Location:
1) I was located in Florida at the time of the incident.
2) The incident occurred in Pennsylvania.
When: 2008 - 2013. It was a long, drawn out 6 year incident.
Who: Somerset Police, FBI, Mercyhurst University; Forensic Anthropology Department
What: My sisters skeletal remains were discovered 50 yards off the Pennsylvania Turnpike, behind a truck stop. She had been missing for 3 months. Her vehicle was found abandoned in Las Vegas in September 2008. She was last seen at a truck stop in Las Vegas looking for help, trying to find a ride back east. Her remains were discovered in December 2008 on the other side of the country. She was seen crossing Interstate 80 "Sometime in the last week of September, first week of October". During that time I spent every waking moment contacting jails, hospitals and speaking with law enforcement agencies. I did not have help because my sister and I were abandoned when I was age 16 and she was age 19. Even so, I contacted our birth mother to ask for help but her response was that she had problems of her own and did not want to be bothered. My sister and I considered each other our only family.
Why: I am paralyzed by complex PTSD and Severe Depression as a result of this. It took a couple of years before the full effects of everything that happened finally revealed it's ugly face, I don't even know where to start. There is so much wrong with this case. I believe receiving her cremated remains, unexpectedly, in the mail via USPS was the final straw that pushed me into my downward spiral. I never authorized anyone to cremate her. Our biological mother who had not been a part of our lives for 25 years gave the authorization in spite of our father, brother and myself advising the FBI that she was not "next of kin". My father, myself and brother all advised the FBI that I was my sisters next of kin and that our biological mother washed her hands of all things pertaining to us 25 years prior. The FBI's stance was based on their policy that the mother is always considered "next of kin" regardless of circumstances.
The reason this is such a conflict of interest is for the following reasons:
1) My sisters death was never adequately investigated. There was a disagreement between local Somerset law enforcement and the FBI regarding territorial responsibility and neither wanted that responsibility. The FBI said that because it happened in Somerset, it was the local polices case and the local police said that because it happened on a federal interstate it was their case. As a result my sisters remains were sent to Mercyhurst University; Forensic Anthropology Department where they stayed for 5 years. For FIVE years the local police officer who was in charge would give me bits and pieces and partial information over the phone and in e-mail but he claimed he wasn't allowed to speak to me.
2) While neither law enforcement agency wanted the case and deemed it the other agencies responsibility, I supplied them with my cheek swab, my sisters hair brush and was authorized to give them my permission to test the items for DNA, but since no one was assigned to the case my DNA and my sisters hair brush sat in storage for 5 years, untested. For some reason our biological mother would never authorize testing, at which point I contacted my father and brother who contacted both agencies advising them that our biological mother was not next of kin, had abandoned her children 25 years prior, and validated that they considered my sisters next of kin as me, her sister. Both law enforcement agencies ignored my families wishes and refused to acknowledge me. They used the situation as a way to discard my sisters case and kept explaining to me that the lack of DNA testing was because, "the lab is backed up with higher priority cases". The local officer who was in charge at the time her remains were discovered, insisted that the true reason was because neither agency was on the case. He said "Things like this don't happen around here. We aren't equipt to investigate it. The FBI wont test it because they don't want the responsibility, they're trying to pass it back to us." he said his agency did recognize me as "next of kin" but advised me that because the FBI does things "by the book, regardless of true relationship". I don't understand, if neither agency was assigned to the case, and each was pointing at the other, how can "next of kin" even be established?
3) The case was closed after 5 years with no investigation and with a cause of death of "unknown"...because finding skeletal remains 50 yards off a truck stop didn't raise any red flags apparently. For the record, my sister was an endangered adult, something our birth mother didn't even know.
4) Our birth mother never identified my sisters remains. I drove to the site and met with local officer who was "in charge" for the purpose of identification and was even allowed a 20 second glimpse of the photo's before the officer closed the binder and disallowed me to look further. He would not allow me to review the file. He said he didn't want this to be my last memories of my sister and he feared the images would be burned in my mind as my last memory of her. I was her next of kin. I wanted to know what happened to her but no one would give me any real information and I was not allowed to push for an investigation because one of the agencies didn't acknowledge me as "next of kin".
5) Hearsay from my cousin who was in contact with my biological mother stated that my sisters eyes, mandible and molars were extracted and shipped to different parts of the country but he could not tell me the reason for it. Our biological mother apparently knew the reason and since the FBI didn't consider me "next of kin" I never knew the reason.
6) While still waiting for DNA to be tested, the FBI gave my sisters bracelet to our biological mother, and this is how she was supposed to have identified her, even though she never saw the bracelet prior to that moment because it was given to my sister by my father 10 years AFTER our biological mother abandoned us. I never saw the bracelet or anything else that was in my sisters possession. To this day I don't even know if it was even my sisters remains!
7) 6 years after the fact, I got a knock on my front door. It was USPS delivering my sisters CREMATED remains. There was no death certificate, no cause of death and I am under the impression that what was given to me was a keepsake and not her full remains, the woman who "had her own problems to worry about" was given the bulk of my sisters remains and if there is a murderer on the loose he's never been caught.
I live in total darkness. I relive conversations over and over and over again. "Aww come on, she's not tied to a bed being raped and tortured for three weeks, that just doesn't happen"... "that was three years ago, get over it and move on"... we do things by the book"... "your mother has a victims advocate through the FBI"...
If my biological mother had a victims advocate (she declined the offer but I could surely have used one) that means there was a crime. One doesn't need a victims advocate when someone dies 50 yards off a truck stop of unknown causes.
I know I am coming forward very late. My state of mental health has been under attack and I'm not recovering. As times go by I do have good days but the fact is that I'm not able to move on because I have no closure. I have been abused and law enforcement have abused me, my sister and their position.
I would like to sue for her files, for the case to be reopened, for the case to be investigated and I want my closure. I also want mental health services, currently I'm being denied even though as a result of all of this I have lost everything. I was under so much distress at one point that I lost everything and went homeless for two years. I can't move on. I'm stuck in this never ending season of traumatic experiences.
I need help. Is it too late?
1) I was located in Florida at the time of the incident.
2) The incident occurred in Pennsylvania.
When: 2008 - 2013. It was a long, drawn out 6 year incident.
Who: Somerset Police, FBI, Mercyhurst University; Forensic Anthropology Department
What: My sisters skeletal remains were discovered 50 yards off the Pennsylvania Turnpike, behind a truck stop. She had been missing for 3 months. Her vehicle was found abandoned in Las Vegas in September 2008. She was last seen at a truck stop in Las Vegas looking for help, trying to find a ride back east. Her remains were discovered in December 2008 on the other side of the country. She was seen crossing Interstate 80 "Sometime in the last week of September, first week of October". During that time I spent every waking moment contacting jails, hospitals and speaking with law enforcement agencies. I did not have help because my sister and I were abandoned when I was age 16 and she was age 19. Even so, I contacted our birth mother to ask for help but her response was that she had problems of her own and did not want to be bothered. My sister and I considered each other our only family.
Why: I am paralyzed by complex PTSD and Severe Depression as a result of this. It took a couple of years before the full effects of everything that happened finally revealed it's ugly face, I don't even know where to start. There is so much wrong with this case. I believe receiving her cremated remains, unexpectedly, in the mail via USPS was the final straw that pushed me into my downward spiral. I never authorized anyone to cremate her. Our biological mother who had not been a part of our lives for 25 years gave the authorization in spite of our father, brother and myself advising the FBI that she was not "next of kin". My father, myself and brother all advised the FBI that I was my sisters next of kin and that our biological mother washed her hands of all things pertaining to us 25 years prior. The FBI's stance was based on their policy that the mother is always considered "next of kin" regardless of circumstances.
The reason this is such a conflict of interest is for the following reasons:
1) My sisters death was never adequately investigated. There was a disagreement between local Somerset law enforcement and the FBI regarding territorial responsibility and neither wanted that responsibility. The FBI said that because it happened in Somerset, it was the local polices case and the local police said that because it happened on a federal interstate it was their case. As a result my sisters remains were sent to Mercyhurst University; Forensic Anthropology Department where they stayed for 5 years. For FIVE years the local police officer who was in charge would give me bits and pieces and partial information over the phone and in e-mail but he claimed he wasn't allowed to speak to me.
2) While neither law enforcement agency wanted the case and deemed it the other agencies responsibility, I supplied them with my cheek swab, my sisters hair brush and was authorized to give them my permission to test the items for DNA, but since no one was assigned to the case my DNA and my sisters hair brush sat in storage for 5 years, untested. For some reason our biological mother would never authorize testing, at which point I contacted my father and brother who contacted both agencies advising them that our biological mother was not next of kin, had abandoned her children 25 years prior, and validated that they considered my sisters next of kin as me, her sister. Both law enforcement agencies ignored my families wishes and refused to acknowledge me. They used the situation as a way to discard my sisters case and kept explaining to me that the lack of DNA testing was because, "the lab is backed up with higher priority cases". The local officer who was in charge at the time her remains were discovered, insisted that the true reason was because neither agency was on the case. He said "Things like this don't happen around here. We aren't equipt to investigate it. The FBI wont test it because they don't want the responsibility, they're trying to pass it back to us." he said his agency did recognize me as "next of kin" but advised me that because the FBI does things "by the book, regardless of true relationship". I don't understand, if neither agency was assigned to the case, and each was pointing at the other, how can "next of kin" even be established?
3) The case was closed after 5 years with no investigation and with a cause of death of "unknown"...because finding skeletal remains 50 yards off a truck stop didn't raise any red flags apparently. For the record, my sister was an endangered adult, something our birth mother didn't even know.
4) Our birth mother never identified my sisters remains. I drove to the site and met with local officer who was "in charge" for the purpose of identification and was even allowed a 20 second glimpse of the photo's before the officer closed the binder and disallowed me to look further. He would not allow me to review the file. He said he didn't want this to be my last memories of my sister and he feared the images would be burned in my mind as my last memory of her. I was her next of kin. I wanted to know what happened to her but no one would give me any real information and I was not allowed to push for an investigation because one of the agencies didn't acknowledge me as "next of kin".
5) Hearsay from my cousin who was in contact with my biological mother stated that my sisters eyes, mandible and molars were extracted and shipped to different parts of the country but he could not tell me the reason for it. Our biological mother apparently knew the reason and since the FBI didn't consider me "next of kin" I never knew the reason.
6) While still waiting for DNA to be tested, the FBI gave my sisters bracelet to our biological mother, and this is how she was supposed to have identified her, even though she never saw the bracelet prior to that moment because it was given to my sister by my father 10 years AFTER our biological mother abandoned us. I never saw the bracelet or anything else that was in my sisters possession. To this day I don't even know if it was even my sisters remains!
7) 6 years after the fact, I got a knock on my front door. It was USPS delivering my sisters CREMATED remains. There was no death certificate, no cause of death and I am under the impression that what was given to me was a keepsake and not her full remains, the woman who "had her own problems to worry about" was given the bulk of my sisters remains and if there is a murderer on the loose he's never been caught.
I live in total darkness. I relive conversations over and over and over again. "Aww come on, she's not tied to a bed being raped and tortured for three weeks, that just doesn't happen"... "that was three years ago, get over it and move on"... we do things by the book"... "your mother has a victims advocate through the FBI"...
If my biological mother had a victims advocate (she declined the offer but I could surely have used one) that means there was a crime. One doesn't need a victims advocate when someone dies 50 yards off a truck stop of unknown causes.
I know I am coming forward very late. My state of mental health has been under attack and I'm not recovering. As times go by I do have good days but the fact is that I'm not able to move on because I have no closure. I have been abused and law enforcement have abused me, my sister and their position.
I would like to sue for her files, for the case to be reopened, for the case to be investigated and I want my closure. I also want mental health services, currently I'm being denied even though as a result of all of this I have lost everything. I was under so much distress at one point that I lost everything and went homeless for two years. I can't move on. I'm stuck in this never ending season of traumatic experiences.
I need help. Is it too late?
