Good morning.
I would like to start the day by expressing an opinion about what we all saw last night in contrast to what is being reported this morning.
https://www.cnn.com/us/live-news/nancy-guthrie-savannah-missing-mom-02-11-26
There was, indeed, a vigorous flutter of hopeful excitement when news broke about a POI being detained during a traffic stop, and the movement of LE in a specific direction. There was even a rising thrum of expectation that air traffic indicated movement to a hospital and, Lord willing, it was NG being taken for treatment.
The moment a location was given, the moment a woman was interviewed on camera and, in the deep emotion of the moment, revealed a name, muttered a last name, a deep dive into the who and where and what started. There was even speculation about whether a person with a similar-sounding last name, and who happened to be a sex offender, was THE person!!!!!
Warrant. They had a warrant! They don't need a warrant. And so on and so forth. The woman allowed them into the house, AND they had a warrant! Phones were taken. Her information was inconsistent...where does the son-in-law work? Where what how...was he driving a van for work???? Would you drive an UBER for an HOUR, and so on and so forth.
Of course we all want NG found. Absolutely! Why else would people from across the world at all hours be peeking in, commenting, proposing scenarios, etc.?
But...
Let's look at the other side, please, because not everyone will process the vague information we have about the person detained last night in the same way:
1) A journalist (dedicated, reliable, exhausted) made the decision to interview a household member live on air.
2) Said household member, in her anxiety and confusion about what was happening quite suddenly to her and her family, revealed snippets of information.
3) A warrant was present, but the search was conducted with her authorization because, as she stated, she had nothing to hide.
4) The first name and mumbled last name offered, in her ignorance (because she didn't realize the can of worms she was opening, of this I am 100% sure), were pounced on and people started digging. Maps, newspaper articles, a potential criminal history.
5) The information she offered under the strain and stress of the situation that was "inconsistent" was used to further justify pointing a finger a digging deeper.
This morning, the POI has been released, but the consequences for this family are far from over. Is the person they detained involved? Honestly, at this point, we don't know. He might have been released pending further investigation and he might be under surveillance even as I type this. We simply DO NOT KNOW.
However, somewhere out there, people who very willingly believe the worst and need to prop up certain personal beliefs will use "Hispanic male", "suspected sex offender", "driving a white van", and conclude "is he even legally in this country?"
We don't know the immigration status of this family, but I am sure we will get chapter and verse, plus added curlicues and frills in short order.
Regardless of your feelings about immigration in this country (and I do not judge people's opinions on this matter because each person has their reasons for holding fast to a particular set of values, peace to you,) an interview given in a moment of stress by a journalist who should have exercised a moment of discretion and still conveyed the gist of the conversation to his viewers undoubtedly will fuel ill-feeling towards people who might/might not be in the know about NG's whereabouts, or what happened at her home.
Full disclosure: I am Hispanic, and my vernacular is Spanish. I was born a US citizen (8 USC §1402 and the Jones-Shafroth Act of 1917) and I am fully bilingual; if you saw me on the street, you would probably think "Mediterranean ancestry? Jewish?" and you'd be correct on both counts. If you spoke to me, you would think I grew up somewhere in the Midwest because that's where the nuns from our school came from. Our last name is so "generic" that we've had people checking our credit in situ tell us that our names come up in an FBI list for wanted drug dealers.
My personal experience is neither here nor there other than it triggers empathy for NG and her family, but it also triggers the understanding that revealing the POI's name and interviewing his mother-in-law on air, and allowing her stress-induced indiscretion in revealing what she did will have serious consequences for this family.
In school (many, many years ago), we studied US History and Civics and Government. My presence (legal...I feel compelled to repeat this because words can be misconstrued very easily in an age when everyone skims and reading comprehension has lost the weight it once carried) in this country as a full-time resident (to the extent of not having gone home for funerals or vacations or flying visits) has now lasted 26 years and I expect to never see my island again...ever. In that time, the pursuit of truth and facts that are carefully and assiduously researched has given way to the instant gratification of "hits on Google".
I want, desperately, for NG to be found; I want her to be safe. I want her to be well. I wish her a peaceful rest of her life surrounded by her family, and some degree (because a totality, after this harrowing period, is never possible) of peace and ease of mind.
At the same time, I feel that we don't have a right to, in our zeal, tear into a family we don't feel as intimately connected to as we do the Guthries. There will be those who, regardless of this POI's release, will descend on his family with merciless anger. As of this moment, only CNN has reported the POI's release. ONE NEWS OUTLET that is widely viewed has reported this. ONE. I don't follow social media, but I am fairly certain that the backlash and the rhetoric about immigration is probably taking off like a Roman candle.
I don't want to be participant in that. That's not why I came here. I came here because one family had suffered a tremendously traumatic event, and I wanted to see NG found. In my stupid, old, possibly naive mind, the frenzy of identifying the POI and starting to gather random threads to weave some cloth based on mumbled information feels tremendously unfair.
Forgive me if you think these are the ravings of a post-menopausal woman who doesn't "get it". I thought we were here to be helpful to each other, to the victims and families. I went to bed last night thinking we might just have been participant in victimizing another family. Hyperbole, perhaps, but to me it's heartbreaking to see this happen.
I say all this with deep respect for everyone's opinion, and for the tremendous intelligence and dedication I have witnessed here. I will watch and listen, but I will not comment further. I want to see this through, but I feel I've said enough and cannot offer anything productive past this point.
Thank you for patience and your tolerance of my wordiness. Peace to all.
