By Monday, the woman watching Michelle's son was worried. Monique: I've been living with this for 15 years and this is something he did in a matter of a day. And the performance of the entire cast is superb but the guy that played the dad.man you need your own reward. Don't hesitate to reach out with reactions to episodes, ideas for future stories, feedback about the show, or just to say hi. But she left behind clues. Monique: On the police report I provided, you know, that didn't have the other girl's name. And it is scary. She got so mad. Whether you want to call it the projects or the hood, its still a ghetto stereotype. Lillie McMullen, said her family remained prayerful during the time her daughter was missing. (document.removeEventListener("DOMContentLoaded",d),window.removeEventListener("load",d)):(document.detachEvent("onreadystatechange",d),window.detachEvent("onload",d))},d=function(){t||!document.addEventListener&&"load"!==event.type&&"complete"!==document.readyState||(t=!0,n(),e())};if("complete"===document.readyState)e();else if(document.addEventListener)document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded",d),window.addEventListener("load",d);else{document.attachEvent("onreadystatechange",d),window.attachEvent("onload",d);var o=!1;try{o=null==window.frameElement&&document.documentElement}catch(a){}o&&o.doScroll&&!function c(){if(!t){try{o.doScroll("left")}catch(d){return setTimeout(c,50)}t=!0,n(),e()}}()}}; Vlad Feier understands hundreds of thousands of children are missing in the United States. Ben: Was that because your aunt was basically suggesting that you wouldn't necessarily keep staying with her if you, you know, did the wrong thing or something? The assignment lands in the hands of journalist Christian Baker, who at first goes with the first lead, turning the entire case up side down. But I knew I didn't want to face what was happening in Pennsylvania. She began browsing online dating sites and decided she would move to California to meet up with a new man: Ibrahim Mumuni. In Still Here, when twelve-year-old Monique Watson disappears from home, her father, Michael Watson (McRae), refuses to give up even as the media and police make little effort in solving the. Amory: One: it will help a lot if someone else can corroborate her story. Christian gives $100 to Reggie, just so Reggie can point to the building where the Watson family lives. She always tries to make the best of out of everything. Monique: When my mom told me she was selling drugs, I knew that I couldn't tell anyone. February 22, 2023 . Christian goes to the building and looks at the mailboxes to find out which one is for the Watsons apartment. In November 2008, the TV show "America's Most Wanted" posted a blurb about her on its website, but no leads came from that, either. If her family wont talk, the other girl who was abducted might be the only person left. Meth. AllRightsReserved. From California to Iowa. Amory: She wrote the post, and went to bed. Amory: A lot of Moniques life has not been routine. Michael and Lillie McMullen aren't hurt or disappointed. captainformThemeStyle['772606'] = ''; }; They all think that I'm going to end up like my mom, like a drug addict. And he was glad to hear it. Vlad Feier, a filmmaker with an obligation to tell his perspective of the truth skews the importance of this topic with exaggerated earnestness. The continuation of this narrative is not in support of what it claims it stands for but rather of White people who carry the god complex. But there are a lot of people who are really scared to just take that first step. And, honestly, all of my friends have that attitude. And as we were driving to the beach, he had a couple of porn magazines and he ended up giving us the porn magazines and made us look through them and kind of suggested that we do that. Its as simple-minded and formulaic as it sounds. Broken promise after broken promise. She goes to work one of her part time jobs at 6pm until about 11. Afton Williamson, Baboucarr Camara, Danny Johnson, drama, Jared Kemp, Jeremy Holm, Johnny Whitworth, Justiin Davis, Larry Pine, Maurice McRae, movies, reviews, Steven Hauck, Still Here, Vlad Feier, Zariah Singletary, Zazie Beetz. Ben: In the span of a lunch break, Pseudo-Nymph found what Monique had been searching for for years. In Martinsburg, W.Va., she was Monique Watson, a Hurricane Katrina victim who had lost everything and was running from a stranger who held her captive in a home, raping her repeatedly. I thought I was safe, I thought I was in good hands. And she had the time to get better and she had the time to get back on her feet. Layla the 18-month-old Tabby found refuge on the family's chicken coop after swimming about 150 metres through raging floodwaters. Monique has always known she was abducted as a child, but specific details about what happened, and why, have been elusive. append_element({ And the fact that it will probably be a fellow African American doesnt seem to bother him in the least. I don't know the dates that it happened. }; Anthony has no problems carrying out their boss orders to find and arrest a suspect, regardless if theres no evidence. This is a hard film to watch. I called her my daughter. It's about the likelihood someone will show up for her next court hearing. Hollywood has used the white savior trope for a long time as a structure to tell stories of POC. Monique: Thanks to the advice that Reddit gave me, they were telling me to go to the local police station, Ventura County, and ask for my records. Monique: Then he did take us back to his car but he made us get undressed. And, you know, she helped me get a job. It makes sense to Patel, looking back, how Monique resisted when he called a social worker behind her back, trying to help her get some legal paper work. Im doing great right now. "There was a letter that she had written about how she claimed to be a Katrina victim," Thornton said. Some of her previous jobs include a real estate agent. Because when you keep that in for so many years, it just eats you up. Her father said the family is fielding interest from national media and for book deals. She could be trapped in her car out of sight of passing traffic. I had to be really careful what I said, how I expressed my emotions and how I just carried myself. Monique Watson is on Facebook. And most who run get caught sooner than this. Monique: I'm new to Reddit. And so we decided to just try to find someone to help us. Movies. Check the search for errors or try a different search. Out of options, Michael teams up with Christian Baker, the journalist assigned to Moniques story. Shes doing the work. It wasn't until she posted to Reddit that she found real leads and. But this is how black people are treated in this country and it's so sad that the victims are victimized over and over again. The acting and the photography are both marvelous. }, true); Sign up for a chance to win prizes (such as free gift cards) and get priority alerts or invitations to the hottest lifestyle/culture news, discounts and promotions. It's more like, after a while, she has to help herself. Monique: I had my god-sistercall her and she refused to talk about it. "I'm grateful that my parents never gave up on me," she wrote in a statement for police. tower cafe sacramento; galley pirate blox fruits. But that Friday, Sept. 26, 2008, when Michelle got an unexpected day off from work at McDonald's, she made a decision to pack up her boy and secretly drive 18 hours through the night to the midstate. "She's a good kid," he said. I couldn't get up out of bed. McCrae is given a few scenes where he convincingly expresses anguish as the father of a missing child whom the police dont seem to care about, while Wentworth doesnt seem to have a lot emotionally invested in his drab role as Christian. The assignment lands in the hands of journalist Christian Baker (Whitworth), who at first pursues a false lead, turning the entire case upside down. Ben: Monique says she and her mom stayed in Iowa, picking up work wherever they could, from kindergarten up until just before 6th grade. Virtual Crunchyroll Expo Wrapped Up This Weekend with Huge Announcements and More! "I knew that if I talked to my parents, they'd convince me to go back home, and I was still afraid.". Ben: So Monique has now given new interviews to law enforcement, in hopes that police will investigate her abduction further. A New York journalist who gets assigned the story of a missing African-American young girl, risks his career and takes the matter into his own hands trying to find her. It was Jan. 27. captainForm772605PreloadInterval63fffe99d7859 = setInterval(function(){ Because of the subject matter you forgive a lot of it. }, 50); ", The family is refusing to dwell on what happened but is instead focusing on helping Michelle rebuild. This content was originally created for audio. "I said she was my daughter," Topka said. Amory: Through all of this, Monique was finding her way. I want to go to different countries. I didn't know. Then one morning in January, police came and took her away. But she thinks she and the other girl crossed the street from the park and started looking for help. And she let her family think she had vanished and possibly was in dangerous hands, a mystery that drew national attention almost from the start. But I'm hoping by sharing my story, that more people, no matter how long ago it was, will go and seek help. Michelle's mother notified Harrisburg police, who called officers in Martinsburg. . Monique: By the end of the day, he just dropped us off at a park and said, Oh, I have to go to work, stay here. And, you know, we were both cold. If you purchase a product or register for an account through one of the links on our site, we may receive compensation. It is heartbreaking (and very reveling) to live a story like this through the perspective of real people, specially in a time where this is a reality for so many others in the world. They say and do things that are hard to take back. Limitless, Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance. The actors made me see into their pain. And when we got there we were playing in the water. But her case file, with all the information about the police investigation, thats a different story. At this point in the story, Monique has been missing for eight days, and Michael is getting increasingly stressed-out because the police havent made any progress in the investigation. Michelle took a job at a McDonald's to try to keep up with her bills and talked to her parents about sending her son back to live with them. So it was kind of normal. if ('' == 'left') She refused to comment on how her grandson was taking the news. Susquehanna Twp. Maybe something even worse happened to her that she doesn't remember. Amory: The possibility that her mom owed this guy money was a revelation for Monique. police say McMullen was a thief, and that's why she has been missing since September 2008. }, 10); And what does Christian do with this speculation? Based on a true story - except it's not. Still Here was a Limited release in 2020 on Friday, August 28, 2020. Michelle was young and impulsive, and she felt incredible shame because her mother is a pastor, he said. Even if we knocked on the door being hungry, it was, Were busy right now. It is interesting on how we accuse folks on loose circumstances and coincidences.Well done. Bipen Patel, manager at the Knights Inn, told police he met Monique when she was staying at a different hotel, near the Maryland border. And they started asking Topka who Danielle was to her. He said she never stole a cent. And my family felt like it was all their fault, too. Please check Fandango and Atom Tickets to see if the film is playing in your area. I couldn't eat. All of them were so supportive. She talked her way out of a minor traffic stop with police and was even able to keep a low profile for 12 months after being featured on the Investigation Discovery show "Disappeared." var captainformThemeStyle = {}; }, true); var captainformCustomVars = {}; Also, a date: May 13th, 2005. But minutes later, the full-uniformed officers returned. Danielle said she had no family, that she had run from her adoptive parents in Chicago because her father abused her. Then came the summer of 1992. Police Chief Rob Martin said that police have followed fruitless tips and searched for McMullen in many states. You know how it is: Poor black family in a poor black neighborhood Cops arent interested. Christian thinks that the only way for the police to jumpstart the investigation into Moniques disappearance is if the police are shamed into it by a news report that says that the police overlooked a suspect. His irresponsible boss Jerry agrees. This website is using Google Analytics. I want to go to Europe. I think that's just the way my brain protects myself from remembering that horrible time. And I'm just tired of being disappointed. The episode is an adaptation of Arthur Conan Doyle's short story : The Adventure of the Gre "She was crying and said, 'Somebody abused me in Louisiana,' and they wouldn't let her out of the house," Patel said. Police chief reveals how 6-year-old girl was found alive under staircase two years after she was reported missing By Mark Morales, Mirna Alsharif, Christina Maxouris and Ray Sanchez, CNN. Its still early. Martin said McMullen scuffled with police when she was arrested and is being held in the Almeda County Jail awaiting extradition to Harrisburg to face charges of theft and forgery. So I knew that it was something that was supposed to be kept a secret. The assignment lands in the hands of journalist Christian Baker, who at first pursues a false lead, turning the entire case upside down. McMullens car was found in Hagerstown, Md., with her personal possessions inside a little more than a week after she disappeared. The assignment lands in the hands of journalist Christian Baker (Whitworth), who at first pursues a false lead, turning the entire case upside down. It was nice but at the same time, my aunt wasn't like my mom. His face was familiar. There are a few ways to reach us: Thanks to u/Oxidative for this weeks artwork, "Overflow." Or maybe her mom wanted to get them both away from this guy, who abducted her. And the evidence of that is in a special folder on Moniques desk. We started driving and we drove right past my mom and she was on her bike. I go to therapy now because of this. And we were playing in the front yard and this guy came up. Ben: Do you think you'll ever try to patch up your relationship with your mom or is it pretty much up to her or what are your thoughts on that? Bed. captainform_create_form_popup(popupParams); Both times, her clever stories garnered sympathy from people in all walks of life. 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