(Op-Ed by Peter Children)
The news release that greeted North Iowa on September 1st was explosive, it was tantamount to a cannon going off in your living room. Over the years spanning Jodi’s disappearance we have been subjected to numerous theories as to what might have happened, what did happen, how it happened, where she was, how she was abducted….and the list goes on.
There have been documentaries produced and books written; but still no concrete information has come to light that could be considered as creditable. If the truth were to be known there are many unsolved murders and serious crimes that remain unsolved, some forever, others for decades or longer….many right here.
From what I now see, the issue before us is one of credibility; there are two entities before us; Officer Ohl and the Police, one is right and one is not. I, like the rest of North Iowa, have read all the material that was allowed and available online and in the paper, I have listened to the televised newscasts and theories offered by friends and acquaintances as has the majority of the rest of you.
The thing to remember is this; we are all human beings. Just because we put on different clothes we leave the house does not necessarily change who we are. Some of us wear uniforms and badges, some do not, some can extract your gall bladder right after lunch, others can repair your carburetor and someone else can clean your teeth. None of these feats really go deep enough to change our personalities; we are who we are. Do priests and other clergy abuse children? You know they do. Do police steal; yes they do because I have known police who while wearing the uniform, found unlocked doors on businesses while making the rounds on foot in the downtown area. When this happened, this particular patrolman would then enter the premise and carry out as much as he could before reporting it. It was just who he was. Did every patrolman do that; no of course not. It was reported that in Chicago this week a man found $150,000.00 buried in his backyard. He turned it in. Why? Only he knows that answer.
No one should rush to judgment here. What do we know about former officer Ohl? Has she an axe to grind? Already there are rumors that she had an affair with one of the principles she named. Is it true…who knows that answer? It is also widely rumored that Jodi was privy to information that police were dealing drugs, and to shut her up they did away with her. Could police be selling drugs? The police have unprecedented access to narcotics. Recently a car was stopped and inside was found several pounds of drugs along with a large amount of cash. Come to your own conclusion, if it was the guy who found the door open, he’d have taken possession of both the drugs and the money and the driver of the car would then and there traded his merchandise for freedom. There is no evidence that the police are now or ever dealt in drugs in this community; let it be known that I am not advocating such a thing happened, but that it is not out of the realm of possibility. We are all human; we all have wants and needs. Did not that woman in Albert Lea take one million out of client accounts and lose it at Diamond Joe’s? Of course she did, and she was sentenced to serve three years for doing it.
What we should all hope for is a conclusion to a horrific crime that has gone unsolved for far too long.
Peter Children
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