Chalkboard Thoughts

       Donna Jean Jarvis was born on April 23rd, 1952. I wasn’t able to find out much about her early life.   She married Robert Hudson when she was a teenager and they had three children, Chrissy, Donna and Bobby Gene.   Donna Jean Hudson was only 20 years old when she was brutally raped and strangled on Tuesday, September 5th, 1972, while her children were forced to watch in her west side Columbus, Ohio home.  Her daughter, Chrissy was five then. Her middle child, Donna, was almost three and the baby, Bobby Gene, was only 19 months old. One can only imagine the trauma they endured.   Her husband, Robert, 26, discovered Donna Jean’s body and the traumatized children when he came home from work.   This was 1972. Was Donna Hudson’s case related to the 1974 Columbus rape and murder of Jill Ellen Cull? Could this be the same perpetrator?     Before Jill Cull was abducted and murdered she had accused a man ...

       Linda Riddley was born in 1956 to Mr. and Mrs. Thomas A Riddley. She was the oldest child. Sharon, Thomas A. Jr. and Cecilia made up the rest of the family.    Linda was smart and hardworking. She graduated from East Tech High School in 1973 and went right to work.    When Linda was 19 she was working as a clerk at Ohio Bell Telephone Company. She usually got a ride to work with a co-worker and friend of the family. Carpooling made good economic sense. Linda needed to watch every penny.         Linda’s father had suffered a heart ailment and wasn’t able to work for a couple of years prior to 1975. Linda wanted to help her family.     Linda was an avid reader in her free time. I found a 1975 yearly report of the Langston Hughes Branch Library which mentioned the loss of Linda. She was a frequent borrower of books there. The librarian mentioned that library traffic slowed consi...

     Lisa Reimer in 1976.    Lisa Reimer was born on April 19th 1960 to Barbara and Frank Reimer.    She was a graduate of Thomas Carr Howe High School in Indianapolis.    On the 4th of October in 1980, Lisa Reimer was riding on the back of her boyfriend’s motorcycle. Richard W. Pothast, who went by the name Mike, and Lisa were, sadly, coming home from the funeral of another friend. They were joined by other members of their motorcycle club, The Sons of Silence.    As they approached a ramp on the south side of town on I-465; someone shot Lisa in the head.  Richard struggled to stop the bike while trying to keep Lisa from falling off. She died from the gunshot wound to her head and neck.     Pothast also suffered gunshot wounds. He spoke to reporters and said that it seemed like the gunshots were coming from a car passing by them on 465.    The Sons of Silence and The O...