I have received several emails since Wednesday asking me what was up with the Brooke Wilberger link. My apologies. I forgot to include the standard "Warning: Serious Article" at the top. Since almost everything I write is a parody (or an angry rant), people were caught off guard that I would link to such an important topic without an explanation.

 

I've also been asked WHY Brooke, and not one of the other thousands of missing young women. That's a fair question. First, let me say this - YES, Brooke Wilberger is an attractive, blonde-haired, blue-eyed 19-year-old college student. However, that had nothing to do with my decision to run her story. I was one of the first people to lament the coverage of Elisabeth Smart at the expense of the hundreds of missing black or latino children every year. I can't say what motivates the news media. I can only speak for myself. 

 

I have had a gutfull of people saying "If it could happen to me, it could happen to anybody," when describing some self-inflicted tragedy. When's the last time you heard that? Usually it's when a crack-addicted mom or a white trash slut goes missing or is killed. Three years ago, the citizens of Oregon were shocked to find out that two 12-year-old girls had been murdered by an ex-felon named Ward Weaver. They were even more shocked when they learned that one of the girls' mothers actually let her daughter spend the night at this scumbag's house (on several occasions). I'm going to be perfectly blunt here - that could NEVER happen to my daughter.

 

I also don't shed many tears when some tattooed, pierced slutburger goes missing after attending a rave where she overdosed on "X." I'm not saying that her death or disappearance is "meaningless," it's just meaningless to me. People have to accept a certain level of responsibility for their own actions (although I'm risking alienating about 75% of the voters by saying so).

 

That brings me back to Brooke Wilberger. By all accounts, she was a decent, normal person, just going about her own business when she was (apparently) abducted. She was helping her sister clean an apartment in Corvallis, Oregon. The cleaning supplies she was carrying were found scattered about the parking lot (indicating that there was a struggle, and she was nabbed).

 

Initially, I thought that this would be taken care of within a few days. Maybe whoever abducted her would get cold feet and let her go. It's been over ten days now, and the police are no closer today than they were on day one. They have arrested a few "persons of interest," but nothing has produced any results. One of the people arrested was a panty thief. My wife and I both thought someone of that ilk would be too timid or cowardly to have done something like this. However, this dude didn't mess around. He had what seemed like hundreds of panties and bras he had stolen from college laundry rooms in Oregon (including one just 1/2 a mile away from where Brooke disappeared).

 

So what am I asking? Not much, really. Just keep your eyes peeled. That's all anyone CAN do. Take a look at the website (www.findbrooke.com) and if you have a tip, a sighting, or whatever, you can send an email to the police. Let's all hope she turns up OK.

 

Gracias,

'Coop