The missing 5

My high school was bombed, with a confirmed death toll of 50. Many people in my community refer to the death count to be 55. This isn’t rounding, it’s how many people they genuinely believe died due to the bombing.

The truth is that 5 students and faculty members are unaccounted for. The 50 deaths have had a world wide impact, crippled over half of the city I live in, and caused such an unprecedented amount of sorrow.

But those 5 unaccounted people are who haunt me, who keep me up at night, who have become my obsession. I have 4 photos on my wall of these missing people. Three of their names have not been released to the public and I was unable to find any photographs of the 4th person. Instead I’ve written her name in big black letters.

I search for their faces in crowds. I have tried speaking with the detectives over this case but they will not talk to me after I told them I had no information.

The murder behind the bombing supposedly acted alone and killed himself moments after the bomb went off. His home was to be foreclosed the next month and lived alone.

It’s been two years since the bombs went off. I will never forget the names and faces of those missing. I will never stop searching. I am deeply disturbed by the unanswered questions.