When Bad Things Happen...
[backdated to Feb 10th]
It started off like any other day.
Jo woke up, beat her mother to the bathroom, and stayed a whole ten minutes longer in the shower than she normally did, giving the older woman a sunny smile on her way back to the bedroom. There were clothes to sort through, because she liked making a good impression in classes no matter how many times she bitched about it, and breakfast to eat, with Ellen doing her own share of complaining.
Life was good.
Even her truck breaking down on the way to campus wasn't enough to dampen her spirits. She simply got out and grabbed the spare tire and jack, crouching in the snow on a Nebraskan road to change the damn thing, and it only cost her the first class. Two more to go, and she could head home and do school work like a good girl.
Jo never made it to class, much less home.
The state patrol found her truck not five miles from the campus, exactly where she'd left it. The spare tire still lying a few feet on the road way, but there was no sign of the occupant. While dispatch ran the plates, and then sent a APB out on her description, officers started a search of the area, hoping to pick up some small amount of evidence as to wear the young woman had vanished to.
They didn't have to look farther than the nearest copse of woods.
She'd been dragged there by something, the ripped state of her jacket and shirt attesting to the fight put up, not to mention the bruising along her arms. Someone called for paramedics, and none too soon, because Jo had been out there long enough to start suffering from a borderline case of hypothermia. At least they got her to the county hospital in time to prevent permanent damage; the bruises and other injuries aside. It wasn't until early afternoon that someone got ahold of Ellen Harvelle, but as soon as she knew, so did the Hunter grapevine.
Jo was settled in a hospital room by mid afternoon, regaining consciousness rather abruptly, and almost decked a male nurse for trying to take her blood pressure. She drank water, had jello, endured the wrapping of bruised ribs and refused to say one word about what happened to her.
By nightfall, most everyone on the 'need to know' list had been contacted. All they could do was wait.
It started off like any other day.
Jo woke up, beat her mother to the bathroom, and stayed a whole ten minutes longer in the shower than she normally did, giving the older woman a sunny smile on her way back to the bedroom. There were clothes to sort through, because she liked making a good impression in classes no matter how many times she bitched about it, and breakfast to eat, with Ellen doing her own share of complaining.
Life was good.
Even her truck breaking down on the way to campus wasn't enough to dampen her spirits. She simply got out and grabbed the spare tire and jack, crouching in the snow on a Nebraskan road to change the damn thing, and it only cost her the first class. Two more to go, and she could head home and do school work like a good girl.
Jo never made it to class, much less home.
The state patrol found her truck not five miles from the campus, exactly where she'd left it. The spare tire still lying a few feet on the road way, but there was no sign of the occupant. While dispatch ran the plates, and then sent a APB out on her description, officers started a search of the area, hoping to pick up some small amount of evidence as to wear the young woman had vanished to.
They didn't have to look farther than the nearest copse of woods.
She'd been dragged there by something, the ripped state of her jacket and shirt attesting to the fight put up, not to mention the bruising along her arms. Someone called for paramedics, and none too soon, because Jo had been out there long enough to start suffering from a borderline case of hypothermia. At least they got her to the county hospital in time to prevent permanent damage; the bruises and other injuries aside. It wasn't until early afternoon that someone got ahold of Ellen Harvelle, but as soon as she knew, so did the Hunter grapevine.
Jo was settled in a hospital room by mid afternoon, regaining consciousness rather abruptly, and almost decked a male nurse for trying to take her blood pressure. She drank water, had jello, endured the wrapping of bruised ribs and refused to say one word about what happened to her.
By nightfall, most everyone on the 'need to know' list had been contacted. All they could do was wait.