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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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