BY JOHN HOPKINS
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Ordinary people came together Tuesday afternoon in Cincinnati to stand together for victims' rights.
There was Debbie Culberson of Blanchester, whose 22-year-old daughter, Carrie, disappeared in August 1996. Next to her was Dallia Donald of Westwood, whose 36-year-old daughter, Shirley Ann Vaughn, was found dead in Mill Creek in March 1997.
And a few feet away stood Anna Pleasant of Avondale, the saddened mother of Virgil "Poochie" Knight, who was severely beaten and died in July 1997.
Nearly 40 people stood together near the Cincinnati Police Memorial in the West End in commemoration of National Crime Victims' Rights Week, which continues through Saturday. They are the victims' advocates and survivors -- left only with loving memories, pictures and heartache that "nothing in life can prepare you for."
"Their faces and names may be different but the hurt is similar," said Andrea Rehkamp of Mothers Against Drunk Drivers (MADD) of Southwestern Ohio. "We can feel a similar hurt, and once you've been victimized, you have an empathy for other people who suffer from criminals."
Ms. Vaughn was missing since Jan. 13, 1997, before her body was found by a highway maintenance worker months later on the bank of the Mill Creek near the CSX Queensgate rail yard. The slaying has gone unsolved for a year.
Ms. Vaughn's mother, daughter Christy, niece Ola Casada and other family members stood with her picture and flowers. A moment of silence was held in memory of all victims.
"I think it's important to have events like this and to have people come together so that a person is never forgotten," Ms. Casada said.
The event was sponsored by the Cincinnati Police Division, the Fernside Center for Grieving Children, the Greater Cincinnati Crisis Response Team, MADD and Talbert House Victim Service Center. "It gives a voice to the victim," said Ms. Rehkamp. "It allows them the opportunity to tell their stories, because for many of them, they never had the opportunity."
