A civilization is judged by the way it treats the most vulnerable within it. The mission of this blog is to honor the memory of children who
have died as a result of abuse, neglect, or homicide. At the same time, it is hoped that the stories of missing, abused, and exploited children can provide warning that the protection of our children should be of paramount interest to all.
I am a one-person blog. I choose, research, and write my own entries. My criteria for the choice of stories to present is very simple: the child must be a victim of abuse, 18 years of age or less or still under parental care, lived in the United States, and a picture of the child must be available.
I try to read all the stories regarding the child’s death and subsequent legal actions against the perpetrators. It is a compilation of this information that I use to to weave the story of what led to the tragedy which the child endured. Because of time constraints, it is impossible for me to keep up with the continuation of the legal process beyond the point where the post appears. I, however, do not feel that what happens to the perpetrator is as important as to what happened to the victim. No justice is ever great enough to make up for the loss or abuse of a child.
I alternate between girls and boys with no preference given to race or ethnicity — abuse is color blind. I choose victims with pictures because I want readers to look into the eyes of the child who was so cruelly treated. These children are individuals, not just faceless statistics. I do NOT include pictures of abusers unless it is in a story about an active Amber Alert or child abduction. The perpetrators get enough face-time in the media, and I will not validate their importance by showing their faces. The focus of this site is the children, not the inflictors of pain and suffering.
Additionally I do not make it a habit of making any child’s story an on-going saga beyond the point of the fate of the child being determined. There are many great sites that do that service, but that is not the scope of this blog. Often the “child’s story” turns into the perverted circus surrounding the perpetrator and the other actors in the case. Again, my purpose is to tell the child’s story, not the story of those responsible, directly or indirectly, for their tragedy.
As I have searched for stories to add to this blog I have noticed a disturbing pattern regarding the victims. Many do not have a picture or are given an obituary to memorialize their death. I can only surmise as to the reason for this phenomena, and that is that these children were not important enough to those who were closest to them to make a permanent record of their existence. Specifically in the case of the obituary, it is possible is that the family is too embarrassed to make a public the announcement of the child’s death. Perhaps it is a well deserved guilty conscience that keeps them from performing the last act of respect for a lost child.
As a final note, I am not a legal entity and, therefore I do not feel the need to use the terms “alleged” or “guilty until presumed innocent.” Very few of the cases I have followed have resulted in charges being dropped against the offender. In that case, I will update the post to make that information available to readers.
My thanks to any who come to my site and read the stories that I have posted. May you take something positive away as you go through your own world, where real abuse is continuing to happen against real children.
Sunday, November 16th 2008 at 3:50 am |
Thank you who ever you are for honouring the memory of my lovely grand daughter, Summer. I wish it didnt happen to her, but I also hope that her death will not be in vain and it can stop at least one other child from the horrid nightmare my baby had to endure! NO other species on earth would do to their young what we as humans do to our children…it grabs me by the throat to know humans are capable of being this monsterous. My heart goes out to any and all parents world wide who have ever lost a child, no matter what the circumstances.
Sunday, November 16th 2008 at 7:48 am |
Grandmother,
Thank you for your visit and comments. I am so sorry for your loss. Summer was indeed a beautiful child and I am sure she was a joy to those who knew her.
I, too, hope that her death will make others aware of the prevalence of child abuse and the importance of everyone to be aware of it and report it.
May God bless and comfort you and please remember that as long as Summer is remembered, she is still with us.
flutter
Friday, December 26th 2008 at 11:51 am |
I am Co-Founder and serving President of First Star. I send you Seasons Greetings and every warm thought, especially for Summer’s Grandma whom I’m sure she loved very much. The whole reason for First Star is to press for the systemic reforms that will reduce the awfulness nation-wide. We have made great strides but there is much more to do. There is no good reason why we should have Best Practices in some parts of the counbtry, but not apply them in the other two thirds…. we never meant States Rights to hold back knowledge, truth, progress of ideas or strategy. Come visit us: http://WWW.FIRSTSTAR.ORG
Friday, December 26th 2008 at 12:37 pm |
Mr. Samuelson,
Thank you for your comments and especially those about Summer’s Grandma. I am so sorry that organizations like yours must exist, but I appreciate the efforts of those like yours in helping the most vulnerable among us. I will be adding your valuable link to my site.
Blessings to your and yours,
Monday, February 23rd 2009 at 2:40 am |
Love your new look. Much easier to read. Your site is heartbreaking but one of the very best. Thank you, D
Monday, February 23rd 2009 at 6:44 am |
DeeDee,
Thank you for your comments about the site. I loved the look of the old theme, but agree that it could be hard to read. That is one of the reasons why I changed. This one isn’t perfect, either, but better overall.
Best,
flutter
Friday, June 26th 2009 at 8:17 am |
Flutter, I haven’t been over here as much as I should but I wanted to let you know you are missed over on ID. I see you are still doing the great work with the little angels.
Sylvia aka epSpikey
I hope the little one is still doing wonderful. I bet she is at one of the many precious stages by now, smiles and giggles I am sure.
Friday, June 26th 2009 at 1:58 pm |
sylvia,
Thanks for the visit. You and all the people at ID do such a wonderful job keeping the story of Caylee and others like her in the public conscious. That is what it is all about — finding justice for these sweet angels who were taken too soon.
Tuesday, January 19th 2010 at 12:37 am |
Thank you for your recent honoring of my sweet precious niece Emma. I love what you do on your blog! Emma was a beautiful child who did not deserve what happened to her! No child should ever have to suffer like she did! The spreading of her story is what I have vowed to do and people like you have made it very easy for me! I had Emma in my life for 4 beautiful years but I will hold her in my heart forever! Please know that if your blog saves 1 child’s life then these children are just God’s Angels hard at work and though they have suffered horrible events and deaths…they will never ever be forgotten! Thank you again!
Amanda
PS: Rest Peacefully Emma Justice is On its Way!
Tuesday, January 19th 2010 at 2:12 am |
Amanda,
Thank you for visiting my site and leaving so kind words. As you can see, I too do not want the stories of these children to be forgotten. I believe that as long as someone remembers them, they are not really gone. Emma looked like such a sweet child. Her red hair reminds me of my youngest daughter. I am so sad that you have lost her to such horrible circumstances but I know you rejoice for the time that you had her.
Blessings,
flutter1
Thursday, January 28th 2010 at 11:31 am |
Thank you for what you do, it’s so painful to look at the pictures of the children abused/murdered by heartless trash. One thing that your site does make me want to do is go home and hold my children tighter and be confident in knowing that they are safe and will never endure what the children on your site have. Here’s to knowing that ALL of these children have received a reward that their abusers will never see and that’s being in the wonderful presence of the almighty. It is a shame that a website like this has to exist at all but you’re keeping the memories of these precious angels alive.
Thursday, January 28th 2010 at 11:37 am |
Thank you again, and I, too, hold my grandchildren even tighter after reading some of these stories. I am also almost “hypervigilant” to their circumstances and of those with whom they may interact. Posting these stories is my final act of love for children who were not loved enough. It takes courage sometimes to remove your children from a harmful situation, but children should always be the first priority. Within my own life I have had to make such decisions and it is certainly not easy but I would rather be overly cautious than have to live with the guilt that I didn’t do enough.
I will continue to check on the other case you mentioned. My question is why was the perpetrator ever allowed to leave prison. Now he has two victims. I hope he never sees daylight again!