As I write this blog entry, I am looking out at the trees that are proudly displaying their annual array of golden and red colors. I love this time of year, but I also know that as October 19th appears on the calendar, another year is passing without my father-in-law, Tom, and without Cheryll. Time marches on and on and on and on and on…. This is the fifth entry I’ve posted on October 19th. Five years that have been spent learning about Cheryll and her unsolved murder, but also meeting some incredibly strong, determined, genuine people who cared for Cheryll, who still think of her often, and o ..read more

It’s October 19th again. I feel like it was just October 19th of last year when I was writing on what would have been your 60th birthday about it being the 50th year of not knowing who ended your life. And yet we have spent another year remembering you and praying for the right person to step forward who is willing to share the truth. We’re still working for you though, Cheryll. Bridget was invited to spend a day at the Hamilton County Morgue and in typical Bridget fashion, was able to ask the right people about your file and the findings contained in the morgue. This is what is there: Card fr ..read more

The devil is in the details. We’ve all heard that saying before, and when it comes to old and cold cases, it is true–the small details can add up and help shine light on the truth. In working with the cold case detective assigned to Cheryll’s case, and by still talking to friends and family members of Cheryll’s, little details have emerged that have piqued my interest. It’s important to include these with previously known information to keep us moving toward answers. The Man on the Porch, as he will forever be known in this blog, was an obvious prime suspect even when the investigation began i ..read more

As time goes on and more people learn about Cheryll’s case and scrutinize the minute and important details of the day of her death, theories abound. Some readers of the blog and friends and family of Cheryll’s alike, all feel strongly about what they feel “probably” happened to Cheryll, and are just as passionate at times about who they believe ended her life. These varying viewpoints make sense each in their own way and truly, of the handful of possibilities regarding what happened to Cheryll the morning of October 19, 1971, one most likely is the actual answer. As I embark on the fourth year ..read more

The day is here. October 19, 2021. Today officially marks the passing of 50 years since Cheryll’s life ended. When I started this journey of telling Cheryll’s story and trying to solve who was responsible for her murder, my target date was today because I was aware of the significance of the passing of half of a century. I had hope that as we embarked on the passing of 50 years, we would know who was responsible for her death, and I can say with absolute disappointment that I didn’t get the answer in the timeframe that I had set for myself. And for that, I feel a sense of apology to everyone w ..read more

What I came to learn about the man, Jon, a possible suspect in Cheryll’s murder, was just in little bits that I was able to piece together from Cheryll’s brothers and the detective. To review, Jon owned a business in Highland Heights in 1971 when Cheryll disappeared. He was known to associate with members of the car theft ring that was operating in and around Highland Heights during that time. Jon was known to be an imposing figure and was not known for being a man that many people liked. Jon also plead guilty to some sex crimes against children and I’d learned that he had told some of those v ..read more

It was a summer day when Bridget, Erin, and I met for lunch. We were finally able to find time free of the stress of work, the busyness of life, and all the figurative noise that usually surrounded us when we tried to talk together. Sitting at the table sharing the goings on in our lives was much-needed and eventually we started talking about that special girl we’d never met, but had all grown to care so much about…Cheryll. We discussed the latest leads we were working on, I shared the newest developments, and Erin finally opened up about what she had been sensing and feeling from Cheryll. Aft ..read more

As my conversation with Mrs. Smith continued, we shifted from her sweet memories of Cheryll to me asking her about the terrible time in October of 1971 when Cheryll was discovered to be missing. “How did you hear about Cheryll being missing?” I asked Mrs. Smith. “If I remember correctly, I was outside, maybe hanging my laundry, and some neighborhood boys came up and asked me if I had seen Cheryll. I told them that I hadn’t and asked if everything was okay and they said that no one could find her. And my heart dropped a little.” As she uttered those words, my own heart dropped a little hearing ..read more

Recently, Bridget and I were invited guests on the podcast called The Stevie Fro Podcast. The host, Steve Fromeyer, typically interviews local sports stars, coaches, and athletes, but in an effort to broaden his reach and venture into other areas of interest, Steve asked Bridget and me to come on his show to discuss Cheryll’s case and the status of our investigation. We jumped at the chance to share Cheryll’s story with even more listeners and welcomed the opportunity to, for the first time ever, be interviewed together. Steve, a follower of this blog, was eager to ask us questions and we were ..read more

Sometimes I find myself seemingly buried– buried in the frustration, the questions, the investigative construct, in the discussions, and in documents all relating to Cheryll’s case; feeling sadness and despair over the unanswered questions about her last day alive and in the investigation that ensued. And always, I long for any information that I can learn about Cheryll herself. I find myself posting in Facebook groups, begging anyone with memories of her to reach out to me and asking her childhood friends to share what they remember of her, like I’ve asked them before, hoping that when I ask ..read more