[Listen]

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[Radio Static]

 

THE REPORTER:

 

Hello, Witherburn. This isn't really a show I thought I would have to do. I mean, I knew I might, but... Let's just rip the band-aid off.

 

As many of you know, there was hope that some of the missing people would reach out over the holidays. Some even had hopes that a few would come home for Christmas. It's really not that crazy of a thought.

 

Plenty of runaway teens come back around the holidays. I mean, you would think that someone would say something. With all the love and support that the town has been sending out, we were hoping that if all these people were truly runaways, then they would realize they can come home.

 

But sadly, that doesn't seem to be the case. We've just heard radio silence from every single person. More and more people are starting to doubt the police's theory that all these people are runaways.

 

Which means we have to start thinking about more disturbing possibilities. I don't want to dwell on that, though. I don't want this episode to just be about how they went missing, because they are more than that.

 

These people are more than their disappearance. They are people who are loved, people who have passions and dreams, and people who will not be forgotten, despite what a certain sheriff might think. 

 

That being said, listeners, I know this episode might be hard. Especially for those directly affected. If you need to sit this one out, I understand. There will also be a candle lighting ceremony happening at the school at 6pm.

 

I highly suggest you go and show support for the friends and family of the missing. To any of those friends and family listening now, I hope- I want- I know my words on my little radio show can't do much, but maybe it can bring awareness to more people. One person can make a difference. 

 

Now let's talk about Christie Lamar, Christie is a freshman at Witherburn High School whose favorite class is art. Her art teacher says that she has an exceptional talent, especially in sculpting. She'll stay late at school in order to finish her work, and she especially enjoys sculpting the little details. She loves spending hours on making the hair of her sculptures look realistic, or giving a piece smile lines.

 

Friends say that when she makes any sort of art, it's like she goes to another world. Sometimes they will have to shake her back to reality. Her moms say she dreams of becoming a marine biologist and working in the swamps in Witherburn.

 

She always thought the mussels and minnows were beautiful and wants to study their importance to the local ecosystem. This is actually a theme in a lot of her work, she tends to make sculptures of local fish and wildlife.

 

She has a small but close friend group who all say Christie will do anything to help people. Her moms say that while she's quiet in school, she really opens up at home. 

 

She regularly volunteers at church, one of her favorite events is the Thanksgiving food drive. She always wants to serve her personal favorite, mashed potatoes, to the less fortunate. Her church has actually done a lot in order to help the family find her.

 

They've even helped the family hire a private investigator. Christie's family is asking that people go see her art by the lockers or to go by the marina and watch the minnows for a bit. They hope everyone can see the beauty in the little things like Christie did.

 

I helped set up the memorial and, listeners, I have to say, Christie's art is truly something else. It's almost photorealistic, I don't know how she does it.

 

It really does make you appreciate the beauty of the little things. Aria Sanders is another person who sees the beauty in everything. Her parents say she wants to help build the world.

 

She's working really hard because she wants to get into an engineering program, and because of this, she spends a lot of her free time studying SAT prep and taking practice tests. She and Amelia even had a study group going on.

 

People joked that the only event she would go to would be to Amelia's ballet recitals. Teachers said that she was a good student but didn't talk much in class. She wouldn't ask questions but she would ace every test and it was almost like she was a little information sponge.

 

You would say one thing and she would just remember it forever. Rumor has it she has a photographic memory but her parents just claim she's really smart. Her parents also said her favorite thing was to watch stupid reality TV shows with her family. Think The Bachelor and other such shows. She would make little inside jokes that she and her family would share. Things like, 

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“uh that was such a Sarah move”   and stuff like that.

 

 Her parents say that she's driven, cheerful, and so ready for life. She was one of those people that had a whole life plan.

 

She was going to go to college and get a job that would let her travel the world. All this studying and hard work was just another exciting part of the journey to her. Sure, it could be difficult at times but she was happy to do it.

 

That's another thing her parents said. She could be doing the most difficult task. Taking the hardest test and she would do it with a smile on her face. Her family said-  her family said they just want their smiling little girl back. 

 

Okay, um, April Calloway is also a beloved daughter. Her mother worked hard to give her everything she wanted.

 

April at a young age had a love of horses and soon asked her mom to let her get a horse. She wanted to be an equestrian. Today she has a horse named Everest whom she has won over 20 awards with.

 

She’s spent hours practicing jumps and riding trails with Everest. In fact, you were probably more likely to find her in the stables than anywhere else. She said herself that she liked horses more than people so she wanted to work with horses for the rest of her life.

 

There were some exceptions though. She loved to teach younger children about horses and how to ride them. Her mom said she wanted to light the spark that she had in others.

 

Which she did, her students said she was one of the best teachers they ever had. This along with her love of the equestrian trade is probably why the stable master chose April to be his apprentice.

 

April is said to have loved everything about the job. If she was in the stables, she was happy. She told her mom that this is what she wanted to do for the rest of her life.

 

Her mom was her best friend. They would celebrate everything together. They did everything together.

 

It didn't matter how far away or how early the competition, Miss Calloway was there. She said she is so proud of April for finding something that she loves like this. She says most people don't find their passion this early. Mrs. Calloway says that April is one of those people that just felt one in a million.

 

 I feel like it would be appropriate to mention that Mrs. Calloway has essentially become a figurehead for finding all of these children. Many parents are backing her and saying to donate to her instead of other third parties like the police department.

 

All the money sent to her goes to search efforts for all of the children affected. If you would like to donate and help, then please contact Mrs. Calloway or go to the candle lighting and donate there. 

 

[Phone notification]
 

What? What the hell? Listeners, I'm being told that someone wrecked the memorial at the school.

 

Who would even? Wow, actually, it's pretty obvious who did it. It's that stupid graffiti artist. Look, I don't know what your game is, but nobody finds it funny.

 

Seriously, you terrorize this town almost as much as the Clarks. If you have something to say about the missing people, then say it to their parents' faces instead of hiding behind some red spray paint, you coward. It's... It's a pretty bad sight, listeners.

It's also just disturbing. They marked up all the pictures and just wrote the word dead all over the walls. Dead, dead.

 

I almost wish they just went back to their weird codes. They also ruined the pictures. They crossed out their eyes like some sort of psychopath.

 

Seriously, do they think this is funny? People are terrified and some people think acting like this is okay. Disgusting, for those who are going to the candle lighting, Birdie told me it's still on, but they are moving it outside to the field while they clean up the memorial.

 

It's... It's just really hard to look at. I hope whoever did this is happy. You denied people the ability to pray and mourn. Congratulations. Jesus. 

 

The next person is Jonathan Landry. Before I start, I know I said I wouldn't really be discussing cases, but I feel like it's important to point out that Jonathan is still not on the same case files as the rest of the missing people. Why this is despite ample evidence that they are connected, I don't know and I don't care. Personally, I think the Witherburn Police Department has run out of excuses.

 

Jonathan is described as full of energy by his friends and family. He always seemed ready to go anywhere and do anything. His parents said it was like he was always ready to run off to some adventure.

 

He was really close with Dyce and is the one that encouraged him to do Twitch streaming. Dyce said that he was always there to encourage other people's dreams. He would be your biggest cheerleader.

 

Even his classmates that didn't know him that well repeated this sentiment. It didn't matter if he just met you. If you told him you had a game the next day, he would be there to cheer you on.

 

He was that kind of person that just wanted everyone to have someone in their corner. His math teachers didn't have much to say about him. He worked hard but often got distracted, they said.

 

But his English teacher, she says she rarely has a student with such a love of reading. He especially loved sci-fi and western novels. Some people thought it was funny that the kid known for playing video games was such a bookworm.

 

His parents just said that he loved stories. It could be a movie, video games, books, or anything else. He just enjoyed whatever story was being told.

 

Dice said that this love encouraged him to try video game development, though. He was still pretty new to the skill. He thought it would be cool to create a AAA title.

 

Which is why it shocked his friends and family so much when they got text messages saying he was going to Colorado to start a music career, it just didn't make sense. 
 

Now we have Chloe Parker, I don't- I don’t know if I can do this. Um, Chloe was a good friend of mine. She was a good friend to everyone.

 

Everyone knew her. She would hop from table to table in the cafeteria trying to talk to all her friends and get updates about their day. She was like a ball of sunshine floating around the school.

 

If you had a class with her, you knew your day would be just a bit brighter. She just, she had that effect on people. Her parents said that she was the same at home.

 

She was just full of passion and life. She would help her dad with dinner all the time and really loved to cook. She also loved helping her mom with gardening and liked to use whatever herbs or veggies they grew in their meals.

 

And that's not to say she was an amazing chef. The joke was that if she was trying a new recipe, there was only a 50-50 chance of success. There was this one recipe she tried that called for black beans, but somehow she mixed that up with chickpeas and let me tell you, it was interesting.

 

She was also very active in her tribal community. She is Muscogee and very proud of it. She would go to local events and was starting to help with organizing them.

 

She loved advertising local Indigenous artists who did things like beadwork or make regalia-inspired outfits. She was also learning and, from what I heard, mastering the traditional flute. She would always call me so excited whenever she learned a new song.

 

God, I miss her. I miss her so much, It hurts.

 

[Phone notification]

 

Yeah. Yeah, I'm okay. I'm good, i'm good

 

I'm good. Nobody needs to hear me crying on air, right? Let's talk about Tina Young instead. Tina was driven.

 

That's how the people I talked to described her. She was always going and going. If she did something, she was going to be the best at it.

 

Whether that be tennis or social media, she was a tennis champ, breaking multiple school records and securing her spot as captain. Her teammates said that she tried to put this drive in other people and encouraged them to push themselves. It didn't matter if she was in the stands or on the court.

 

She encouraged her team to strive for greatness. She had this hunger for success that many people admired about her. She had this saying to her friends, why be a follower when you can be a leader?

 

 She was- She was the type of person who you knew was going to do great things. You just knew you would see her name somewhere. She was going to accomplish whatever she put her mind to.

 

Like her social media, where she posted workouts and recipes. She was quite literally building a brand for herself. She showed a life that motivated others to be better, and her friends say she had that mindset too.

 

Tina believed there was always room to grow. She couldn't just stay static. She constantly needed to be going up.

 

I'm probably the last person that should be talking about Tina. The show hasn't exactly been kind to her in the past. I do admire her though, putting yourself out there.

 

She had so much more confidence than I could ever have. She at least did something, made an impact. What am I doing here? Talking about people I will probably never see again.

 

Trying to bring comfort to a town that shouldn't be comfortable. Are you comfortable listeners? Because I'm not. I'm looking over my shoulder every time I walk home from school.

 

I go home wondering if today another one of my friends will vanish. I'm terrified, and yet people like the sheriff and the mayor are pretending everything's okay.

 

But it's not okay. It hasn't been okay since all of this started. And it feels like I'm screaming into the void.

 

I talk and I talk and I talk, but what am I actually doing? I keep saying we need to do something. Yet people keep going missing. No amount of my stupid talking stops it.

 

And none of my empty, pathetic words brings them back. They might be kidnapped or worse. Nobody, and I mean no one knows what is happening.

 

And the most awful, gut-wrenching part of it is that no one thinks they can stop it. I know I can't. What good am I truly doing? I can make memorial after memorial, dedication after dedication.

 

But if I can't stop it, then what good am I? What good am I, Witherburn? I am so tired of standing on the sidelines and waiting for another ball to drop. I'm tired of feeling like all I do is talk, I'm tired of being scared.

 

So consider this my New Year's resolution. I will solve this case, I will find a way to stop it.

 

I am going to protect my friends because the people who were supposed to protect us aren't doing it. I will find out what happened. And when I do, I am going to bring hell.

 

Consider that a promise, listeners. See you at the candle lighting ceremony. I'm the reporter, signing off.