26 Years.
Does Anyone Care?

After twenty-six years I begin to wonder why I spend the time writing these annual updates. These pleas, really. Is there anyone reading or caring on the other side of it?

My eldest brother, Mark, lost his battle with cancer this year. The only comforts I can find are that he is no longer in pain, and that he is now with my father and Curt. I choose to believe that wherever they are, the details of Curt’s disappearance and murder are not relevant. They are hanging out together as the best version of themselves, completely free of the struggles that ended their lives.

That isn’t the case for the few of us left now. Even as my mom’s memory fades, as it does in old age, the not knowing about Curt haunts her more than ever. We have his picture on the mantel, along with a rosary which no one seems to remember where it came from. There are a few of his knickknacks next to it, the sorts of things that if you knew him, you’d immediately recognize belonged to him. Perhaps they are what help keep her memory of him present, if not always accurate.  

It’s because of what happened to Curt, I think, that she loves to watch true crime stories. That and the many years of my dad’s law enforcement career. And since I watch them with her they are also the reason I am writing this, even feeling that no one is reading.

After almost every episode, I end up thinking: What if that detective had been on Curt’s case instead of the bumbling, corrupted ones in Seabrook? In particular, Detective Kenda. His passion for solving crimes and bringing closure to the family is apparent on the screen. My dad also knew him years ago, though exactly how has been forgotten. If Curt’s case had that level of care from the beginning, I believe it would have been solved early on. But the dodgey people in charge at the time didn’t want it to be solved. I’m sure of that.

This aspect of watching the TV shows is depressing, knowing how Curt’s case was doomed from the start. But many of the cases on TV eventually get handed over to a cold case unit. And they eventually get solved. One we watched recently was about a teenage girl who was murdered. Decades passed without any arrests, all the evidence ruling out every suspect the police considered. The family of the young girl all passed away except for her younger brother. He remained in the family home even after his parents had died just in case, someday, someone came to the house to say they had information, or even that they had finally solved it. I forget how many decades it took, but new forensic techniques were applied to the old evidence and the culprit was caught. The brother, though quite old when the news came, could finally have the peace he and his family had spent every day hoping for their entire lives since the tragedy.

I could go on, complaining about how there is no evidence in Curt’s case given the ineptitude of how it began. The location was torn down and rebuilt over decades ago. Is there anything left, was there ever anything, for the Cold Case Unit to re-examine? I don’t know. But when I spoke  last year to Detective Soucy he said was working on the case and would not let it go idle. I have to believe him.

And I have to believe there is someone out there reading this. And that somehow, someone who knows will offer the information needed to bring closure to my family. Maybe it’ll be a deathbed confession, or some strange combination of things I can’t even imagine, that will finally give the police what they need to arrest the man who murdered my brother.

Then those of us left can finally have resolution, and maybe the wound his loss left can begin to heal.

Please come forward and talk to the Cold Case Unit. They can be reached at: (603) 271-2663.