Offenderman Chronicles

Chapter Sixteen

Karelia's Mother's POV

~~~

It had been over a month since I had last seen my daughter.
It had been nearly a week since I had last seen Charlotte.
Charlotte's mother had been declared missing after not showing up at her place of employment, or being available for contact thereafter. I'd gone to investigate myself thereafter, but only found scattered clues.

Charlotte followed suit. Karen being missing wasn't such a shame- from what I knew, she'd never been especially kind to the girl. But still- three women disappearing at near the same time? With no hints to speak of?

The thought was grim, but I was beginning to wonder if I should keep holding onto the hope that Karelia would come home. The other girls who disappeared under similar circumstances had all been returned after a few days- but not her. Not Charlotte. Not Karen.

She was probably dead.

The television didn't relent upon my sobering realization-- advertisements for some sort of soda played blaringly loud, and it took all of my strength not to get up and smash the TV there and then.

Giving a tense sigh, turned the TV off, staring at the ceiling above. I couldn't stop panicking, but I couldn't do anything. I felt glued in place, and more useless by the second as I pulled out my phone to aimlessly scroll YouTube.

What was there to do?

~~~

It felt like hours later before I finally came across anything of interest. Anything that was relevant.

7 Times the Internet Teamed Up to Solve a Mystery

... Holy fuck? Was this the answer to my prayers? Something that had been right in front of me all along?

I hesitated. For a moment, I wondered if the police would take my case less seriously if I just went sharing the information with everyone.

The police weren't doing anything anyway. What did it matter? I skimmed through the video before making my mind up, downloading the Reddit app. That was where the majority of mysteries were solved, according to the video. If I could ask anywhere, that'd be it.

I made an account, and I was pleased to find that the 'subreddit' dedicated to unsolved mysteries didn't require being a member for a certain amount of time to join. I took a few moments, but soon began typing-- I was certain this would pick up traction, certain that somebody would take interest.

It was still recent. Evidence should still be fresh-- if there was any.

Daughter and family friends missing. Police are no help.

Hello, r/RBI. I have just read the rules and I believe my current case fits here.

The rules state that no current criminal cases should be posted, but the police force in my area is making no move to investigate.

I live in the town of Durham, NC, and three women have recently gone missing. One of them is my daughter, Karelia Mayari. The other two women are Karen and Charlotte Evergreen.

Karelia went missing first. She was on her way home. We don't know what happened, but the next day, an orange rose with its petals freshly stripped and spread around it was left on my doorstep.

Charlotte was a close friend of hers, and helped me search for her. However, she also went missing days afterward.

Karen is Charlotte's mother. I'm not sure when she went missing, but her car was parked at her home. Red rose petals were strewn across the inside of the car, but it had obviously been a few days since they had been plucked.