Editor's Note: This blog post was written by Nicole Dash, a mother of four living in Annandale. Check out her blog, Tiny Steps Mommy.
The children are in music class and I thought about quickly publishing a “Mom Who Gives Back” article or perhaps answering a couple of questions for my Mom-to-Mom advice column. Instead, I find myself thinking about the 17-year-old boy Bryan Glenn from my neighborhood high school who was found dead in the woods yesterday exactly a week after going missing. The details are still coming in, but regardless of the WHY or HOW it is a tragic loss.
You can’t go two feet in my neighborhood without seeing missing person posters for the young man who suddenly disappeared. His car was left abandoned in the parking lot of a nearby park and investigators had decided he was another runaway. Police did a search of the woods, but never found him. The community and the Glenn family never gave up though. They knew he did not runaway.
After several vigils and an incredible amount of work getting the word out in the community and online, the Glenn family and friends decided to conduct their own search of the woods near where his car was found. And heartbreakingly they found him. His body was located about ¾ of a mile beyond the tree line.
I wish this story had ended better. My heart hurts for this boy’s parents. My own son is only four years younger than Bryan. He will attend the same high school and play on the same football team. He will probably share many of the same teachers. This is a tragedy with many questions, which perhaps will be answered, but perhaps not.
No one may truly understand the events that led to his death. The one lesson I do carry with me is about the perseverance and strength of this community and of his family. They did not just accept what authorities were telling them. They knew something had happened and pushed beyond the statistics about troubled teens and runaways. They kept looking, as I would have kept looking.
A parent never gives up. Never.
I send my prayers and thoughts to the Glenn family. I do not know them personally, but I do know they are grieving in ways unimaginable.
Please feel free to join the discussion on the Tiny Steps Mommy Facebook page.
To read more about the ongoing story, please read The Fairfax Patch.
Related Stories:
Woodson Senior Missing Since Monday
Thaiss Park Closed While Police Search for Bryan Glenn
Friends of Missing Teen Say 'Bryan Did Not Just Walk Away'
Family Fights to Bring Missing Son Home
Help Bryan's Family Search Thaiss Park
UPDATE: Missing Teen Found Dead in Thaiss Park
VIDEO: Police Answer Questions About Body Found at Thaiss Park
I don't give a rats ass about someone sharing their seemingly bystander outlook on a tragic event and then preaching about how they learned some awe inspiring moral lesson that they should have already known. Doesn't the parental stereotype usually associate going to hell and back for their child. I've got a far more thought provoking visual, imagine a kid you talked to a lot, you had a lot of fun with, even mentored them, followed you around like a little brother. Now imagine you are going through your daily routine one day casually reminiscing the good ole past in your head, thinking of the work you got to get done, then suddenly you found out that kid is murdered face down in the woods.
First, cold would imply I lack emotion which is a stupid assumption seeing as emotion is driving my comments in the first place. Second my comment was also relevant to the mommy blog. Since the author wanted to present what they thought was a thought provoking concept I too wanted to share what I thought to be an even more thought provoking concept. Though it seems some did not make the connection in my story. True, I did word it from a more personal perspective but I also tried wording it broad enough so the reader could see the kid as their own instead of as a friend. I felt that that was a more meaningful message as I look upon the vacant stare of some mothers faces while their child runs off without their interest in where to. Note: I am not referring to the Glenn's mother as one of these mothers and that should further convey the universality and seriousness of my point.