestly excited at the idea of being a mother. The last time her family or friends heard from 20 year-old Shasta Himelrick was when she spoke to her grandmother on evening of December 25, 2014.
Her car was found abandoned early the next morning, reportedly out of gas and with a dead battery, in a rural area close to some railroad tracks. All of her belongings were there, her purse, her cellphone, things she would have taken with her had she left willingly. Her grandmother was told there was an undisclosed amount of blood found in the car as well.
Her body was found in the river on January 2, 2015. The official statement released by the coroner states “Cause of death – drowning, Manner of Death – undetermined.” They are saying she committed suicide. The family cannot believe that verdict.
Six months later another woman, 26 year-old Tiffany Sayre disappeared. Tiffany had two children whom she loved very much. They miss her every day, as do the rest of her family and her friends.
Tiffany’s body was found on June 20, 2015, wrapped in a sheet beside a creek bed not far from where the body of Tameka Lynch was found a few weeks before.
Another woman, Timberly Claytor 38 years-old, was found shot to death in an abandoned building not from from where one of the other victims had been found. There has been an indictment in the death of Ms. Claytor, although investigators are reportedly still looking into the circumstances surrounding her death.
Then there is the case of 22-year-old JAYME BOWEN, last seen last Thursday morning April 10th, 2014, at around 10 a.m. Jayme was making the short walk from her sister's home to her parents' place, located a few blocks away. She never arrived. And hasn’t been heard of since. Jayme is from Columbus, Ohio, only a short drive of 48 miles. Could she be one more in a growing list of missing or dead?
What about 25 year-old Megan Lancaster? She is from the Columbus area and has been missing for more than two years now. Her car was also found abandoned and she also left behind a young child. Megan’s car was found in Portsmouth, Ohio, which is approximately ninety one miles from Columbus. The odd part? Chillicothe is DIRECTLY in the center between Columbus and Portsmouth!
Then there is 22 year-old Jade Humble who went missing on December 4, 2014. She, as well as others in this story, just disappeared. It’s out of character for her, she is known to be a devoted and loving daughter, as well a a dependable friend. She disappeared from Cincinnati, Ohio, which is about a hundred miles away from Chillicothe.
There are other women that are missing from this area as well, some stretching back as far as 2006. But of course, the popular train of thought is not connecting all of them, I mean, what serial killer would work an area for nine years? Besides, there has been arrest in several of the cases, so there is no way possible that it has all been the work of one person, right?
I’m not so sure. I mean, I am not a serial killer by no means, I’ve never killed anyone (although there have been times……). But I look at it from this point of view, IF you are doing something (killing/abducting women) that is illegal and you find a place where you can continue your “work” without being suspected, then why would you leave? IF you are killing/abducting women and there are more than a view “at risk” women within a hundred mile radius, why would you go any further away? IF other people are being arrested in connection with some of the missing/slain cases, do you really want to leave?
Yes, there have been arrest in some of the cases, people like Ernest J. Moore A.K.A. “Dollar Bill”, who was declared a “”Parole Violator at Large” is being thought of as a suspect by the Missing Women’s Task Force. He is still in custody today.
But does he actually have anything to do with the disappearances of these women? Are all the disappearances and deaths connected or are we just seeing shadows in the dark?
Do a little bit of research for yourself. Search places like https://www.findthemissing.org/ for missing women in Ohio, then notice how many are missing from the Columbus, Chillicothe, Cincinnati, Portsmouth areas. There are many.
Is this area of Ohio just a dangerous place for women to live? Or is it just a fact that those that are troubled by drugs or get involved in the sex trade JUST DO NOT MATTER to the rest of us?
I’m sure all of us have known people who, for whatever reason, get involved in drugs. We may even know some who have, again for whatever reason, gotten involved in prostitution. Does that mean they are of lesser value than the rest of us? Does that mean that their lives do not count?
Lately we’ve heard a lot of people screaming “Black lives matter”, shouldn’t it be ALL LIVES MATTER? I’m not talking racial lines, I’m not talking police/public violence, I’m talking about women who are dying or disappearing at an alarming rate!!
THEY MATTER! Drugs and prostitution doesn’t equal being valueless.
Please, if you are reading this and you know ANYTHING about any of these women, CONTACT THE AUTHORITIES.
Or, go to https://www.facebook.com/missingpersonfromohio for more info and/or contact information.
There are many FB pages dedicated to the missing, check some of them out, YOU could have information that is important, even if you don’t realize it!!
And please, keep these women and their families in your thoughts and prayers. We never know, one of us could be next.
