November 15th 2002 The Begining

[Angie/admin]

It's early friday morning. I am standing in front of the kitchen window at the sink running water into the coffee pot and I see Barry pulling up the driveway. I wonder why he is not at work.
I'm still standing at the sink when Barry corners me and asks me what my mother said to me on the phone. There he stood looking upset, worried and angry. I told him again what my mom said to me on the phone yesterday evening. The same thing I told him before. I asked him why he was asking me this. He told me, because your mother never came home last night.....We stood talking for several minutes about where he had went looking for mom. We both new that something was very wrong and that we needed to do something.. I woke my sister up and told her that she should not go to work and that mom did not come home. I called out of work and the three of us put a plan in action to see what we could find out..

Barry called Horry County police to see if he could fill out a missing person report and was told that he had to wait 48 hours. Jen and I went to a friends house who new a police cheif and asked him if he could speak to the cheif of police. When Jen and I got back to the house Jen found a roll of film that she had taken some pictures of mom on. Together Barry and Jen went to Walmart to get them developed and they went to the bank that mom and Barry shared and pulled an activity report of the account. And that is when Barry discovered the large sum of money withdrawn from his account. I was instructed to call moms place employement to see if she was at work and then I was to call one of her sisters to see if maybe she was planning a trip to see her with out telling us..All avenues turned up empty. Mom was not at work and she had not planned to go visit her sister..

When Barry and Jen got back home we all sat down and looked over the bank statement. Barry called the places where the money was withdrew from and asked if they could pull the survalliance tape so he could view it..Of course they told him no, only a cop had the authority to ask them to do that..We then found out that someone who worked with Barry and mom had a relative that was either a manager or part of the security at Walmart. we asked if it was possible to view the tapes to see if mom did in fact go to walmart like she said she was..They said yes but only with the company of a police officer. Barry called Horry County again and told him of his findings and asked if an officer would accompany him to Walmart and the other locations where the money was taken out of ATMs. The police department agreed. So off Barry went and Jen and I stayed at the house to wait by the phone.

I was sitting at the breakfast bar when the phone rang. Jen picked it up and I could hear Barry talking just as plain and clear as if I was on the phone with him. With an oatmeal cookie just inches from my mouth I heard him say "It was not your mother who took the money out of the bank. We believe it is a male but we can not see the face. All we can see is the chest and torso and it is not your moms"It was then that I new something very bad had happened and that I may never see my mother again in this life.. I dropped the cookie and screamed "NO!! why are you doing this to me? My father was not enough, you had to take my mother!!" I ran out the back door and I just screamed and yelled. I cried, I sobbed..I felt my stomach turning. I felt so empty, so lost and confussed....My sister came out on the porch and stood there looking at me with the whitest face I had ever seen, trying so hard to fight back her tears. Since I was out of control she was trying so desperatly to stay sane for us both. With red eyes and tears running down my face, I mustered up a voice so weak and asked her "why us?" With tears starting to stream down her face now, she walked over to me and put her arms around me and said in to my ear "Ange I don't know why. But we will get through this." We stood there in each other arms crying while our hearts and our lives shattered all around us..

[Sara Huizenga]

You have gone through (obvious understatement) so much, Angie...your resilience and ability to find meaning and giveback to others in pain is such an inspiration. I read of something called "Post traumatic Growth" today and thought instantly of you...I am honored to know you and am continuing to pray for healing and peace...xoxoxox

[Maureen Reintjes-Peace4 Admin]

Angie,

I could hear your story a thousand times and everytime it brings me to tears. And, that was just the beginning of your nightmare. You and Jen came through a lot. Although your Mom has been found this story should be told over and over and over again. So many lessons in it but I know you would trade being a voice for victims, both missing and murdered, over having your Mom back but it wasn't and isn't now the path you are on. Thanks for being a voice and sharing all aspects of your story. I hate that world "story" as we know this was real life.

Maureen