afitzy
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I wanted to post this OPEd piece that I just saw in the 'Cupcake' Mckinney case - she is a 3 yo that seemed to simply vanish just like Dulce. This piece applies to Dulce IMO and the case just needs "ONE PERSON" that knows something to have the courage to come forward.
Johnson: To the ‘someone’ who knows of Cupcake’s whereabouts
Johnson: To the ‘someone’ who knows of Cupcake’s whereabouts
Updated 9:19 AM; Today 7:21 AM
By Roy S. Johnson | rjohnson@al.com
This is an opinion column. [BBM]
It’s easy to turn away when it’s not your child.
Easy to say the searing pain is someone else’s.
Easy to post a praying hands emoji on your social media page, pin a purple ribbon to your chest, then dive back into your regularly scheduled life.
That’s a lie. It’s excruciating.
Obviously so if you’re a parent. Even if you’re not.
If you’re just an auntie or uncle or ma-maw or papa or cuz or a sibling. If you’re anyone who’s survived a sugar-fueled birthday party jam-crammed with high-pitched screams of giddy children.
If you cannot fathom one of them being snatched in the midst of the joy. Snatched from the safety of a world they know and taken.
To God knows where.
Three-year-old Kamille “Cupcake” McKinney is somewhere. And someone knows where.
Someone knows if she’s hungry. Someone knows if she’s shivering in the pink, Minnie Mouse/leopard T-shirt and shorts she was wearing Saturday night when a man stepped out of a black SUV and lifted her from a parking lot in Tom Brown Village in Avondale. Grabbed her as she played with friends.
At a birthday party.
Someone knows if her blue, white and yellow bows in her hair are still in place. Or if she’s still barefoot because her shoes were left behind in the parking lot.
Someone knows. “Someone on the sideline,” is how Birmingham police chief Patrick Smith described them at a Tuesday afternoon briefing.
Someone who’s not saying. Sadly. Infuriatingly.
Kamille McKinney: What we know now
The abduction happened about 8:30 p.m. Saturday at Tom Brown Village public housing community off of Messer-Airport Highway.
Six-thousand dollars has thus far been offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person who abducted Cupcake—$5,000 by Gov. Kay Ivey’s office, $1,000 by an anonymous citizen.
That’s not enough, at least not yet. Not enough for someone to say what they know.
Crimestoppers, the anonymous, non-profit tip-line that offers awards up to $5,000 for tips leading to arrests or charges, lists the abduction as its Crime of the Week.
It’s not enough, either. Not enough for someone to bring Cupcake home.
Or say where she may be.
Another citizen launched a campaign to aid Cupcake’s family with expenses “during this horrible time”. The gesture, however well-intended, was not taken well by all. After a tsunami of social media shaming, the organizer shut it down Tuesday and said donations—$2,610, more than double the $1,000 goal—would be refunded.
3-year-old abducted, search underway
The possible kidnapping happened about 8:30 p.m. Saturday in Tom Brown Village.
Amber alerts don’t always move us. They disrupt our regularly scheduled life then fade from view on our phone, television or laptop.
In the last few weeks and months, many other young Alabamians have been listed as missing after disappearing and triggering searches. Among them:
Someone.
Wednesday evening, unless Cupcake is prayerfully home by then, will be the fourth straight night she has not slept in her own bed. Probably the only bed she knows.
It’s easy to turn away when it is not your neighbor’s child.
Easy when the deep, deep pain, and especially the fear, is someone else’s.
Easy to shake your head at the latest update and straighten the purple ribbon to your chest.
Easy, even, to say a prayer.
That’s a lie. It’s excruciating.
Because someone knows.
Johnson: To the ‘someone’ who knows of Cupcake’s whereabouts
Johnson: To the ‘someone’ who knows of Cupcake’s whereabouts
Updated 9:19 AM; Today 7:21 AM
By Roy S. Johnson | rjohnson@al.com
This is an opinion column. [BBM]
It’s easy to turn away when it’s not your child.
Easy to say the searing pain is someone else’s.
Easy to post a praying hands emoji on your social media page, pin a purple ribbon to your chest, then dive back into your regularly scheduled life.
That’s a lie. It’s excruciating.
Obviously so if you’re a parent. Even if you’re not.
If you’re just an auntie or uncle or ma-maw or papa or cuz or a sibling. If you’re anyone who’s survived a sugar-fueled birthday party jam-crammed with high-pitched screams of giddy children.
If you cannot fathom one of them being snatched in the midst of the joy. Snatched from the safety of a world they know and taken.
To God knows where.
Three-year-old Kamille “Cupcake” McKinney is somewhere. And someone knows where.
Someone knows if she’s hungry. Someone knows if she’s shivering in the pink, Minnie Mouse/leopard T-shirt and shorts she was wearing Saturday night when a man stepped out of a black SUV and lifted her from a parking lot in Tom Brown Village in Avondale. Grabbed her as she played with friends.
At a birthday party.
Someone knows if her blue, white and yellow bows in her hair are still in place. Or if she’s still barefoot because her shoes were left behind in the parking lot.
Someone knows. “Someone on the sideline,” is how Birmingham police chief Patrick Smith described them at a Tuesday afternoon briefing.
Someone who’s not saying. Sadly. Infuriatingly.
Kamille McKinney: What we know now
The abduction happened about 8:30 p.m. Saturday at Tom Brown Village public housing community off of Messer-Airport Highway.
Six-thousand dollars has thus far been offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person who abducted Cupcake—$5,000 by Gov. Kay Ivey’s office, $1,000 by an anonymous citizen.
That’s not enough, at least not yet. Not enough for someone to say what they know.
Crimestoppers, the anonymous, non-profit tip-line that offers awards up to $5,000 for tips leading to arrests or charges, lists the abduction as its Crime of the Week.
It’s not enough, either. Not enough for someone to bring Cupcake home.
Or say where she may be.
Another citizen launched a campaign to aid Cupcake’s family with expenses “during this horrible time”. The gesture, however well-intended, was not taken well by all. After a tsunami of social media shaming, the organizer shut it down Tuesday and said donations—$2,610, more than double the $1,000 goal—would be refunded.
3-year-old abducted, search underway
The possible kidnapping happened about 8:30 p.m. Saturday in Tom Brown Village.
Amber alerts don’t always move us. They disrupt our regularly scheduled life then fade from view on our phone, television or laptop.
In the last few weeks and months, many other young Alabamians have been listed as missing after disappearing and triggering searches. Among them:
- Carleigh Norman, 18, listed as last seen in Chelsea on September 17
- Mykala Peoples, 17, noted as missing in Jasper since September 4
- Mariyah Ross, 17, from Fairfield, listed as missing since June 13
- Michael Fitzpatrick, Mobile, noted as missing since August 9
- Jennifer Reynoso Perez, 14, listed as missing in Enterprise since June 25
- Keri Kemp, 18, last seen in Trussville on September 7
Someone.
Wednesday evening, unless Cupcake is prayerfully home by then, will be the fourth straight night she has not slept in her own bed. Probably the only bed she knows.
It’s easy to turn away when it is not your neighbor’s child.
Easy when the deep, deep pain, and especially the fear, is someone else’s.
Easy to shake your head at the latest update and straighten the purple ribbon to your chest.
Easy, even, to say a prayer.
That’s a lie. It’s excruciating.
Because someone knows.
