Read And Never See Her Again for Free Online Page B

looked dressed up in her Easter bonnet, a new dress, and shiny shoes, carrying her Easter basket filled with gooey treats left by that elusive Easter bunny.
    But Easter 1999 was a time of emotional turmoil for Opal Jennings's family. It was a time to celebrate the resurrection of God's son and a time of mourning for the loss of their own child. Reverend Grady Brittian, pastor of the Davis Memorial United Methodist Church in North Richland Hills, Texas, not far from the Sanderfords' house, had offered to perform a sunrise Easter service in the backyard of the Sanderfords' home, but the family had declined.
    During the crisis Brittian and the Sanderford family had bonded together as friends. The minister had made numerous visits to the family home, often taking along soft drinks, ice, or other supplies he thought they may have needed. He knew without a doubt that first and foremost the family wanted Opal back. Brittian also knew that Opal's Christian family wanted whoever had taken Opal to have a "life-changing experience." They hoped that if Opal had been killed, the person responsible would come clean and tell police where the young girl's body was hidden. Brittian knew the family not only wanted but needed relief from the enormous pain they were feeling. Telling them where Opal's body could be found would be the humane thing to do. But Audrey Sanderford wasn't prepared to accept her granddaughter was dead. In declining Reverend Brittian's offer of a private service, Audrey said, "I need to get out there (to church) and have that Easter service. I need to sing hymns, listen to the choir, and just get filled back up. Jesus is alive and in his heaven watching over Opal."

    "It hurts and all, but we're going to get through it," Robert Sanderford remarked. "Opal's here with us."
    The entire community had carried the heaviness of Opal's kidnapping with them for more than a week. Parents had kept their children closer, not allowing them to wander far from home, but Easter was a time for faith, a time to put their fears away. More than four hundred children turned out for the annual Easter egg hunt sponsored by the Saginaw Fire Department. Laughing and running under the bright blue sky dotted with puffy white clouds, the children scurried across the grassy fields of Willow Creek Park, gathering the prized colored eggs. For at least a short period of time, the people of Saginaw were leading regular lives again.
    Saginaw police were doing all they could to find Opal Jennings. But with each passing day, the task became more intense, more overwhelming for the small-town department. The FBI and other local agencies were working closely with the Saginaw PD. However, with a week gone and no word of Opal's whereabouts, the decision was made to take the case to the national public.

    John Walsh, the host of the immensely popular America's Most Wanted, was well known as a children's advocate. After the kidnapping and murder of his own son, Adam, from a Hollywood, Florida, shopping mall, Walsh had immersed himself in helping other grieving parents search for their missing children, as well as their abductors.
    Walsh began his crusade by having the faces of missing children placed on milk cartons in an effort to raise national awareness. His actions sparked an international victims' rights movement, and his fight for change was felt among national policy makers. In 1988, Walsh became the host of America's Most Wanted. Through the national television program, Walsh had been able to help hundreds of families find closure and had helped expedite the capture of some of America's most dangerous fugitives. The program was a natural vehicle for a plea to help find Opal Jennings.
    Walsh, a middle-aged attractive man with a face as serious as the crimes he reported, stood in a New York television studio as a photo of Opal Jennings appeared on television screens across America.
    "There is a little girl who desperately needs our help tonight," Walsh