by shadow » Sat Feb 09, 2019 1:25 am
Hi Greywolf,
Brand new to this posting-on-forums stuff, so please bear with me. My lovely Dad had a stroke Easter Monday April 1978. On hearing the news, my aunt (his sister) who had spent the weekend with us immediately turned around and travelled back up from Wales to be with Mum and me in Glasgow. The newspapers were full of the story about the wee girl who had gone missing, and my aunt avidly read each report. My Dad was in hospital for 10 days and for the last few, all we could think about was him, and all we were able to talk about was Andrea. My Dad died on my 22nd Birthday on 8th April. He had a huge turnout at his funeral which is always a comfort for the relatives, but at the cemetery my aunt suddenly, but sadly smiled. "Look" she said. "Andrea's buried right next to him, Marshall will look after her now." And so he does. Every time I visit my Dad's grave, I always say a wee prayer for Andrea as well, and ensure her's is nice and tidy too. I miss my Dad every single day, as I'm sure you miss Andrea too, but be assured I will never forget her either. X
I am Andrea's eldest brother, it was not only the school, the neighborhood and the surrounding areas, that was interviewed, but also, us, Andrea's family, and our house was searched many time, but these are things that have to be done, as distressing as it is to the victims family, but the one thing I do have to say, I never really got the chance to thank everyone, personally for their support and also to the police and other services, for all their dedication and hard work in catching my sisters killer. especially the Detective Superintendent in charge of the case, who refused to leave, even though his own mother was very seriously ill, until the killer was caught.
Even to this day, it is very painful, it is true what they say, the victim of a crime is not only the person that is the victim, the families of those victims also suffer greatly, that pain and suffering never truly leaves them, mainly because of a sense of guilt, I suppose you could call it, always thinking, what if I did this, what i did that, always blaming yourself for not doing something different, that could have possibly prevented a tragedy as this. These are things we have to live with for the rest of our lives, we can all say with hindsight, what if, I got out of bed that morning and walk her to school, my father is the same, saying why did he not run her to school, while he waited for me.
What you say about pedophiles, is correct, it is not the internet that has created them, they have always been, it is only that the internet makes it easier for them to be active and to spread their sick pictures, stories and to groom unsuspecting victims, also the increase in availability of the internet and media news reporting has made the news of pedophiles and their crimes, all the more in our face, but in reality this a problem that is as old as mankind, and sadly I cannot see it ending anytime soon, all we can do is try and educate not only our children but also the adults as well. If this and other stories here helps just save one child, then maybe the guilt I wrongly feel, about the loss of my sister, will ease just a little.[/quote]