mysteryoriley

Our local daily newspaper printed an article about the Water Street area of Petaluma today.  http://www1.pressdemocrat.com/article/20080115/NEWS/801150395/1033/NEWS01 

The spin was targeted at how great the recent police crackdown on the teens and young adults in the Water Street area, is serving the merchants adjacent to Water Street.  The journalist, Paul Payne, continued his efforts (he wrote the initial reports of Owen’s death, slanted, misquoted, and on Owen’s behalf – undeserved) to create a picture of Petaluma as a location of choice for families.  Get a clue, Payne.  How many investments do you have in Sonoma County?  Are you afraid your property values will drop if our local citizens know how ineffective our county’s law enforcement agencies really are? 

The article mentioned how many arrests were made in this particular area in 2007, up a bit, from those made in 2006.  It also mentioned a stabbing death at one Water Street location, and a beating on Water Street, but no mention of the death of a 20-year-old male, Emmitt Owen Riley, who most certainly met his death at the hands of the kids hanging out on the promenade, or at the very least, met his death while onlookers watched and did nothing (thanks, Danny Runge, you and your homeless friend, who had stolen Owen’s cell phone that night thought it best to throw it in the River four days later, for fear of being implicated – your words, not mine – as printed in the Press Democrat on June 14, 2007).  Fuck you Runge, for having no conscience.

The upgrade of the Water Street promenade was a project supported by those same local merchants.  They thought it would help bring local residents downtown to enjoy afternoons on the waterfront, then spend their hard-earned cash in their establishments.  Why no mention of Riley’s death, then, in today’s article?  Money.  Simple.

Could the omission of Riley’s death in this article be attached to my request for a copy of the investigation report?  Could the omission be partly due to the police officer (and his trainee?) who stopped Owen on the last night he was seen alive and noticed alcohol on his breath, but did not arrest him despite the fact that he was under age at the time and riding a bicycle (same as a motor vehicle in the state of California under the Vehicle Code), would somehow implicate them?  Hmmm.  Let me think for a minute.  What is spin, after all?

I have received two letters from the Petaluma City Attorney, Eric W. Danly, since I requested that copy of the investigation report.  Delays, letters explaining why they couldn’t release the report to me, Owen’s mother, without a thorough review of the contents, and their determination of what of those contents might be “exempt”.  What are they hiding?  Oh, maybe the fact that the police were remiss in their duty to serve and protect, and then the young man (Owen) who they stopped, but did not arrest, went missing for four days, and then was found dead in the Petaluma River?

Where are Owen’s belongings, those that he had on him, with him, on the night of his disappearance: his bicycle (not easy to hide, though I’ve offered leads here, again), his backpack, his cell phone (well, I guess we have a clue, at least, thanks again, Runge), his journal, his CD player, his money?

There’s more to this story. 

There’s more to most stories of law enforcement agencies who ignore young adults – then, when the thought of arrest and paperwork occurs, they classify them as disposable, or just  “castaways”.  What’s another young adult who could ultimately benefit by their efforts, in relation to time better spent at the local Starbucks?  Oh, that’s right.  He was our son, not the mayor’s, or one of their own. 

Yes, Owen spent time on Water Street and in Putnam Plaza.  He liked to play hacky-sack, and he liked to talk philosophy.  Is this a crime in our quaint little town?  Apparently.  Owen was one of the few kids who spent time near the River, who actually had a J-O-B, had just gotten a pay increase from Boulevard Cinemas –  where he worked, and was admired by his coworkers (see the Letter to the Editor in the Press Democrat shortly after his death was discovered), and had a home where he brought his friends for food and shelter – because their homes were untenable, their parents unable to manage parenthood.  He thought his friends were better off here, than on the streets.  We welcomed them, we fed them, we sheltered them, and we advised and admonished them about their choices. 

Then, something happened.  We don’t know what.  We only know that Owen’s body ended up in the River four days after he went missing.  We, personally, questioned the Water Street kids for days, put up missing-person flyers all over the West Side, talked to passersby, rented a plane and pilot to take me up for an aerial search (because the PPD refused to enlist the help of our county’s Search and Rescue unit, due to a “political issue of jurisdiction” – the PPD had not even made a request for help from Search and Rescue). 

We watched, face-to-face, those same kids fighting about the details of Owen’s last night.  We listened, as they argued on their cell phones.  I heard them say they would never tell what happened that night, what they saw, what they didn’t see, and what they will never share. 

Our local police department, on the other hand, has come up with NOTHING, except that Owen’s death was likely to become “an urban legend” as stated by Capt. Dan Fish to me by telephone, only three weeks after Owen’s disappearance, due to the “two dozen or so different stories about the events of the evening in question”.  Fish’s comment was made prior to the release of the autopsy report.  What did he know that we don’t, and may never know?  Thank god, he’s not a doctor.  His bedside manner sucks. 

The detective on Owen’s case, Detective Mike Pierre, admitted that he didn’t even take notes when we called on numerous occasions with more leads.  A different officer, Sgt. Hunter, told me on the phone the Friday after Owen went missing (one day before Owen’s body was found in the River):  “Don’t call us anymore, unless you know where his body is.  Just leave a message.”   Hunter’s adopted daughter is purported to be one of the kids who hangs out on Water Street.  Pierre, are you taking notes now?

And…there’s so much more.

Fuck you, Water Street merchants, for thinking your businesses are more important than Owen Riley.  And, fuck you, Petaluma Police Department.  You failed.  You failed miserably.

Song for the Night:  Message in a Bottle, The Police (sending out an S.O.S.  – for Owen – and for those other “young adults” who spend time on the edge between what is perceived, and what is real.  Will anyone look for you, if you go missing?  Try sending out a message in a bottle – probably more effective than what your parents will experience by way of your local law enforcement agencies.  But, what do I know?  I live in Petaluma, California.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1OyfpS6pEcQ

~ by Linda on January 16, 2008.

Posted in beauty, bicycles, child loss, children, death, family, friends, grief, learning, Life, mothering, music, mystery, parenting, writing
Tags: Boulevard Cinemas, Cinema West, Emmitt Owen Riley, Eric W. Danly, journalistic spin, law enforcement, Linda Siniard, Message in a Bottle, Owen Riley, Paul Payne, Petaluma California, Petaluma merchants, Petaluma Police Department, Petaluma River, Press Democrat, Sonoma County Search and Rescue, spin, The Police, Water Street, young adults