THEY
WANT THEIR MOMMY HOME...
YOLANDA
BINDICS Q. Can you tell me a bit about Yolanda, what kind of
person she is.Yolanda is a very sweet mother, sister,
daughter, aunt and friend. Yolanda is the youngest of eleven
children with four of her own and is very close to her family and
children. Her children mean the world to her. Yolanda can be a very
vibrant outgoing woman who cared about the people around her. She
always seemed to have a smile even at the worst of times. I
believe that while Yolanda is a strong person she is too trusting of
people and this trust may have put her in harms way. She was so
willing to love all and trust all that I believe this could have
been her downfall. She was able to trust and fall in love with men
too easily, men who she thought felt the same way about
her. Don't get me wrong, she definitely wasn't lacking of morals,
she really truly believed that she was in love. Yolanda, like most
women, made mistakes. She may have had quite a few boyfriends but
she had romantic relationships with each one at different times. It
was her love to love that brought her four beautiful children into
this world. Q. How long have you and Yolanda been friends
and how did you meet?We met as young teenagers about 13
years ago. We lived in the same building so naturally we hung out
together. In fact, there were several of us that hung out and
nothing could separate us, we were the typical "Brat Pack". We all
did everything together and basically grew up together. I have many
fond memories of those teenage years. Q. Yolanda has
children. Can you tell us about her children?Yolanda has
four wonderful daughters. Her oldest, Katelyn is only 8 years old.
Courtney is 5, Allison is 3, and her baby, Emily, is 18 months old.
Emily is such a cute little girl with the curliest locks that I have
ever seen. Emily started walking on her own shortly after her mother
vanished. It so sad that a mother had to miss such an important
milestone. Courtney is just so adorable and funny; she can say the
most amusing things. Courtney started Kindergarten this year, yet
another important event missed. Allison is probably like most 3 year
olds, getting into everything and anything. Katelyn her oldest is
the cheerleader, always dancing, always has a story to share and is
the most outgoing 8-year-old I know. Q. How are the
children coping with mom being gone.The two youngest girls,
Allison and Emily, I believe are too young to realize that something
is terribly wrong. Unfortunately they are at such a young and
crucial age, that I believe unlike the older girls they will not
have any memories of their mother. Courtney has asked repeatedly,
"Where's Mommy? When is she coming home?" I can't imagine, or don't
want to imagine what is going on in that poor girl's head. Katelyn
is old enough to know that she may never see mommy again. She is the
one that has to deal with rude questions or remarks from other
children at school. She is the only with the most memories and now
the most worries. Although she shows a brave face, I believe she is
suffering terribly. I just pray that there will be no long-term
damage to her psyche. Q. Are they all able to stay
together or has Yolanda being gone meant that they are having to be
split up?Because the girls have different fathers, the girls
have been separated from each other, causing more heartache among
these poor girls. Three of the girls are living with their fathers
and the youngest is with one of Yolanda's Sisters. These girls not
only do not have their mother, but they don't have each other as
well, when they need each other the most! They lost everything,
their mother, their home and each other. Q. Are they
angry?I would think that they are angry. They've been ripped
away from everything that they have ever known and trusted. I pray
that they do not blame themselves or their mother and one-day come
to peace. Q. Do they talk about mommy being gone?I
think that as time passes there may be less talk of mommy. I believe
they are trying to push the "hurt" out and quite possibly feel that
if they don't mention the "hurt' it won't feel so bad. Q.
Is there something that we can do for them?These children
will need all the love and understanding they can get. They need to
be aware that they are loved and that they did nothing wrong. It is
not their fault and life will go on. They need keep their mother in
their hearts always, and never, ever forget. Q Do you
think law enforcement is doing all they can to find
Yolanda?I'm not sure what to think about our local law
enforcement. We've been on many searches with no help and given many
tips with no answers. I would truly like to see more cooperation and
understanding from our local law enforcement. They did not take
Yolanda's disappearance seriously until it was probably to late.
They considered her to have just run off. It wasn't till we pushed
and fought and brought in the media that they started thinking
otherwise. Although what seems to be lacking in support, I am very
hopeful that they are still working hard at finding Yolanda. It's
very possible that they are working behind the scenes as to not leak
important information. I would like to believe they know what
happened and that they working hard to gain proof positive evidence.
I just hope this will be soon because we all need closure of some
sort! Q. Do you have any theories as to what happened to
her?My theory is that she fell for the wrong guy and was
torn between "love" and doing the right thing. I think she may have
chosen a path to possibly better her life and her children's lives,
but it was too late. I think that possibly this "wrong guy" did not
like what she had to say and got crazy with jealousy. Q.
You have done a website, do mass emailings, publicize searches and
vigils. What a wonderful thing it is you are doing for your friend!!
Is there anything that Child Seek can do to help you?I send
out mass emails regularly to a lot of people, even total strangers
and to the media agencies. I receive many hits on the site dedicated
to Yolanda not only across state lines but as well as country lines
and even across seas. I use the site and the mass emails to inform
people of new information regarding this case. It has made awareness
to many people that this terrible tragedy could happen to any one of
us. Many strangers are praying for the safe return of Yolanda. I'm
so grateful to all those strangers out there who truly genuinely
care. The site and all the emails have brought so many
together. Q. Thank you for doing this interview about your
friend. How has her just disappearing affected you and your
relationships with others?I have learned not to take people
for granted because I could wake up one morning to find that they
are gone. My children will know that I love them and I will cherish
everyday with them. My worst fear is for them to go through what
Yolanda's children are going through. As Christmas comes and I sit
by the tree watching my children open their presents I will think of
what Yolanda is missing. No amount of presents will make their
mother come back. Q. Is there anything that you need in
terms of support?I'm grateful for all the prayers and
support we have received. I just ask everyone to remember Yolanda
and her children and to never give up the faith and hope that she
will return home. Q. Again, thank you for doing this
interview! Is there anything else that you would like to say about
or to your friend?Yolanda, you are missed by all, terribly.
If you could only know the love and support that you have from so
many people, not only from your loved ones but also from total
strangers. So many have come out to wish you well and to help you
find your way home. I pray that one day you can look back and read
this and put the past behind you. I pray that you find your way home
soon. Yolanda you are loved by us all and we will never give up on
you! For more information about Yolanda please visit Yolanda's Child Seek Forum or you can visit Her Website. Also be sure and check out
the video created by Jim Viola.
********************
A
BROTHER ASKS...HAVE YOU SEEN MY SISTER?
Monica
Appleton was last seen when her mother dropped her off in Amarillo,
Texas, in 1999. Below her brother, Donny, talks about his sister and
the two children that are left wondering what happened to their
mom.
Donny,
so that our readers can become familiar with your sister, can you
please tell us about her? A. Yes. Monica is 34 years old. She
is 5' 5" tall and at the time she came up missing she weighed
approximately 110 – 120 pounds. She had long blonde hair and hazel
eyes. She was a very pretty young lady. She was born and raised here
in Pampa, Texas. She was a graduate of Pampa High School. After
graduating high school Monica got married to a Mr. Marlon Larue. He
is the father of Monica's two children. Approximately one year or
more prior to her disappearance they were divorced. Monica had been
involved with Marlon in drugs off and on. In the year prior to her
disappearance she had gotten tied in with some drug dealers from
both Amarillo and Pampa. She got into prostitution as well. In that
year I watched her in a downward spiral. It was one of the hardest
things I could see, one of my own flesh and blood in that
situation.
Q. Under what circumstances did Monica go
missing? A. On October 13, 1999 my mother took Monica over to
Amarillo (which is approximately 55 miles west of Pampa) at Monica's
request. My mother reluctantly did it. As Monica got out of the car
she told my mother to get out of there. My Mother would ask Monica
what was wrong and Monica would only look over her shoulder and say
"I can't say now" or something to that effect. Monica told my mother
that she would tell her later. Later never came. Monica has not been
seen by my family since then. She even stopped picking up her child
support checks which is very unlike her.?
Q. Monica has
children and she has been gone from them for a long time. How are
they dealing with their mom being missing for so long? A. Now
they are dealing with it better than before. In the beginning,
Lesleigh (the daughter) was so young. Lexton on the other hand was a
few years older. Lesleigh has done fairly well over the past five
years. Lexton had to be placed in a boy's home to help in
controlling him. Even I could not control him in his anger fits.
Plus I had been nearly arrested (I found out later. at the direction
of the previous Chief Charles Morris) one night when Lex had one of
his fits and was being very destructive to himself and the house. We
had to call the police to transport him to a detention center just
so we could sleep without fear of him doing something bad to himself
or us. Since that time he has become a very polite young man. I
have always tried to protect them from the information about their
mother. This was probably not the right thing to do. Recently I sat
down with them and told them everything I knew about the case. I let
them review the newly developed site for Monica. After doing this I
felt a big burden lift off of me and then they understood a lot of
what I had been trying to protect them from.
Q. Is there
an ongoing investigation regarding Monica's disappearance? A.
The case has basically gone cold. Occasionally a tip will come in
that someone has spotted her in another state. That always turns out
to be a case of mistaken identity. In the beginning I contacted the
Amarillo Police Department to report her missing in November 1999. I
was told that there would not be a report made due to people come up
missing all the time and there is just not enough man power to
investigate every missing case. To this day they have not made an
attempt to look into the case anymore than allowing our investigator
to go over and interview people with one of their officers present.
After not getting any competent reaction from Amarillo I came back
to the department I am employed with and made an official report. I
wrote the report myself and it was approved by my supervisor. Since
that time leads have come in and to what extent they all were
followed up on I do not know. I can say that recently I asked to
look at the case file and was given permission by the Chief to look
at its entirety.
Q. Has your local media been helpful in
keeping the story of Monica in the public eye? A. The media
has ran three or four stories in the five years. They would run an
article when asked to by the police department investigator.
Q. Has the fact that you are a police officer helped or
hindered you in your search for your sister? A. Actually I
believe it has hindered me. When you are as dedicated to a
profession as I was and still am, it can be a hard row to hoe. I
have been torn from wanting to quit and do the investigation on my
own or wait, and hope that the case gets the needed attention it
deserved. I was told that I would NOT become involved in any of the
investigation what so ever unless I happen to stumble across it on
my own. Then I would have to give the information to the
investigator and let them follow up on it. The entire story is
posted on her website now and I do not intend to remove it any time
soon. I was made to remove a lot of the information that is there
now by the previous Chief. I was told that it would be in my best
interest to remove the information from the site because it could
hinder the investigation. After taking that as a threat against my
job I removed it. I can remember a tip coming into us that Monica
had been seen in Albuquerque New Mexico. My mom and I traveled there
and spent sever days looking up and down every street looking to see
if we could see her. We passed out hundreds of fliers and even
talked to several police officers in the areas we had been told she
was and no one had seen her.
Q. Do you think that Monica
could be in hiding? A. No ma'am, there is no way in the world
she would be hiding. She loved these two kids to much to do
something like that. Monica had been into drugs for sometime before
all of this but she always made that extra effort to see them as
much as she could. I don’t care what anyone thinks of her, she was
a good mother to them. She had a problem. A problem that is tearing
this nation and others like it apart. Until people stand up and look
around instead of putting their head in the sand it is going to
continue to get worse. In 17 years of law enforcement I have seen my
home town go from a prosperous town to nearly blowing away. All
because of the drug problem that no one wants to me admit that they
have.
Q. Do you have a theory as to what happened to
Monica? A. Yes, I believe she is gone. I believe that she was
murdered by one of those coward ******* d’s. I know in my heart
that she is out there somewhere lying in the cold just waiting for
us to find her, bring her home and get the ones who did it.
Q. How has this affected you personally and
professionally? A. Personally it has affected me like so many
other families with missing loved ones. No one really knows how it
feels unless you have lived through something like this. Not knowing
what happen or where they are. There is not a day goes by that you
are not reminded by it. There is a void there. A void that just
can’t be filled. During the conversation with the previous
chief where I was threatened with my job, he said "I know how you
feel. I lost my son in an accident in Austin Texas a few years ago".
I just looked at him thinking "You have no idea how I feel, you got
to bring your son home and bury him. At least you knew where he was
and how he died”. I got up at that point and walked out of the
office. Professionally I would have to say I don't think it has
affected me that much. I do look at any case that someone is
reported missing a little closer. I can't tell you how many times I
would be called out to a missing child call and cringe at the
thought of having to take the report for fear of breaking down
myself. Fortunately, all the children reported missing calls turned
out to be kids going to neighbors or hiding in the house. I can even
remember getting upset one time at an investigator for not following
up on another reported missing adult. She was later found to be safe
and sound. When something like this happens to you, you take a long,
hard look at all of these types of cases. It brings it all back like
a tidal wave. After a couple of years of trying to fight with the
very system I had grown to respect over the years, I finally
basically gave up. I was getting to weak to deal with it. In that
time I had back surgery and had developed a bad lung infection due
to aspirating stomach fluid into my lungs from an ulcer that had
developed from all the stress. In the past two years I have done
well. I have had to just flick whatever is on my shoulder off, move
on and try and remember what I set out to do...... find Monica.
Q. What kind of support have you gotten from missing
person organizations? A. I have gotten excellent support
lately. With the help of some online support groups I found out what
I can do to keep Monica's case alive and out there for everyone to
see. Monica has been listed on several of the missing person
organizations for at least a couple of years that I am aware of. As
far as I can recall I have received one phone call since that time
asking for an update. I am sure more have called and we have missed
the call. Well, they will not have to call me anymore unless they so
desire. It is my intention to keep the website up to date with
information about the case daily.
Q. Finally, Donny, if
your sister were able to read this, what would you like to say to
her? A. Monica if you are out there I want you to know how
much we love you. We will never stop looking for you no matter what
is thrown in our path to redirect us away from finding you. You are
my baby sister and I miss you more than anything. I miss seeing you
smile. I miss you telling your jokes. Whatever you have done could
never take my love for you away. I know we did not always see eye to
eye and you thought that I did not understand what you were going
through, but I did. Monica I felt your pain. It hurt me to see you
like that. You just made some bad choices. We all do that sometimes.
It doesn’t make us bad people. It just shows that we are human.
You are my flesh and blood. Lex and Lesleigh miss you more and more
every day. You have been gone long enough. We all miss you so very
dearly. If you need me to come and get you, just call me and I will.
Come home Monica. Come home. I love you "pooter tooter". Donny
"Pooter tooter was her nick name we called her from when she was
very young."
To read more about Monica's
disappearance you can visit her Child Seek Forum.
To see more pictures
and information about Molly, please be sure to visit Monica's
website.
For
more information about missing children and adults, please visit Child
Seek forums.
Editor's
Corner
One
of the hardest parts of being editor of this newsletter is trying
decide just who to feature. I would love to have the space and the
time to make sure that ALL missing persons are given the same amount
of time and space. But I don't. And all of the cases tug at my
heart. I think about those that are left behind, with no answers. I
worry about them at night, when trying to go to sleep. Sometimes I
wonder how MY family would cope. Mostly, though, I wonder about the
kids....the ones that are missing and the ones left
behind.
This special edition is about the mothers who have
kids left behind. This isn't how it is supposed to be. They are
supposed to have their mothers with them...at home. I can only pray
that this new year will help bring the moms' back to their
children.
If you have a missing case that you would like to see
featured in the Child Seek Network Newsletter or comments about the
newsletter please email me at clk@childseeknetwork.com
If you, or someone you know, is in need of help, advice
or support, please feel free to contact us by filling out the Child
Seek Network Request for Help and someone will get back to you
as soon as possible.
The Child Seek Newsletter
has our copyright. The information in the newsletter is provided to
us by the families of missing loved ones. Please respect that and do
not reprint, move, copy or alter it. If you would like to use any
part of the Child Seek Network's Newsletter, please email the editor for
link instructions....Thank you!!
Please
visit our Prayer Bags of Hope
page.
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Spotlighted
Missing
This
newsletter is dedicated to Ashley Pond and Miranda Gaddis. It is
because of them that the Child Seek Network was
formed.
FEATURED MISSINGMore
information about these cases can be found at The
Child Seek Network
EMILY
RIMELClassification: Endangered missing DOB: Mar 24,
1999 Missing: Dec 7, 2004 Age Now: 5 Sex: Female Race:
White Hair: Brown Eyes: Brown Height: 3'0" (91
cm) Weight: 48 lbs (22 kg) Missing From: MADISON
TOWNSHIP OH United States
Circumstances: The child was last seen at home around midnight on
December 7, 2004. At approximately 8 a.m. she was discovered missing
and was believed to be in the company of an adult male. This male
has since been located but the child's whereabouts remain unknown.
The child was last seen wearing an outfit similar to the one
pictured above. The outfit consists of purple spandex pants and a
light purple sweatshirt with a picture of a ballerina on the front
and the word "Cutie" written underneath it. ANYONE HAVING
INFORMATION SHOULD CONTACT National Center for Missing &
Exploited Children 1-800-843-5678 (1-800-THE-LOST) or the Madison
Township Police Department (Ohio) 1-614-836-9000 or
PLEASE
READ BREAKING NEWS IN HER FORUM CHRISTINA
TEDDERCase Type: endangered missing DOB: Nov. 09,
1992 Age Now: 12 Missing: Dec. 24, 2004 Sex:
Female Race: White Height: 5'1" (150 cm) Weight: 100 lbs
(52 kg) Eyes: Brown Hair: Brown Missing From:
Indianapolis IN United States Case Number:
NCMC1004817 Circumstances: Christina was last seen on the
evening of December 24, 2004 when she left her home to walk to a
nearby gas station. She never returned home and has not been seen or
heard from since. Christina was last seen wearing a pink coat with a
hood, blue jeans, black Nike sneakers, and pink gloves. Her nickname
is Chrissy . ANYONE HAVING INFORMATION SHOULD CONTACT
National Center for Missing & Exploited Children 1-800-843-5678
(1-800-THE-LOST) or Marion County Sheriff's Office (Indiana)
1-317-327-3811
Non
Family Abduction
MARLA RICARDCase Type:
Non Family Abduction DOB: Jul 17, 1990 Missing: Dec 12,
2004 Age Now: 14 Sex: Female Race: White Hair: Lt.
Brown Eyes: Brown Height: 5'2" (157 cm) Weight: 120 lbs (54
kg) Missing City: Springfield Missing State : OR Missing
Country: United States Case Number:
NCMC997496 Circumstances: Marla was abducted by Corey Joseph
Cooksey. A felony warrant was issued for the abductor on December
13, 2004. They may be traveling in a white 1984 Mazda RX7 with
Oregon license plates YMR753. They may have traveled out of the
state. Marla has shoulder length curly hair and her ears are
pierced. Marla was last seen wearing blue jeans, Birkenstock
sandals, and a T-shirt.
COREY COOKSEYAbductor DOB: Oct 4,
1984 Sex: Male Race: White Hair: Brown Eyes:
Blue Height: 5'11" (180 cm) Weight: 220 lbs (100
kg) ANYONE HAVING INFORMATION SHOULD CONTACT National
Center for Missing & Exploited Children 1-800-843-5678
(1-800-THE-LOST) or the Lane County Sheriff's Office (Oregon)
1-541-682-4150 Words
from the Silent VictimWhat right did you have to walk
into my life? What right did you have to take my faith and
run? What right did you have to take me away from my
home? Did you not stop to think I was happy? I looked
at you with trust, A friend we called you, You walked
into the night and took me, What was it you said when you
left? God has a place for people like you, Someone who
pretends to care, God has a place for sinners, And
it's not in Heaven where the angels cry. You acted like you
were a good friend, Your acting turned into a lie. So
go away from my anger, Make sure you don't pass my
door, For what you did will haunt you. Today and
forever more. Written by Laurie Knowlton
12/22/04
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