The Walk

March 31, 2009

It started off like any other Tuesday. 5:44 a.m. and the music starts blasting. Sharon sprung up, turned the coffee pot on, and proceeded to the bathroom for her shower. After that, she wakes up her fiancé, Don, followed by her 3 year old son, Mikey, for a quick breakfast before they all run out the door for the day. She has to take Mikey to the sitter, Dana, and drop Don off at work before going into the bank to start her own work day. Dana, who is also Don's sister, was Mikey's babysitter at the time. She was a total lifesaver.

The Day continued on and at 4 p.m Sharon was done with work and on her way to pick up her boys who were both waiting for her at Dana's. Don had a psychiatrist appointment at 5:30 p.m. out in Morrestown, New Jersey. The appointment seemed to go smoothly and they decided to run to grab tacos for dinner since it was getting late. After dinner, Mikey had his bath, followed by playtime while Sharon straightened up the apartment and started their laundry. Normally, after Sharon straightens up, the three usually would take a walk along the water. There was a creek right by their apartment that led into the Delaware River on the New Jersey side. Basically, the neighborhood was surrounded by water. Tonight, however, when Sharon went to get Mikey ready to go on their walk, he was asleep. He must have been exhausted from their extra long day. Dana did mention that he didn't nap and he was only three years old.

When Don finished his shower, he asked Sharon if the two were ready for their walk. Sharon told him that Mikey was out for the count and she would just fold the laundry, but he could still go if he wanted. He agreed and then he took one cigarette from his pack next to the front door, turned to Sharon and said, "I'll be right back", and proceeded out of the apartment. They usually took about a twenty to twenty-five minute walk. Sharon was so tired and started to worry. After all, it was about 9:15 p.m. and Don left there at around 7:55 p.m..

This was not like Don. He always was in bed by 11 p.m. at the absolute latest on a work night. It was only Tuesday. The three of them had just moved into their apartment on February 22nd and didn't know a soul in Delanco, New Jersey. Sharon and Mikey never even heard of Delanco until Sharon saw an ad for the apartment when they were looking. It's not like Don would have stopped at a friend's house while walking, they literally didn't know one person. The only thing she could think of was maybe he decided to walk to Dana's house or to his mom, Tracey's, house. Tracey only lived down the street from Dana at the time, but that was all the way over in Burlington. Not exactly a quick walk. Hanging on to any hope that Don had decided to take that mission out to Burlington, Sharon called Dana. She didn't want to panic, but had to let her know what was going on cause they now had to figure out how to ask Tracey if he had popped up there without letting her know that her son never came home. Somehow, Dana pulled it off, but Don was not there either. It was now after 11:30 p.m. and no word. I know what you're thinking, why not just call his cellphone? It's 2009, he definitely had a cell. Correct. Both Sharon and Dana called and called to no avail. Don's phone went straight to voicemail. It was off or the battery died. No one knew. All they knew was Don wasn't home.

April 1, 2009

Sharon didn't sleep a wink. She had to call off work because she and Dana were going to go look for Don anywhere the two could think of. Dana's husband at the time, Tom, also called out of work so he could watch the kids. Dana had four of her own and usually had Mikey during the week, so Tom was taking on five kids for us to do this. Dana and Sharon drove all around Delanco looking and asking people if they had heard or seen anything that may give them a clue as to where Don was. Nobody saw anything. Nobody even heard anything. It was almost as if Don had just vanished into thin air.

There's a few reasons that Sharon and Dana drove all over looking for Don. Sharon had placed a phone call to the Delanco police that morning before heading to Dana's and was told she had to wait 24 hours to even report a missing adult. Plus, Don was a recovered addict. Even though he was so many years clean, there's always that chance of a relapse. Of all of the things swirling through their minds, that is the one that Sharon had hoped for. Sounds odd, but so much worse could be. The two, scared to death of the unknown, voyaged down to North Philadelphia, Camden, Northeast Philadelphia, Bucks County, and everywhere in between. All of the known drug areas were trekked. They hung fliers all over telephone poles and inside every store window they went by.

Unfortunately, there was still no trace of Don. It was now time to let Tracey know. The two filled Tracey in and they all spent the next few weeks gathering search parties since the police don't do much for missing adults. Sharon had filled them in on their nightly walks along the water and her gut told her they needed to search there, but they do not dive and search in the water for anyone over the age of 18 unless they have at least one witness saying they saw the adult fall into the water and where. Nobody had seen a thing though. Sharon, along with everyone in their lives, was on a mission to find Don. They even tried mediums. They were getting desperate.

April 16, 2009

Sharon was scheduled for a check-up at her doctor's office. Her cousin, Katie, and her 4 year old son, Gabe, had come to stay with her and Mikey since Don went missing. Gabe was with his dad and Mikey has just been dropped off to his grandmother in Croydon, Pennsylvania. Sharon and Katie were supposed to be headed towards Philadelphia to go to the doctors, but Sharon turned in the opposite direction and told Katie that she had to go to Tracey's and she will reschedule her appointment. They had just heard a bunch of sirens while at her mother's house. Katie was used to Sharon randomly doing that over sirens or a gut feeling she had.

When Sharon and Katie walked into Tracey's, they saw Dana was there and knew something wasn't right. Tracey grabbed Sharon by the arms and told her she needed to sit down. With that, she burst out crying as well as Tracey and everyone else in the room. Tracey had been told not long before Sharon showed up, that a fisherman found Don in the Delaware river. He was found on the Bensalem, Pennsylvania side of the river. Right behind the Penn Ryn Mansion. He was vertical in the water and the only thing visible was his hair. The man thought he was a dead dog, so he rowed his canoe over and pulled on the hair. To his surprise, it was a person. It was Don; fully clothed with his jacket and jewelry still on. He even had his cell phone and lighter in his pocket.

There are a few issues I have with this unsolved death. The first being the medical examiner stating that Don had been in the water for more than likely six to nine days when he was missing about sixteen days. His body was so bloated and deformed from being in the water that you couldn't tell if his body was bruised or not. Somehow, nobody in all of Delanco, New Jersey saw him or heard anything out of the ordinary the night of the 31st. The cause of death on the certificate was accidental drowning and the case was closed. None of this added up. No relapse as none of that was in his system. It couldn't have been his plan; not coming right back home. He only took one cigarette with him. What smoker do you know will leave their whole pack if they didn't plan on coming right back? Plus, Don was in a good place in his life. He had been clean for years, had a good job, no issues with the law, and had gotten engaged to be married on February 21st, the night before Don, Sharon, and Mikey moved into their apartment. Don even told Sharon the psychiatrist made a comment about how happy he seemed and how well things were going for him on the very day he went missing.

This story was all over the news. The reporters were on the phone with Dana at the same time Sharon was getting the full story from Tracey the day they found Don's body. The police interviewed everyone. Sharon was interviewed twice, being the fiancé of the "victim". There was also one person that the police brought in to question with a lie detector test and all. This guy, Nick, who worked with Don. Nick was out there, to put it nicely. Don was a good man who tried to befriend everyone, especially if he saw them sitting alone. He kind of took Nick under his wing to help him fit in and have a friend. Sharon, prior to the bank, had also worked at the factory with Don and Nick for about a month. Nick had a sort of obsession with Sharon, always flirting and making comments about her. Fully aware that Don was engaged to her. Don actually ended up tackling Nick one night when he came to Don and Sharon's St. Patrick's Day party a couple weeks prior to Don going missing. Nick put his arm around Sharon, so Don lunged at him. Once the two were separated, Don said they would still be cool if Nick left then and he did. Nick's lie detector test came back inconclusive. He was on psychiatric medication that can cause a lie detector test to come out that way. The police released Nick. A year after this happened, Nick took his own life. This makes Sharon believe that he had something to do with Don's disappearance, resulting in his untimely death.

Somehow she has to go on living her life with so many unanswered questions. What if Mikey hadn't fallen asleep? What if her and her baby took that walk with Don? Would he be here still or would they not be either? That's not an easy weight to live with on your shoulders. How would I know? I am Sharon. I was engaged to Don and I have to live with this daily. So does his mother, my son, his sister, niece, nephews, and everyone else who loved Don. We all have to live with all the unanswered questions so many of us have. It hurts, even 12 years later. I wish I knew what really happened to Don. There isn't a single lead in his case either. There probably never will be either since the police closed the case.

I will forever be the girl they whisper about now because I was questioned twice by the police. Of course I was, I was his fiancé and, usually, they're the number one suspect. I get it, but that doesn't mean it's right. I don't mind the whispers or stories though. I just wish I had answers. At least for my son, if not myself. Besides my dad, Don was the closest thing that Mikey had to a father. They're his words, not mine. I can't imagine the thoughts he has about this happening around his fourth birthday considering I know how bad mine can get. Imagine your 4th birthday being the day before your soon to be step-father's funeral, whom you have grown to know as a father. That has to be so traumatic for a child. I'm relieved to know that when Mikey speaks of Don, it is always with a big smile and a positive memory. He picked up some of Don's mannerisms too. It is a really cool thing for me to witness.

This is a chapter in my story now. It is definitely an unbelievable one at that. Honestly, if it didn't happen in my life, I don't even know if I would believe it. Not many people ever get to hear a first hand account of a story like this. I, unfortunately, lived it. I can honestly say, from the bottom of my heart, that I wouldn't wish it on anyone.