Poor Teleka. What a tragedy.
But I owe this group my thanks -- thank you for all of the data, leads, tips, and support. All of it was vital to creating the twitter tool that we used to analyze Teleka's social media data. It was great to see everyone pull together. Most of all though, I want to think this group for caring so much. Missing people tend to be a blip on the news and then forgotten. The people on this website show compassion, patience, understanding, and an unholy amount of determination to keep these cases alive and if Teleka had survived that night, I have no doubt that you would've been among the first to find her footprint. Amazing job, on this case and many others.
I also appreciate how most of the media handled this case -- this very sensational tale involving so many titillating angles was handled with restraint and with a goal of bringing her home. Julie Mack and Rex Hall, Jr. in particular were outstanding.
So -- I'm left with a massive tweet database that through raw word count alone could fill three novels. I'm in the unique position of curating this huge body of work belonging to someone who is now no longer with us. What to do with it?
Well, I learned a few things about Teleka Patrick through all of this. The first, and the most inspiring, was her fierce will to live despite steep obstacles. Even in her final hour, I have no doubt that all of the driving and running that she was doing was, in her mind, to preserve her life. The second thing was that she had a huge desire to help people psychiatrically. She would have, at the very least, made an outstanding scientist. And the third was that she may have been in love with an imaginary person, but her feelings were strong and she spent a lot of time trying to (publicly through twitter) work them out. Her tweets show someone who struggles daily and won many battles before losing the war. It's a very intimate, heartbreaking, and somewhat frightening cautionary tale, stronger than most any fiction, and a way, a masterpiece in its own right. I can see the potential for it to do some good for society on many levels. In a way, Dr. Patrick will fulfill one of her life goals through the publicity surrounding her disappearance and death. My decision at this point in time, based on these reasons and the fact that she posted all of this to a public forum to begin with, is to keep it online.
Again -- what a tragedy. But thank you for all of your help and determination. It was an honor working with all of you!