DWITS #15 – Chapter 12, Our Choices Have Consequences

Possibly the most difficult chapter in this book for me to consider, to write, and likely for you to read, concerns the tragic murder of my beloved teen daughter. It was the incident in my life that prompted me to write this book. The following is a mid-chapter excerpt.

+++

(Chapter begins in book.)

The second time she ran away, Destiny remained homeless in our town, walking aimlessly on the streets. She did not want to live with us at home nor with any stable roommates in town. Concerned friends contacted me frequently to report on her situation when they saw her wandering, unkempt, not her usual well-put-together self; sullen, not her usually out-going self.

Six months later, the police telephoned me to share that a flophouse roommate had reported her missing. After that, a nationwide missing persons’ search was conducted for my wayward daughter and the older man she had last been seen with, who was a known meth dealer.

After a long week of gut-wrenching anxiety, wondering where this all would lead to, the man’s body was recovered. It was found in an abandoned shed in the middle of our small town. Presumably, he had fallen victim to a drug-related territorial take over. He was murdered, his body dumped where it was sure to be found to confirm the hit.

For another interminably long week, we lived in dread and fear of what news we would hear next. We hoped against hope, but I knew instinctively that Destiny must have met a similar fate. At last, to our horror and disbelief, her body was found in a remote, abandoned hog barn. My daughter’s once beautiful face was crushed during her murder, her previously toned physique was lifeless, partially burned, insect devoured, and weather decayed.

(Chapter continues in book.)