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Essie Goins:1972, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

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       Essie Beatrice Manson Goins was born on June 19th, 1936 to Willa (Broadus) Manson and John Wiley Manson in Macon, Georgia. She had a brother named John Jr. who was three years older. In the 1940 census her father worked at a bottling plant.    By 1950, the family had traveled north and settled in Allegheny County. They are still a family of four. John Manson worked driving a refuse truck for the city. John Jr. was 16 and Essie was 13. Essie’s mother, Willa, was called “Willie” on both those census documents.       Essie grew up and married James Burton Goins. They had three children: Victor, Monica and Mark.  Mr. Goins worked as a maintenance man Allderdice high school.        In 1972 Essie Beatrice Goins was working for the State of Pennsylvania as an investigator for the Department of Public Assistance. This was not just a job, but a career. Essie and John’s children were teenage...

Bonita Parker:1991, Columbus, Ohio

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       Bonita Virginia Parker was born on August 20th, 1970 in Columbus, Ohio to Edna Louise Parker and Juan Ray Parker.    Columbus is a college town. It’s also the home of billionaire Les Wexner. He’s been in the news lately for his extremely close association to Jeffrey Epstein.    Bonita Parker wasn’t a billionaire and she didn’t have friends in high places to help keep her out of trouble.    I didn’t find much information about Bonita’s early life. When I see that in my research that usually means that a person’s upbringing involved poverty and hardship. But, she persevered. She was beautiful and took pride in her appearance. Sometimes putting on makeup and doing your hair can cheer you up. Wearing a cute outfit and going out with your friends can make you feel better. Sometimes that’s all you’ve got to hold onto.     On Monday the 12th of August in 1991 Bonita was out for the evening in Columbu...