Goings-On

As some of you are aware, this has been a record-setting year for weather events in the U.S. and I am located in one of the areas that has been affected. As I've posted here at least a dozen times, the local electric company is at least 20 years behind every other company in the nation. My power goes out literally whenever someone in the neighborhood sneezes too hard, and so far this year, I've spent about four entire days without power.

I had to throw out everything in the refrigerator following the first outage, which lasted 72+ hours, and almost exactly a week later, the power went out for another 12 hours. I didn't lose any food that time, but it was partly because I had so little to lose! Add these outages to the two to three days I spent without internet access, and I was unable to work for almost an entire week last month!

If you've been following the national news, you also know that a young girl was allegedly kidnapped from her home in a nearby community. Holly Bobo has been missing since April 13^th and the police have used what the rest of the country considers "unusual" investigation tactics -- namely refusing to release 911 calls, intentionally misleading media and other investigators, changing their story, and worse. These are not at all "unusual" tactics for Decatur County law enforcement; this is the type of thing local residents have dealt with for years and federal authorities have willingly overlooked for at least as long, despite countless reports, trials that go nowhere, and more. Yet even though there is now a 20-year-old girl missing, no one seems to find it disturbing enough to actually bother doing anything about it.

Because of the deafening silence surrounding the Holly Bobo case, the community has been upturned. Residents for miles around have locked their doors and windows and more people are openly carrying guns. And make no mistake about it, these people are as bad as Los Angelians: They will use them!

The simple truth is that Decatur County is a poorly-educated, thoroughly corrupt, and ultra-religious community that lives in fear of those who "police" it. Most locals believe the "investigative tactics" being employed have served only those police officers and their cohorts, and absolutely no one else. A county prone to xenophobia and distrust has grown even more insular and it has taken its toll, as gossip spreads in the absence of factual information. There has been a lot of finger-pointing and tongue-clucking, yet no one has any idea if the "authorities" involved are any closer to finding this girl than they were the day she was reported missing.

And though we are all trying to hold it together in the hopes that Holly Bobo will be found alive and well and returned safely to her home, many are beginning to doubt there ever was a kidnapping -- and with good reason. The story has changed numerous times, possible suspects have been questioned and arrested without being reported to the media, homes and properties have been searched illegally and without just cause (we have heard), and literally everyone who has dared to offer information of any kind has drawn unwanted attention to the point that no one wants anything to do with any of it.

As I write this, there have been no reported breaks in the Holly Bobo case and meteorologists are predicting more bad weather headed this way. Residents in Memphis are being evacuated from their homes to avoid the rising waters of the great Mississippi and temperatures will be in the 90s from now until the end of the week, when thunderstorms and possible tornadoes are expected.

Just in time for Friday the 13^th.

© C Harris Lynn, 2011