Greasing the Wheels of Change
Late night thoughts about how recent events have inspired me to keep advocating for missing people in whatever way I can.
April 26, 2025
It is after 3 AM, and I should be asleep.
Instead, I’m thinking about missing people again. But I’m also thinking about the murder of Aleah Aaron, and how if it weren’t for community members coming forward and providing law enforcement with information and evidence, Aleah would likely still be on my list of locally missing people.
Instead, her murderer has been convicted and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. It’s bittersweet for her family, because it keeps her killer from causing further harm to anybody else, but it doesn’t bring her back. It’s bittersweet from my perspective as an advocate, because so many of our locally missing are presumed homicide victims who have not been avenged through the justice system.
So many haven’t yet had the chance. I think that’s part of why Aleah’s story has impacted me so deeply. Not only is she somebody I would have definitely befriended if we’d crossed paths before her death, she is one of the few who was reported missing in this area whose case has been resolved.
Toby Anderson. Teresa Peroni. Catherine Wallace. Katrina Sweaney. Domingo Ramirez. Ericka Hogg. Victoria Soderberg. Patricia Watts. Russelle Sturm. Donald Johnson. Lisa Cronin. Fauna Frey. These are only a few of Josephine County’s missing who would have benefitted from somebody coming forward within those first few days or weeks. Aleah’s friends stood up for her in a way that is unfortunately rare in this community, and perhaps in this country. They testified in front of a grand jury so that the DA could move forward with prosecution.
I hate how amazed I am by that. This should be the standard, not the exception to the rule. And yet here I am, screaming from proverbial rooftops about a bunch of missing people who are not getting the attention that they so desperately need. The third JoCoMPP rally is right around the corner in June, and the next Walk for Ericka is in three weeks. And it feels like I’ve made such little headway in any of these cases, but the one thing that keeps me going when I start getting mad at myself for my lack of progress is this…
Any progress that I’m making is still more progress than local law enforcement is making.
Again, this is a thing that I am both very proud of, and extremely disappointed by. One person shouldn’t be trying to do the work of multiple police agencies. This should not be something that I feel compelled to do, because I so deeply wish that this area, this state, had more resources to put towards missing and unidentified person investigations.
It’s easy to blame police. It’s easy to blame poorly written legislation and systemic hurdles. Hell, for some people it’s easy to blame the missing person for their own plight (And if I ever become one of those people, somebody had better euthanize me).
But there are so many variables when it comes to these cases. People who are afraid of being implicated or retaliated against. Families with buried secrets. Overworked and underpaid law enforcement. Jaded mindsets in both investigative and civilian spaces. Inadequate legislation, rising costs and decreased funding. The fact that each state is responsible for their own police, and counties (especially rural ones) are often left competing for scraps of funding when the larger areas are sufficiently taken care of.
Our system isn’t just flawed, it is flat-out broken. I am angry about it, but there is no singular place to direct my rage. That’s why I’m pouring as much energy as I can into my nonprofit, Josephine County Missing Person Project.
I can’t just sit back and watch things continue like this, not if I have a voice to speak up about it. Hearing from members of law enforcement that “the squeaky wheel gets the grease” was necessary, because it’s strengthened my resolve.
Squeak squeak, Oregon. Let’s get rolling.
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