My own search for documents

40 years is a long time to wait before searching for records. I am so glad I decided to do this. I had NO idea how difficult it would be. I started by calling the police department where we lived. The 1st time I reached out to Brecksville police, they explained there was a fire in the 80’s, and my file may be gone. However, they did a search for me, and 3 days later sent an email with 3 documents attached. The first was a “runaway” police report my mother made. The 2nd was regarding a fight I was in behind McDonalds, and the third was a report about my mother, not me. I was very frustrated… where were the reports? I chalked it up to the fire and moved on.

I contacted the Parma police department and was told they had nothing on file. This seemed strange, as I was placed in Parmadale for a short period of time, and ran away from there 4 times (to take care of my siblings).

Next, I looked for the social worker that was initially involved, Illinois Wilson. Amazingly, I found him still working for Family Services. I reached out, hoping he would remember my case, have access to his own notes, anything that would help. He did not remember me (After 40 years and thousands of kids, I was not surprised). However, he spent over an hour on the phone with me. Mr Wilson explained how things worked back in the 80’s. I was saddened to learn that he didnt take me out of the house immediately because Ohio needed physical evidence to remove a child. I have held on to very negative feelings toward him, because he was ANOTHER adult that appeared not to believe me. Those feelings are gone now… he explained how his hands were tied, and he couldn’t “save” me. I had to save myself back then. And I did.

At that point, I didn’t know where else to look. So I turned my focus to other things. Until Representative White asked me a very strong question… IF the law was changed, how would a 40 year old case be prosecuted? Gathering evidence from that long ago would be difficult for a prosecutor and would end up being a He Said, She Said. So, I began my search for documents again… How hard IS it to gather evidence?

Oct 1, 2025 I contacted Brecksville police again. I explained the situation, was again told about the fire, but they offered to look again. 2 days later, another email arrived. This one contained 4 documents attached. The first was McDonalds fight, the second was a missing persons report my mother made about me. And there it was- the THIRD was my police report about the abuse. I was overjoyed to finally have a copy of the report. I did it! I spoke my truth. Why wasn’t he arrested? And there it was, at the bottom… “Statute of Limitations has passed and prosecution will not be pursued”.

To be very clear… the Ohio law gives you until age 24. I turned 24 SEVEN WEEKS before I filed the report. I didn’t know anything about laws and deadlines. It took me that long to get the strength and courage to walk in the police station and speak my truth.

MORE TO COME…. On to Juvenile Court.