I haven’t written a blog post in at least a month. Mostly because my work schedule (I’m working 2 jobs to save money towards a lifelong goal of mine) keeps me extremely busy.
But this warrants a few minutes out of my schedule.
Last week I saw an article posted on Facebook about a missing woman from Orlando.
The next day my mom called me to ask me if I had seen the news story. I said yes I had, and then she shocked me with one sentence: “That’s Yvonne’s daughter.”
Yvonne has been my mom’s hairdresser for almost ten years, and I think it’s safe to say that somewhere along that road they became friends. Not in a “talk every day” kind of way, but in an “I see you every six weeks and we share our lives and our stories” kind of way. And I imagine they talk about their children, as parents do, sometimes with pride and sometimes with worry-sharing our lives along with their own. And on top of that, Lauren (Michelle’s younger sister) also does my younger sister’s hair. Now, aside from that our families are not close and I will not pretend that we are. I have never even met Michelle Parker. But something about this case has touched me.
I keep thinking “What if it were me?”
Or, even worse, “What if that were my sister?”
And so I write this to make you aware: Michelle Parker Is Missing. And before you brush this off, I ask you-what if you were missing? What if it were your daughter? Your sister? Your friend? Your mother?
Her family members are out of their minds with worry. You can check out the Official Facebook Page for Michelle Parker (it’s run by the family-all others are not!) or WFTV for updates.
A Few Facts:
-Michelle Parker filmed an episode of the People’s Court months ago (the dispute was between her and her ex over a ring) and it aired on November 17. I will add that it was not Michelle’s idea to do the show. Within hours of the show airing, Michelle had disappeared.
-Her black Hummer was found abandoned November 18.
-As of today (November 28) her ex boyfriend Dale Smith was named the primary suspect by police in a press conference. He has refused a polygraph and is allegedly the last person to see her alive when she dropped off the twins that the couple shares on November 17.
-Michelle Parker is 33 years old and has three children-1 eleven year old boy, and twins (1 boy, 1 girl)
**UPDATED TO ADD: The current reward is back to $5,000. The $50,000 was put up by a private donor with an expiration date of Sunday evening in an attempt to convince anyone with information to come forward sooner rather than later. Time is of the essence right now!
If you’re on Twitter you can use the hashtag #MichelleParker to get the word out!
And regardless of who the primary suspect in this case is, what matters is that Michelle is still missing. Please focus on that and let the authorities focus on the suspects.
If you know anything about her disappearance-no matter how small or trivial you may think it is-please contact the authorities. You can do so anonymously!
