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Edison Student Commentary
Investigative
Discovery: “The Vanishing Women”
By Heather Lee
“The Vanishing Women” is an investigative documentary about the
disappearances and murders of six women in the small town of
Chillicothe, Ohio. The first disappearance happened in May of 2014. The
authorities and the town had no idea in early months of the
disappearances that it would happen again and again and with no answers
in sight. Four of the six women have been found. The documentary dives
into the lives of the women. They talk to family and friends to get an
idea of what their lives were like before they went missing.
The first episode delves into the life of Tiffany Sayre. She was a
single mom who had a troubled childhood. The family was interviewed
extensively. They talked about how her troubled childhood is probably
the main catalyst for her drug addiction. She had children at a young
age and was a single mother. Just when she seemed to be turning her
life around, the boyfriend who helped her get cleaned up passed away
suddenly from a blood clot from an injury he had suffered in combat.
Her family said she quickly turned back to the drugs to cope with the
loss and within two weeks of his death she went missing.
Even as the crew is filming, a body is found. The body is not that of
Tiffany Sayre, but another woman. She was also another troubled young
single mother who was involved with drugs and prostitution. In this
case authorities found who they believed actually killed this woman and
ruled out the possibility that it was related to the disappearances of
the other women. The film crew still followed the developments around
this case and in later episodes they cover the trial of the alleged
killer.
The first woman to go missing was Charlotte Trego. Another single
mother who struggled with drug addiction. She was last seen on May 3,
2014 and has yet to be found. Then Tameka Lynch was reported missing,
having last been seen on May 19, 2014. Her body was discovered May 24,
2014 in a creek downstream from Chillicothe. She was the mother of
three and was married but was involved in the drug scene. She and her
husband were homeless and her children were staying with family. She
was last seen in a neighborhood known for drugs and prostitution and it
was reported that she was meeting with a John. At this point, the
families who were trying to find their daughters felt like they were
being blown off by the police. They were told that the women likely ran
off or got involved in something because of their histories with drugs
and prostitution. Six months after the first two disappearances,
Wanda Lemons was reported missing. She was last seen on November 3. She
was a mother of five with a similar background to the previous two
women.
A fourth young woman was reported missing December 26. Shasta Himelrick
was 20 years old and was involved in the drug scene. She was found
January 1, 2015. It wasn’t until Tiffany Sayre went missing that
following May that the authorities started to suspect something much
more sinister was happening in their town.
Human trafficking has been mentioned as a possible cause of the
disappearances. All of the women had similar back stories with being
troubled young mothers involved in drugs and prostitution. Several of
the women knew each other just from being involved with those scenes.
In interviews with some of the family and friends they stated Trego,
Lynch, Himelrick, and Sayre knew each other. They all had heroin
addictions. They all turned tricks to supply their habits. How easy
would it be for a man to do what he wanted with a woman who was messed
up on drugs? It’s far too easy. There was evidence that shows the women
had overdosed, but they were dumped. Could it have been an accidental
overdose while they were with a dealer or a John and they were dumped
to avoid getting busted?
Addiction to drugs or alcohol changes a person. It rewires their brain.
A person who is not under the influence would never jump into a car
with a stranger to turn a trick for money. They wouldn’t use a drug
that was given to them knowing there is always the possibility that
they could die when they use it. The drug takes that person’s life over
completely. It is all that matters. It matters over their children,
family and friends. It matters over their own safety. It matters over
their life. All of these women lost their lives because of their
addiction. There is no other way to put it. They didn’t deserve to die,
but they put themselves in that place that led to their deaths. Women
they knew were going missing and being found dead and they continued
down that same path. It is frightening how heroin can turn a good
person into a criminal that will sell his/her soul and throw their life
away for the next fix.
“The Vanishing Women” is an open ended investigation into these
disappearances that is still airing weekly on the ID (Investigative
Discovery) channel. The show doesn’t paint a rosy picture of the
women’s lives. The families acknowledge the troubled lives the women
led. They knew they were into drugs and prostitution. Everyone has
their own problems. Each person has his/her own personal demons.
The heroin epidemic is a national crisis. Go into any community in
America, small town, big city or suburbs and ask each person if they
know a person who is affected by heroin and most people are able to
name a family member or friend. It’s a huge problem, and It’s only
getting worse. It doesn’t matter how much publicity that is brought
into it. The addiction is overpowering and it is killing more and more
people each year. These women were killed by their addiction. They will
never be able to straighten their lives out. Their children will never
have their mothers. I don’t know if they will find out what really
happened to them when the people they ran with who may know the truth
are addicts and dealers and Johns. It is a secretive world where it
often takes many years to uncover the truth.
This show would be good to show teens to try and prevent them from
running in those circles. Show them that they are not invincible
and if they get involved with drugs and prostitution they are at risk
of being exposed to very dangerous people who don’t care if you live or
die. I am curious about how the show will conclude, but don’t think
there will be a real conclusion for years to come.
Editor’s
Note: Heather Lee is a Composition I student at Edison State Community
College, Darke County Campus. This opinion is being published with
permission, and chosen for CNO readers due to the quality of the
assignment submission and relevance of the topic. It does not
necessarily represent the opinion of County News Online or Edison State
Community College.
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