Memories

After the Christmas stuff gets put away, I often start off the new year going through stacks of old mail, newspapers, and magazines, deciding what to keep and what to recycle. And so it was that I came upon a copy of Chapel Hill News dated January 2005. I knew right away why I was keeping it, for on the front page was a news story about Debbie Key. It was time to take a break from the stacks and read it.

I have read this before, many times, and I already know the story by heart. It's on the website. Click on the tab that says, "Press Accounts," and you'll see it there. Yet, there was something about seeing it in the newspaper that I was holding in my hands that brought back the memories of reading this story for my first time. It brought a tear to my eye.

Much later, as I was going through the last stack of paper, I found this little book that I had forgotten I had. It's called, "The Poetry of Ira Yarmolenko."

Here we go! The time between now and then just disappears. I picked up this little book at a memorial service for Ira I had attended back in 2008. I'm not gonna get anymore work done today. It's time to sit and read some more.

Like everything else about Ira Y, her poetry is unique. Sometimes I have to read it over again two or three times before I get it. It requires a certain perspective, or, should I say, a certain attitude, in order to understand what she's saying. On the front cover it says:

THIS IS A JOB FOR ME
AND I WILL PLAY
MIND TRICKS,
TO UNWRAP MYSELF AND
LET SELF BLOOM...

Inside, the first poem is about words.
The word "Words" make me think about a song by the BeeGees.
"It's only words, and words are all I have, to take your heart away."
And then there's one by the band called Missing Persons.
"What are words for, if no one listens anymore?"
This is Ira'a poem.
----------------------------------------------

In words, poets find solitude.
even if nothing is good,
it can be written as if it is.
That's what I love about poets.
Unmaterialistic intellect, the control
and power of something that is
dead before they take hold of it.
WORD. Take love, and make it
shake. Grab a gun and a bottle
and a song of tradition, make
it dance on its toes.
I love you, poet of sound, word,
grace, word, letter, syllable, haiku,
lyric, mimic, rap, therapy, beauty.

-----------------------------------------------
Carlos Castaneda, in writing about the teachings of Don Juan, tells about the challenge of stopping the "internal dialog," that endless stream of words that flows through our brains constantly. I have called it the "eternal" dialog, for nothing seems to stop it. You can't turn it off, but you can alter its flow. If you are a poet, or any kind of writer, you can take all these words and recycle them into art. It is indeed good therapy, for the writer, if not for the reader.

Madeleine McCann Anniversary

Madeleine McCann has been missing since May 3, 2007.
Her birthday is May 12, 2003. She was almost 4 years old when she went missing, and will soon be 7 if still alive.

Also known as Maddie, she went missing from Proia Da Luz, Portugal, while on vacation with her family, from the apartment where they were staying.

Here is the McCann's official family website
http://www.findmadeleine.com/
and blog.
http://findmadeleine.blogspot.com/

Here is a very nice tribute page made to Madeleine in Facebook.
http://www.facebook.com/search/?init=srp&sfxp=&q=madeleine%20mccann#!/pages/Madeleine-McCann/29095946153?ref=search&sid=1847184243.418146390..1
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IN OTHER NEWS;

Todd Matthews is 40 years old today. Mr. Matthews has done more for missing persons, I believe, than any other living individual I know. Happy Birthday, Todd! Keep up the good work!

The trial of Demario Atwater continues today here in NC for the murder of Eve Carson.

On Wednesday May 5, it will be 2 years since the murder of Ira Yarmolenko. There is a tribute page to her in Facebook as well.
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=123464587668298#!/group.php?gid=13079847854&ref=search&sid=1847184243.3600478404..1

And tonight, Bill Tomsick goes on the radio to talk about getting NASA to help find missing persons. Get access here.
http://www.560thesource.com/

Jamie Fraley Anniversary

Jamie Michelle Fraley went missing April 8, 2008, from Gastonia, NC. It has now been two years. Jamie was born March 5, 1986, and was 22 years old when she disappeared. She is one of two missing persons cases that occurred near the same time and place as the murder of Ira Yarmolenko. Search efforts have brought us more questions than answers, and her story is as bizarre as it is sad.

Jamie Fraley's story in America's Most Wanted,
http://www.amw.com/fugitives/case.cfm?id=60357

The Charley Project,
http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/f/fraley_jamie.html

Help Find The Missing,
http://helpfindthemissing.org/forum/showthread.php?t=4518

News 14 Carolina, (with video)
http://news14.com/charlotte-news-104-content/nc_missing/618564/family-of-missing-gaston-co--woman-asks-public-for-help

North American Missing Persons Network,
http://www.nampn.org/cases/fraley_jamie.html

and Project Jason
http://projectjason.org/forums/index.php?topic=2691.0

A month after Fraley went missing, on May 4, 2008, Jennifer Rivkin of Kings Mountain, NC went missing. Her borrowed car, unlocked with purse inside, was found in the parking lot of the Winner's Circle Bar & Grill in Gastonia, NC.
On May 5, 2008, the body and car of Ira Yarmolenko were found on the bank of the Catawba River in Mt. Holly, NC, which is near Gastonia, also in Gaston County.

Texas EquuSearch had planned a search for Jamie Fraley and Jennifer Rivkin in Gaston County on October of 2008, but they didn't follow through with that plan. Andrew Dalzell has been living in Stanley, NC in Gaston County since he left the Chapel Hill/Carrboro area, and later moved to Gastonia before his arrest last year. A South Carolina serial killer, Patrick Burns, ended up in Gastonia last summer, where he was gunned down by police on July 6, 2009. Gaston County sounds very much like an area Stephen King might write a story about. I have been there myself and can tell you first-hand there is something spooky about that area. I don't want to go back.

Important Question(s)

Why isn't Christopher Lamont Cooper a suspect in the murder of Ira Yarmolenko?

http://www.crimeincharlotte.com/2008/05/vcat-arrests-rape-suspect.html

Back in February I posted this link, saying, "Nothing more for me to say here." Boy, was I ever wrong!
http://www.newsobserver.com/news/crime_safety/story/1391754.html

Another question; (okay, more than one)
Why did WSOC-TV not take advantage of the opportunity to be the first to report receiving a written confession from Cooper? Were they under gag order? Why have they STILL not mentioned it?

This is all I've found this year on blogs still active discussing the murder of Ira Yarmolenlo.

First there's Topix,
http://www.topix.com/forum/charlotte/T7TJ6BIG9TM4QST65/p31

then "Don't Worry I'll Think of a Title,"
http://babydoc3.livejournal.com/tag/ira+yarmolenko

Morons in Chapel Hill,
http://moronsinchapelhill.com/

and of course, Chris's Crime Forum.
http://chriscrimeforum.freeforums.org/ira-2-t3249.html

If I've left anyone out, please let me know.

This year there seems to be a division among the bloggers between those who believe the Gaston County Police have arrested the true killers, and those who believe they have not. (I think you know which side I've taken.)

Now there's a problem I want to see fixed. Police are no longer looking for the TRUE killers, and the case is getting colder. Cold cases are difficult to solve. I say it's time to get back on the bandwagon.

Come on people. Let's get it together. We have a murder case to solve. Let's start by asking and answering the right questions.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
I'm sorry, I DID leave someone out.
http://annyjacoby.blogspot.com/2009/06/celebration-of-life-in-memory-of-ira.html

The Silence of the Blogs

The story you are about to read is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is entirely intentional.

In some North Carolina town a person outside the state has probably never heard of, a pretty young sophomore from a university in the next town was found murdered. The local police receive a 911 call from a person on a watercraft. He was jet skiing along the river and found a car and a body. Unfortunately for the local police, the caller was unable to tell them how to get to his location by land. I guess the local police didn't have a boat, or a GPS system to trace the cell phone.

It took them a while to find the place. During the search, police moving along the river found a couple of guys fishing. They told them they were looking for a body, and the two guys told them they were just fishing. The police got their names, addresses, and, who knows?, maybe a DNA sample from them as well, before moving along their way.

After they had finally arrived at the crime scene, and figured out where they were, they were able to call in and report the location of the road the car was on before it came down here.

A mother of a young woman who went missing from that area a month earlier wanted to know if this was her daughter they had found, but it was not. We don't even hear about that case until later. What we do hear is that the victim was a student at the university, which was about 30 miles away, and that this person's name is very well known on the campus, and in another NC town she had come from before attending university.

Very quickly the local police find out this person is very well known and loved. People show up from everywhere to talk about this pretty young sophomore, including her family who want to talk to the police in person. News stations from all around are covering the story, and throughout cyberspace the blogs came rolling in.

The local police figure that they need to solve this murder case, but they don't know how to do it. They never heard of this person before, and it didn't seem to occur to them to ask the hundreds of people who showed up on her behalf. They could have called in the SBI, but perhaps they didn't want to admit they needed help. They tell the press they are making progress, but they can't give any details about it now. It buys them some time.

But the time runs out. Seven months later they still have no clues. The local police are desperate. They need a suspect to arrest. This will make them look like they have made progress. They remember the two guys who were fishing down on the river that day. Why not arrest them?

Now a whole lot of people in that town could have told us that not only are these two guys innocent, but if the local police were to call them and ask them to come on down to the station, they would have willingly complied with the request. But the local police decide they want to be more dramatic than that. They show up at their homes at 4:30 in the morning, with lots of fire power.

At first everyone is excited, thinking this was good news. They are all singing and dancing about how the killers have been caught. But after seeing what these two guys look like, and hearing what they had to say, and what their neighbors had to say. people began to have some doubts about them arresting the right people.

All of the forums and all of the blogs that were involved in discussion of the case were saying the local police had no clue what they were doing. This went on until there was a second hearing, (mistakenly referred to as a trial) and everyone found out a whole lot of details of the investigation that were kept secret until then.

And then, something very mysterious happened. Forums began to close. Websites were no longer accessible. No one was talking about the pretty young sophomore anymore. The news media never mentioned another word about it. The case remains unsolved.

Meanwhile, back in the town she came from, some friends of the pretty young sophomore have some ideas about what happened, but no one listens to them. People figure these kids are too young to know what they're talking about. They are about the same age as the victim. With no one to listen to them, they made their statement by releasing a bunch of balloons.

Anyone out there who can tell the rest of the story, please be my guest.

Remembering Ira

It has now been a year since the world was robbed of the life of Ira Yarmolenko.
We were still in recoil from the death of Eve Carson in March, when the word came around.
Ira had lived in the Chapel Hill area since 1998. It comes as no surprise that a person of her charisma should have so many friends in the area. Still, I was amazed how much I was able to learn about her in a short time.
Listening to the testimonies of people who have known her, I began to wonder if a sweeter person has ever lived.

It is sad that murder rarely weeds out the worst of us, but more often targets the best of us. To lose Eve Carson and Ira both is a great loss to humanity.
Everything I have heard about Ira has been positive. To this day, I have never yet heard a negative about her.
This is a trend I am glad to see. Friends of Debbie Key had to fight pretty hard against the "blame the victim" syndrome.

IRA = Is Really Awesome

Ira was a one-of-a kind person, a unique individual who has touched so many lives it's barely believable. It boggles the mind to imagine the impact she would have had on the world if she had lived longer, considering the impact she has had in just 20 years, on nearly everyone she has encountered.

I am sorry to say, I am not impressed with the Gaston County Police.
They have been way too secretive in their investigation, when every detail is a potential clue. With so many friends, family, and fellow students willing to co-operate with law enforcement, they still end up arresting a most unlikely pair, after 7 months, who picked a bad day to go fishing.

I believe we can solve this case.
I believe we collectively have all the information we need. We only need to communicate with each other, and fit our pieces of info together. Too many clues have been ignored. Let's try picking them up.

I have learned more about the details of the investigation through 'Topix' than through any other source. I have much more confidence in the bloggers of this case than in the police. I want to see the forums open back up. Good slueths have always said that someone knows something. I say, especially in this case, that everyone knows something. With so many people who knew Ira, who are dedicated to seeking justice, it appears to me that we already have a very good start.

"The world is a dangerous place.
Not because of the people who are evil,
but because of the people who don't do anything about it."
-- Albert Einstein

Yarmolenko Murder Hearing

It appears, my dear readers, that we now have another suspect.
A Mecklenburg County inmate has sent his confession to a Charlotte newscaster.
The two people on jet skis who found the body said they did not see anyone fishing nearby.

http://www.newsobserver.com/news/crime_safety/story/1391754.html
Nothing more for me to say here.

Everyone Knows Something

In the field of astronomy, more new discoveries have been made in the last century by amateur, rather than by professional astronomers. This is due partly because professional astronomers have a schedule made out in advance of celestial bodies expected to appear. The amateur, however, would be more likely to set up and point his telescope at whatever catches his attention. The sky is a big place, and if you were looking at any given constellation, you might miss something that becomes visible in another part of the sky. It is surprising how many times an observatory hears from a casual stargazer, calling to report something that hasn't been seen before.

The same occurs in other fields of science, including forensics and criminology.
A case in point is Todd Matthews and the mystery of the Tent Girl. Human remains found in Kentucky during the 1960's have gone unidentified for 30 years, in spite of great efforts. It was a man with no formal training or prior experience (this was his first case) who solved the mystery of this person's identity. He had to come up with a method of his own, and it worked.

Often a murder or missing persons case goes unsolved because police follow a prescribed procedure. Even worse is when they already have a theory they are trying to prove, and disregard visible clues they find, because these aren't the clues they're looking for.

Read any book about a serial killer, and chances are that you will be surprised how many clues have been ignored. The author, writing in retrospect, (hindsight is always 20/20) describes in detail the killer's activities, from his first victim to his final arrest, and he doesn't always do a good job of covering his tracks. Before you finish the book, you may find yourself wondering why they haven't caught him yet.

Among the police in my locality, there are those I sometimes have long conversations with, and those who won't talk to me at all. I was told, by a police officer I do converse with, that perhaps it is because bloggers have such limited credibility with law enforcement. Granted, there is a lot of BS out there in the blogging world, but still this is unfortunate.

The most dramatic case of investigative failure I've read about is the case of Theresa Allore. The Surete du Quebec, being the provincial police of that area, have overlooked so many clues it inspires us to make fun of them. (Perhaps me more than anyone else) There were two other young females who were murdered in the same general area and time that were not connected, except by Theresa's brothers who continued the investigation, (if not started it) and a detective from Vancouver named Kim Rossmo.
Rossmo came up with a formula called "Geographic Profiling," and has also designed a computer program for it.
It was found that if you take a map of that area in Quebec and mark all the places where the bodies were found, along with where they were last seen, and where their possessions were found, you come up with a consistent pattern. The killer's stalking route becomes clearly visible. One begins to wonder why the cases were not connected.
Rossmo's program was initially scoffed at by his fellow officers, but today it is widely used by the RCMP, the FBI, and Scotland Yard.

In the case of Ira Yarmolenko, it was the bloggers, not the police, who first presented the possibility that Ira's murder may be connected with the two missing persons cases that took place in the same county in NC, and very close to the same time. There may or may not be a connection, but the question needs to be asked.

It is likely that Ira Yarmolenko and Debbie Key never knew each other. The Yarmolenko family moved to Greensboro, NC from the Ukraine in 1996, and to Chapel Hill in 1998. Debbie Key went missing in 1997. Still, both lived in the Chapel Hill area and had a lot of friends around here. There are people I've met who knew both of them, though not at the same time. I have talked with some of these people, and have learned some interesting things from them. There are also people I've talked to who are quite young, having been students at CHHS when Ira was there. When I tried to share some of this info with people in my age group, most of them said things like:

"You gotta consider the source."
"These are just kids."
"What do they know?"

To that, let me say this:
If you think young people don't know very much, you must not be spending much time around them.

When Debbie went missing, the Carrboro Police went around talking to nearly every one of her friends. Carrboro is a fairly small town where everyone knows each other. Word got around fast. By the time the news reached my ears, I was surprised by how many people already knew about it.

The Mt. Holly Police have not been talking to anyone except Ira's immediate family, as far as I know, and have been very tight-lipped about the investigation. There are those who believe they have arrested the wrong people. (Would you sit down and go fishing by the river where you just got finished killing someone?) The trial will be on Feb 2nd, last I heard, and I am curious as to how it will end up. I am willing to bet at this point that this case will be solved by the friends and family of the victim, rather than by law enforcement.

As my Scarecrow says in "the Wizard of Blogs,"
"No one knows everything, but everyone knows something that others do not."

Arrests Made in Ira's Murder!

More breaking news today!
Two men were arrested in connection with the murder of Ira Yarmolenko!

http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/4128171/

Ira's brother, and my new friend, Pavel Yarmolenko, has left for Mt. Holly to meet with police. We'll keep in touch.
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PS - This just in from NC Wanted
---------------------------------------
-NC WANTED INSIDER-
December 12, 2008

ALERT: The Irina Yarmolenko case appears to have been solved. Two Mount Holly
men have been charged in the death of Ukrainian-born Yarmolenko, who was a
University of North Carolina-Charlotte student from Chapel Hill, police said
Friday.

Irina "Ira" Yarmolenko was also a graduate of Chapel Hill high school.

For more, go to www.wral.com and www.ncwanted.com
-----------------------------------------
PPS - Here's more on this story from the Gaston Gazette, with more links to check out at the end.
http://www.gastongazette.com/news/charlotte_28091___article.html/mystery_murder.html

Murder victim's brother speaks to killer

You tell him, Pavel!
---------------------------
This man was a guest at my house on Saturday, November 15.
Indeed, we had much to share.

Jennifer Rivkin

Another person missing from Gaston County, NC this year is 42 year old Jennifer Ramsey Rivkin.
Jennifer went missing on May 4, 2008, the day before Ira Yarmolenko was found murdered in the same county, in Mt. Holly, NC on May 5.

Her borrowed car, a BMW, was found 2 days later in the parking lot of the Winner's Circle Bar & Grill, on W.Franklin Blvd. in Gastonia, NC. The car was found locked with her purse inside, but the sun roof was left open and it had rained.

People at the Winner's Circle, including the owner, do not believe Jennifer Rivkin was a patron of the establishment, but just that the parking lot was chosen as a place to leave the car. It was in the back of the lot behind a building.

Jennifer is 5'5", 130 lbs., with brown hair and hazel eyes.
She is from nearby Kings Mountain, NC.
A reward of $5000 is offered for useful information.

Just about a month earlier, on April 8, 2008, is when Jamie Fraley went missing, also from Gastonia, NC.

Could the missing persons cases of Jennifer Rivkin and Jamie Fraley, and the murder case of Ira Yarmolenko, be connected? There are those who think so.

Gaston County Police are not talking much about these cases, but Ira's brother, Pavel Yarmolenko, is. I have found discussions going on in www.topix.com.

Texas EqquuSearch, who have been searching for Caylee Anthony in Florida, are coming to NC to search for Jennifer and Jamie.
You can check out their story here.
http://www.texasequusearch.org/

For more on Jennifer Rivkin, go to
http://www.helpfindthemissing.org/missing_database/?p=838

Another Fraley (Jamie)

Reading about Atlas Fraley reminds me of another Fraley I have read about a few months ago. However, I don't think the two have anything more in common than a last name.

Atlas Fraley is a black male, over 6 feet tall, and weighs 250 some pounds.

Jamie Michelle Fraley is a white female, who is 4'8" and around 90 pounds.

No, I don't think the two are related to each other.

I can imagine a woman that size would be very easy to carry.
Jamie is a missing person from Gastonia, NC, since April 8, 2008. In the same county (Gaston) and about a month later, Ira Yarmolenko was found murdered.
That may or may not be related. I don't know.

There is at least one other missing person case in this area that I know about, but more on that later.

Jamie Fraley's apartment had been found locked, with her purse, ID, and keys still inside. The only thing missing from her apartment, besides Jamie, was her cell phone.
Jamie's cell phone was found 3 miles away by a construction worker.
Her last call said that she was going to the hospital.

So what makes me bring it up now? Because it bothers me that I have not found anything new about this story since then, except for this rather bizarre twist of the tale.

Jamie had a boyfriend, whose father had recently been released from prison, for killing his girlfriend. Believe it or not, he soon found another girlfriend. The man's name was Ricky Simmons, or Simons, or Simmonds.
I'm sorry, but I have found his name spelled 3 different ways, and I don't know which is correct.
This man was found dead inside the trunk of the car of the ex-girlfriend, Kim Sprenger, early this summer. Kim had placed a restraining order against him, as his behavior was making her and her neighbors uncomfortable.
For reasons one can only guess, Ricky decided to hide in the trunk of Kim's car, where he died of heat. It was 90 degrees during the day at that time. Items Kim was missing, including a set of keys, were found on Ricky's body.

Ricky Simmonds (however it's spelled) was a person of interest in the disappearance of Jamie Fraley. The police have lost their chance to question him about her.

I have found no more news on this missing person since then.
Of all the sites I've searched, this one seems to have the most information.
http://helpfindthemissing.org/forum/showthread.php?t=4518
Another good one.
http://www.dreamindemon.com/tag/jamie-fraley/

"I know NUT-ting!"

This is Sgt. Schultz.
I have decided to appoint him in charge of my Q&A department.
Please refer all questions to him concerning recent cases currently under investigation by the Gaston County Police.
I'm sure he can answer your questions every bit as well as I can.
Thank you for your interest.
Wild Bill
---------------------------------------------------

About John Banner
Jan 28, 1910 - Jan 28, 1973
Born in Vienna, Austria, of a Jewish family, Banner was able to escape his homeland before Nazis began exterminating Jewish people.
In 1938 he went to Switzerland, where he joined an acting troupe, before coming to the United States later that year. At that time he weighed 180 lbs.
His Austrian accent and Germanic features got him typecast to play Nazi soldiers during WWII. It is ironic that he survived the war years playing the villains who were murdering his remaining family members back home.
Said Banner, "Who better to play Nazis than we Jews?"

By the 1950s, John Banner weighed 280 lbs. His roly-poly figure helped him get more roles. He had played in dozens of films, but never got to be a main character until 1965, when he was cast as Sgt. Schultz in 'Hogan's Heroes.' This is the character he is best remembered as.
'Hogan's Heroes' ran from 1965 to 1971.
Banner died of abdominal hemorrhage on his birthday in 1973, at the age of 63, having returned to live in his native Vienna. He is buried in Mauer in Liesing.

The murder of his former co-star, Bob Crane, who played Col. Hogan, remains an unsolved case.

Today in History

It was one year ago today when this website, in its current version, made its first appearance on the 'Net. If you were to keep working back through the blog to the beginning, you will find this to be true. Those of us who can still remember past last year may recall the original Debbie Key website, in its one-page form.

The year 2007 was when we had the 10 year anniversary of Debbie's departure from us. I don't mind saying it was an honor for me to be managing the website at that time. I am pleased with the progress that has been made since then, and I'm feeling optimistic about the next year to come.

This year, the month of June began with a baking 88 degrees, making it really feel like summer. By evening we enjoyed a cooling rain.

The entire month of May, I've been hoping to get a report up here about the ID of the skeletons found in Wilmington. All I found was that they are still conducting the DNA test, and have sent the bones to a lab in Texas. Here it is.

http://www.starnewsonline.com/article/20080528/ARTICLE/576199540/0/NEWS 

Not saying that I was pleased with the murder of Eve Carson, but I was pleased with the fact that, this time, no one tried to blame the victim.
Unlike Debbie Key and Kristin Lodge-Miller, Eve Carson was someone we read about in the paper BEFORE she was killed. We already knew who she was when the tragic news was announced, and no one questioned her character as contributing to her death.
Honestly, I was glad to see that.
Ira Yarmolenko, just last month, provided another example of the same thing. I have not heard one single negative word about her, and believe me, I have heard a great deal of praise for this individual.

So have we destroyed the myth yet? You know, the one that says we should blame the victim? If not, I'd say, at least, that the myth has had a great big chunk taken out of it, and I'm glad of it.

One sure way to offend me is to blame the victim. Yea, it pisseth me verily!

I have had the pleasure of connecting with many praiseworthy individuals through the managing of this website, including John Allore, Todd Matthews, Doreen Prior, and my special Web Goddess, Judith Gadd. I have enjoyed the opportunity to connect with other families and friends of murder victims, and we have learned a lot from each other's stories.

Yeah, I'd say I'm ready for another year.

Ira Y - Amazing Journey

Now lookie here what I found on YouTube.

What I've Learned about "Ira"

Yesterday I went to the memorial service at CHHS.
It lasted between 10:30 and 2:30.
That was 2 hours longer than I expected, but it was all good!
What I saw was an inspirational presentation of the life of Irina Yarmolenko, told in slideshow, song, and poetry.
I consider the time very well spent!

What have I learned about Irina Yarmolenko?
I learned that the people who knew her called her Ira. (pronounced, sort of like, EE-ra)
That she was a beautiful child, whose smile could melt the hardest heart.
That her life reigned from May 2, 1988 to May 5, 2008.
Adding to the tragedy is that she was killed 3 days after her birthday, when she turned 20 years old.

This is where she has lived, since she was born.
1988 - 1996 -- Kharkov, Ukraine
1996 - 1997 -- Greensboro, NC
1998 - 2006 -- Chapel Hill, NC

Ira was very popular in Chapel Hill, and still has a lot of friends in the area. She graduated from CHHS before attending college at UNC-Charlotte.
She was the kind of girl who made friends instantly wherever she went.
She was known for her charm, her spunk, her playful spirit, and generous nature.
Ira excelled in theater, photography, and poetry, as well as in winning people's hearts.

Ira was a strong advocate of non-violence. This makes some people ask why she died the way she did. Some say perhaps this is a part of her message to us.

I was left very impressed with the impact her life has left in the world she lived in, for only 20 years, and the influence she still has on the people who knew her.

A man who spoke about her said that her name, IRA, means "Is Really Awesome."
Another person said, "Hope is the world that Ira lived in."

There is some speculation that her murder could be related to the missing persons case of Jamie Fraley, missing from Gastonia, NC, since April 8
See Jamie's story here.

http://www.gastongazette.com/news/gastonia_19299___article.html/april_missing.html

After the service, I had the honor of shaking the hand of Ira's brother, Pavel Yarmolenko. I told him I hope to meet him again.

I also enjoyed the opportunity of meeting with some young people I was introduced to, thanks to Joy, who was there with me, who told me about stories they want to share, that I look forward to sharing with readers of this blog, hopefully soon!

Remember that guestbook I told you about? It's full of personal testimonies like these, and I have since then discovered another cool thing about it. You can enter your e-mail address, and be notified whenever a new entry is made in it. It's still fairly new, and bound to fill up pretty fast.
Here it is again.

http://www.legacy.com/charlotte/GB/GuestbookView.aspx?PersonId=109250336

I plan on following this story closely, and sharing what I find.
Some of Ira's friends I've spoken to have indicated some interesting parallels between her story, and the story of Debbie Key. I get the feeling that the more we look into these parallels, the more interesting this case will become.

If you knew Ira when she was still with us, I ask that you please share your stories with me, either here, or in her guestbook.

It does my heart good to know this beautiful person will always be remembered.

Memorial for Irina at CHHS

For those who have missed the funeral, here's another chance.

There will be a memorial service for Irina Yarmolenko at Chapel Hill High School on Saturday May 17 at 10:AM. (or 10:30, I'm not sure.)

The service will be held in the CHHS Auditorium, which is the big building on the left of the school, if coming from Homestead Rd.
If coming from Seawell School Rd., it is the big building across from the baseball fields.
Saturday is not a school day, so parking should not be a problem. However, I have been warned there may be a big crowd.
Well I hope so!

Hope to see you there!

Irina Yarmolenko

When I received the news of Irina Yarmolenko, I was not ready for it.

Oh God! Not Again!

It wasn't until last Saturday morning that I got the news, and only because I went to Who Killed Theresa? that morning. (Thank you, John!)

Oh God! Her funeral is today! Why didn't I know about this before?
Brain goes into spin while processing all the events of the passed week.
I was looking forward to a nice quiet weekend, with nothing more important to do, after some errands, than to write something about Debbie in Chris's Crime Forum, and check on the progress of my video project.

I was not ready to deal with yet another beautiful young woman from Chapel Hill being murdered, for no apparent reason.

My God! Haven't we had enough!?
(deep breath and chill out)

I kick myself for not picking up the story when her body was found on Monday.
It was in Mt. Holly, NC. I know someone who lives there. I have been there a couple of times. Her body was found next to her car on the bank of the Catawba River. It sounds like someone tried to drive her car into the river, but was defeated by a stump.

Then I remind myself of what I had going on that week. Would I have been in a better place to deal with it then? I also remind myself that murder very rarely, if ever, occurs at a convenient time for us.

All this spins through my head, but with a lot more detail, as I go through my morning coffee and e-mail ritual. I'm still in "wake up" mode, and asking myself if I can include a funeral in my plans for today.

As the coffee takes its effect, I then reflect upon a pleasant interview I've had with this nice lady, talking about Debbie Key.
At the time, I was collecting personal testimonies from people who knew Debbie, which I used to compose "My Eulogy to Debbie."
It was this lady who gave me the "She had a great talent for cheering people up, making people laugh, and inspiring people to get off their butts..."

I decide immediately that this is the very inspiration that I need right now.

Long story short, I compromise my plans for the day to include a drive down Legion Road, which runs behind the Chapel Hill Memorial Cemetery, at the time the graveside service was taking place.
At least I get a view of how many people showed up.
Looks like a pretty good number to me.
Driving to my final errand of the day, I wish I could do more.

Since last weekend, I've been looking for something about Irina Yarmolenko to post in here. I've also had the opportunity to talk to some young people who knew her. It's a familiar story, perhaps too familiar.

Good person, never did any harm, loved by everyone, witty, charming, good natured, and why the hell would anyone want to kill her?

Way too close to home for us, for sure!
Now check out this cool guestbook I found for Irina on the 'Net.

http://www.legacy.com/charlotte/GB/GuestbookView.aspx?PersonId=109250336