A sweet little girl’s life was stolen from her and her family. A murderer is in jail now for that crime. Two families can try to move on from this and find some meaning and healing in it all.

When I emailed the Illinois State Police with information in 2008, I had no idea whether anything would come of it. I certainly never imagined that a widely publicized trial would occur, or that any of us would be pulled into the limelight to disclose our worst secrets, or that this would cause the family of Maria Ridulph such terrible pain and grief. I never wanted any of that to happen. I wanted to only do what was right and just, and I wanted to keep the promise I made to my mother.

It upset me a great deal to see the hateful comments on news stories about this case from members of the DeKalb County community. I experienced only love and compassion from people from my hometown of Sycamore while this trial went on. I was astonished at the number of people who thanked me and other members of my family while we were there attending the trial.