The Winter of Innocence Lost.... (WWE)

The one year I remember distinctly as a child was when I was 7 turning 8. It was probably one of the few times I saw everyone around me scared, from parents to teachers to neighbors. I was lucky, as my mother was home with us kids and she even watched a few of the neighbor kids after school. Us kids were not allowed out of my mother's sight, and as soon as the street lights came on, we were to be in the house. There were no excuses accepted, and at first, I didn't understand why. Then it happened again......

This time it was a girl named Kristine, and she lived not far from me, in my little city of Berkley. She was only a couple of years older than me and was last seen at the local 7-11 store. For 19 days, the whole county was on edge. Kristine was found in another small local city posed in the snow, found by the mailman. She had been smothered, and though the first 2 kids had different COD, the link was there. There was definitely a serial killer on the loose in Oakland County and he was targeting children.

Just as parents started to relax a little, another child was taken. The police weren't quite sure if this was number 4 or 5, but that didn't really matter. 11 yr old Timothy was just gone, and now all of us kids knew what our parents tried to keep from us. Timothy's parents were all over the news and newspapers, pleading for his safe return. We discussed the case at school, whispering about it on the playground. Us kids knew Timothy wasn't coming home and that our parents were scared any one of us could be next. No one was allowed to walk home from school alone. Teachers were out in full force as we walked to and from school. A lot of parents starting driving their kids, though the school was only blocks away. Our lives were altered by this unknown person, and our innocence lost.

After Timothy, the killings stopped....or at least stopped in Oakland County. The killer has never been found, though some believe Christopher Busch, a convicted sex offender, was the culprit. I doubt we'll ever know for sure. The Oakland County Child Killer cases are still open.

 

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