The case that initially drew me into this saga was the disappearance of a neighborhood teen back in 1987. Because I was concerned about the quality and nature of the investigation when she first went missing, the case stayed with me. I felt uneasy about it. Then through a series of synchronistic events, I was able to walk back into that unsolved cold case 20 years later, stir things up and rattle a few cages. I would say we had a positive outcome. Maybe the case chose me, but the driving force for me was just a strong interest and a sense of passion about correcting what I perceived as an injustice for Michelle, the primary victim in the story. I accessed information in all manner of ways. I purchased very expensive court transcripts from retired court reporters. I interviewed dozens of folks, sent for closed records, attended court proceedings, sometimes received unexpected files and reports, etc. But, yes, I'm not an officer of the court and many records were out of bounds.

 ​It did not begin as a book. I was interested in a case and thought it might be an interesting story down the line. Of course, I had no idea at that time of the depth and breadth of the "story" I was unearthing. The story grew into the book. I have written and published many articles over the years, but the process of writing a book, especially such a lengthy one, has been quite the learning curve.

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