Chapter 5: Kathy Kohm: Hopeful

 Chapter 5

   

    Bill and Rosemary would say later that as time went on they got more hopeful instead of less hopeful.  They felt that as long as she had not been found injured or dead then there was a chance that she was still alive. They held on tight to that hope.

   The newspapers called her Kathy.  Kathleen Mary Kohm was her full name. Her mother called her Katie.  Her father called her “Myrt”. It was short for Myrtle.  It was a funny little family nickname.  It always made Kathy giggle.  It was a little joke between a father and a daughter.  Now “Myrt” wasn’t home where she belonged.  She wasn’t calling and she wasn’t walking in the door.  No one had seen her.  No one had heard anything.  Her friends had all been questioned.  Kathy hadn’t ever mentioned to any of her friends that she might be thinking about running away. 

    How could she run away?  She was only 11. She was a good student and a shy girl. She was not the type to run away. She and her mother had planned a shopping trip for the very next day and Kathy had been a little nervous about missing school just to go shopping.  But she was excited to have some special time with her Mom. 

    It did not seem even remotely possible that she had run away. She had taken nothing with her. Kathy had saved up $100 and it was still in her room. A runaway would take money and clothes.

    It was clear as the days went by that she had not run away nor had she gotten lost.  Something bad; something truly bad and unthinkable had happened.   

    The waiting was torture.  Rosemary and Bill tried to be hopeful.  But, deep down they felt that their hope was probably in vain. They had to hold it together. They had to be strong. There were Kathy’s two younger brothers to consider.  Kathy had babysat them just the other day on Saturday night while her parents went out to dinner. 

    Reporters were calling asking for information about Kathy to flesh out the stories in the paper.  She was a mostly A student at elementary school in Dale, Indiana. Dale is the next small town east of Santa Claus. She was a good girl, she liked school and was very responsible. She helped take care of her little brothers and helped around the house. She swam on the local YMCA team. She was a typical little girl. She had a crush on a boy but no boyfriends. 

   The reporters also wanted to know if there was any news.  But there was no news. Not really.  Leo Snyder would stop by the Kohm’s house every day anyway and update the family on where volunteers and the State Police had searched and share what little he had to share. But weeks went by and nothing came of all the tips, the leads, the searches.