You all must remember, Christina did not write her obituary, her family did.
Hello, this is my first post on the forum. I am another one of Lauren's cousins; in fact, the shoes she was wearing had actually belonged to me before I grew out of them & my mom gave them to my aunt for Lauren. I don't remember her but there are photos of the 2 of us playing together as young kids (I was born in 1985). I find it incredible that so many people are still interested in what happened to Lauren - it is very inspiring!
Two things I would like to add to the discussion here:
1) Again, to reiterate the point that Lauren's mother (my maternal aunt) did not write her own obituary. Her death was sudden, with her siblings rushing to put plans in motion in order to give their sister a proper goodbye.
2) I saw a post from last year with people suspecting that Lauren's grandparents (who are my maternal grandparents) had something to do with this. My grandmother cried at the mention of Lauren, wrote her letters, and bought her birthday & Christmas presents every year until she passed away in 2009. When my mom was cleaning my grandmother's house, she found a box of these things, including a star named for Lauren. My grandmother would often give me the age-progressed photos of Lauren and ask me to ask people school (both high school & college) if they ever saw her and would ask me to search on the internet for her. So, if you still believe that my aunt's parents were involved, you are very much mistaken; my grandmother thought of Lauren every day. (As for my grandfather, I am positive he did as well - he unfortunately passed when I was 5 years old, so I am not as familiar!)
Again, I was only a little kid when this all happened (I was with my dad's parents while my mom & dad went out to look for Lauren) so I don't have clear memories of that specific day but I have lived my whole life, wondering what happened to my cousin & former playmate. My parents have always been extremely protective of both me & my brother, even till today (and I'm almost 30 & married at this point!).
Welcome!
I was the Tracker looking for Lauren the day she went missing. I have been continuing to look for Lauren for the last 25 years.
Do you remember a man who was originally in Pennhurst Hospital who had one arm curled up and walked like he was marching? He was dirty, wore boots and his socks were yellowish? He used to try and give stuffed animals to the younger girls? He was friends with another guy who lives in the complex named "Dick" who smokes cigars.
Also, do you know of a graveyard in the woods behind King street? It's between king and the old Pennhurst facility. That is one of my primary search areas as well as a farm access road nearby.
Also wanted to add that there was a lot of suspicion that Lauren was taken by extended family to get her away from her mother. Chief Cote and the FBI were investigating this quite a bit and where the rumors about the Grandparents came from. Keep in mind that all scenarios must be investigated, even if they are uncomfortable because they involve family.
I actually grew up in Philadelphia, so I didn't live in the area Lauren went missing from, so I can't help you out with those questions unfortunately!
Yes, I understand about the scenario of family being involved; my post served more to disprove the idea they were living in Florida, with or without her. Just wanted to put a more personal two cents into the discussion.
I do have one question for you Trackergd. The footprints that were confirmed to be Lauren's and the other unknown person, did they go up onto Rt. 724? My feeling is if Lauren and this unknown person were up on 724 someone had to have seen them. 724 is a busy road. It was a Tuesday night at approximately 7:30p. At that time of night in the fall it is not totally dark yet. On a road like 724 if I were to see a small child even with an adult I would immediately take notice because I would be wondering why are they walking on this road at night while it is getting dark. It is dangerous. I would especially take notice if the adult had the child closest to the road.