Believing the worst

Last week, a woman disappeared and was found several days later the victim of a car accident, miraculously still alive. Police suspected her husband was somehow involved in the disappearance. The frantic man, in hopes they would stop looking at him and continue the search for his wife, cooperated fully with detectives: allowing them to search his home, his car, his property. At the time he was taking a lie detector test, his wife was found trapped in her car at the bottom of a ravine.

The question was raised, “Why are we so willing to believe the worst in people?”

Reference Scott & Lacey Peterson. Several years ago, Scott Peterson of California murdered his wife Lacey and their unborn child and disposed of their bodies in the Pacific Ocean. Scott Peterson also appeared to cooperate fully with Police; allowing them to search his home, his car, his property, all the while asking them to please leave him alone and continue the search for his missing wife. He even had the support of his in-laws until the bodies were discovered.

Reference the Krumwiedes: There is an unsolved case right now in my hometown of Lyons of a wife who disappeared and to this day has not been found. Her husband was an immediate suspect (due to a history of suspected abuse) but this guy was apparently better at destroying evidence than Scott Peterson was, because they never found enough of anything to convict him. He has since died of a heart attack, so it is assumed the case will never really be solved.

I was told by a friend of mine, who is a police detective, the husband or boyfriend is almost always an immediate suspect in the disappearance of a wife/girlfriend. This is based on a long history of cases such as the Petersons and the case in Lyons. My heart goes out to the innocent husband whose wife was trapped in a car for 8 days, but I believe the law enforcement agency involved was following SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) to the best of their training and abilities.

I’m just glad I’m not a policeman.