It's hard to even talk about him right now, you know? He was a good kid. He lived his own life, and it wasn't the best kind of life that I would've wanted him to have. He went off on his own. I think he was fourteen when he left. But he had a heart of gold. You had to know him to see that part of him. And the highest respect for women. He couldn't see a woman even carrying groceries without going to help her, even if he didn't know her. He was like that with women.
I had said to him, "Don't ever touch a woman in anger, don't ever hit a woman." After a while I thought, "Hmm, I'm kind of sorry I said that, because he's the one that's getting hit," you know? But, he was a good kid. He just went down the wrong road with all his friends, in and out of jail, in and out of jail. When he was in jail, I was happy, because I knew where he was. When he wasn't, oh God, I'd just worry if he was still alive or whatever, you know? Turns out, that's eventually what happened to him. Somebody murdered him.
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We had a ceremony for him, just to kind of put him to rest. We had kind of a funeral for him. It was twenty-one years that we'd been searching for him. It's kind of funny, most of the people that were there were girls, girls that he knew from the reserve. They all came. Not many guys, but girls he had. That's about him in a nutshell.
"Regarding him, is there anything specific like his passions or goals that you would like to share about him?" (WLMN Interview Question, 3:50, H. Williams)
I don't think he had any goals, because of the life he was leading. That's what he wanted to do, and that's where he stayed. But you know, he was an awesome artist. I first saw his drawings when he was, I don't know, seven or eight, and I was just shocked. The talent he had. He didn't have to look at a picture to draw. He'd just do it on his own.
We got some of his stuff, drawings and that, that we're trying to find. All of a sudden they all went. People are hiding them or something. But yeah, he was artistic. You met him, you didn't get that meanness off him. You just didn't. He was just a funny kid who did his thing his own way.
"Are there any words you'd like to use to describe your healing through this?" (WLMN Interview Question, 5:25, H. Williams)
Well, I don't know. The strength, I guess, I get from all the years we spent looking for him, trying to find him. But it's always with me, not only the times we're searching. I'll think about him somewhere along the way. I'll think about him when I'm driving or something. But I have a lot of regrets. I should have done this, I should've done that, I should've said this, not knowing we were going to lose him at such a young age.
But we did talk a lot just before he passed. Every day we talked about his childhood. He really despised his dad. Wanted nothing to do with him.
"With this campaign, is there anything you would hope certain people would understand from this?" (WLMN Interview Question, 7:00, H. Williams)
I'm at a loss of what to say here, really. There's so many people out there that don't know where their loved ones are, and they have to go out and look. Don't forget about them. Just because you don't know where they are, they're somewhere. If you look, you'll find them. Even with us, we spent about twenty-one years looking, and we always thought we were going to find him. Nothing yet.
We get people saying, "This guy murdered him, that guy murdered him." But I don't really listen to that. I just want to find him, period. Don't forget about them. They are laying out there, whatever is left of them, that needs to be found. Can't just let them leave your life.
Sometimes I'll be thinking about it, and I'll ask Creator to help me find him. I don't have to sit down and make myself think about it. It just comes to me that I need to ask for help. And also St. Anthony, who helps you look for stuff that you lost. He always helps you find something. I've been talking to him lots too, and it'll come when it comes.
It's good to share. I'd like to know what happened to him. I know I've gotten all kinds of stuff from people. If there's anybody out there that knows anything about the truth of what happened to him, and I know there are people that do and are not saying anything, maybe they'll get in trouble, that's why they don't want to say anything. But if they just know a little bit of something that I haven't heard yet, I want those people to tell me what it is they know. I'm not going to run to the cops. I just want to know. They'll pay for what they've done themselves. It's not for me to pay or make them pay, you know. Don't forget your missing loved ones. Don't forget them.
