I am sad to say that the media has derailed from it's coverage of Julie Popovich. It is to be expected. After all, we all know the hurricane in New Orleans is going to be absolutely devastating. Even my own husband has informed me that he'd rather watch the prestorm show than hear me complain about the lack of any trace of half way reliable evidence in Julie's case. I can understand his thought process... he lived down in the bayou for many years and has always talked about it like it was his true home. The number of times over the years that he has indicated that I would be able to get past the bugs, the humidity and the accent of the great people there- if I would be willing to pack up and move down there is mind boggling. But I may have watched the Water Boy one to many times to ever be so willing as to go.
However, despite the raging storm, despite the media's over zealous need to cover every detail of it- I believe that it would be justifiable to expect them to keep the Julie Popovich story and its ever growing fuzzy accounts of what happened- or didn't happen- fresh in the minds of everyone. Because right now, flocks of 20 something girls are headed to Columbus Ohio in pursuit of their education at OSU. And if this was a "stranger abduction" if there is a deviant predator out there- Columbus has now been flooded with potential victims. And what concerns me more than the media's ending (temporary I hope) of attention to Julie's story is the absolute ignoring of other missing people.
Julie Popovich was just a average girl out on the town with friends. On August 11th of this year, she had been out to celebrate a friends birthday and a group that included her decided to go out for more drinks at the popular Ledo's. Reports are tangled in disagreements as to how much Julie had been drinking, or whether she was really seen getting into a car with a strange man. What isn't conflicting is the many friends testimony that vanishing with telling someone where she was going is highly unlike Julie. One of the last conversations anyone is known to have had with her was with a friend when she informed them she was going outside to smoke. After that, peoples memories become entangled on whether she was or wasn't seen leaving with anyone. Her live in boyfriend who was suppose to show up at the bar had apparently worked late that night and couldn't make it. He called police two days later on the 13th to report her missing. The ID, which has a tall tale in itself on whether is was hers- or one she had on her belonging to a friend was mailed to a friend by someone claiming to have found it by the Hoover Resevoir days later.Ashley Howley- attractive, charming young woman who at 20 had a lifetime of dreams still
ahead of her, and a family left heartbroken over her disappearance. Her case has become very personal to me. Not because I know her- as I never had the chance to cross paths with her. Ashley was raised by her mother Jackie, and had lived in a few various places as her mother established a home for her young children. They moved around as her step father followed his career and Ashley was cherished as any child of any mother would be. She had decided to move out on her own and found her way back to Columbus Ohio, not far from where she had once lived in Reynoldsburg with her family. But all apparent indications she was a friendly and outgoing young girl, making close friends and meeting that special someone. However, how her story would eventually end was something no one ever saw coming. At 3:13 a.m. June 16, of last year Ashley made a phone call to police to report that she had been assulted, presumably at her apartment. She refused medical treatment and informed police that she was packing up to go stay with a friend. Ashley, the pretty brownish blond girl with an unforgettable smile- never arrived at her friends. Her sister and a friend visited Howley's apartment on June 23 and found her missing, but said her car was parked in the parking lot and her dog was barking inside the apartment. Howley's car was gone by the time police searched her apartment on July 9. It would not be until fathers day- when she failed to call home- that her family would realize something was truly wrong. Even then it would take until September for her mother to be permitted to enter the apartment Ashley had rented. A month after Howley vanished, the Pontiac was found abandoned several miles from her home. It was covered in debris and the glove box was empty.
As if their stories aren't enough just one at a time to give you cause for concern... there's more. After sending Julies story over to the greatest true crime blogger and now completely famous after appearing on At Large with Geraldo Rivera- Steve Huff, he pointed out that there was another Columbus Ohio vanishing, only the ending would be a horrible fate for Stacey Colbert. The last person to see Stacey Colbert was a pizza delivery person who dropped off a pizza at Stacey's apartment at 1221 Waterford on the night of March 21, 1998. Steve's entry on it can be found here. Her case remains unsolved even with the discovery of her body- confirmed by DNA- in late 2004.There are more stories out there, other women missing. Other stories just as compelling. With no answers to how or why they happened. I will be spending the next few days looking at them, and writing what information I can- until then- I hope, that their stories, and the stories of Julie and Ashley are not forgotten amidst the coverage of the Hurricane by the media. And I hope that their stories may have better endings. There are families left with too many questions... and not enough answers.