How did Michelle McNamara’s obsession with unsolved crimes start?

Thoughts on “I will be gone in the dark” by Michelle McNamara

Michelle McNamara

Michelle McNamara, the author of “I will be gone in the dark,” is attentive and curious to details, obsessed with mysterious crimes. She has a strong searching force to find the truth behind every crime. To her, “the monsters recede but never vanish” and “they are long dead and being born as she writes.”

Michelle’s first obsession, Kathleen Lombardo’s murder:

Every story starts from something. It all began on August 1, 1984, for Michelle, at Oak Park. When she was 14, she witnessed a brutal murder case of her neighbour-Kathleen Lombardo. That event had marked her curiosity and obsession with unsolved crimes, especially murder cases. People gather around crime scenes because that’s what triggers their curious minds. However, I find that not many people have a brave heart to chase the truth or its story. It was not the case for Michelle. She was one of the truth finders, or you can call her “a hoarder of ominous and puzzling details.”

After the murder of Kathleen, her neighborhood was shocked and “gripped with fear.” However, they eventually moved on as time passed. But she never could. The image of Kathleen and an urge to identify the shadow of Kathleen’s murderer have jangled in her mind since then.

Michelle’s unorthodox mind:

“Despite the gin, I was still the girl in the back of the classroom, watchful, never watched.” Even when she was a kid, she often immersed herself in her thoughts. I find that quite unordinary for a kid around her age.

“When I meet people and hear where they’re from, I orient them in my mind by the nearest unsolved crime.” The ability to recall a crime scene from a vague location suggests that she has an incredible memory with critical thoughts about those crimes. It’s more of an obsession than a hobby to her.

Although Michelle had an ordinary life with her husband, Patton Oswalt, and her daughter, Alice, she always occupied herself with unanswered questions about crimes. Her curiosity about those crimes turned into an obsession as she grew up. In her mid-thirties, she turned her fascination and attempted to solve cold-case homicides into a detective website, True Crime Diary.

Besides, she was never a fan of any fancy event. For her, the only thing fascinating her mind was to “excavate through the night in search of information about a man she’d never met, who’d murdered people she didn’t know.”

Conclusion:

Every obsession starts with a spark from an unforgettable event. So does Michelle’s obsession with unsolved crimes. However, I find that it’s not a mere obsession for her. To solve one cold-case homicide after another requires more than a sharp and critical mind to connect and analyze each missing link from a crime scene. Indeed, it requires perseverance and courage to follow those cases til the end. For me, that’s who Michelle McNamara is.