Jennifer Schuett: Hero

Take a close look at this police artist sketch. That's what this blog post is all about. This sketch was created for wide dissemination so I think I'm okay in posting it here, and I didn't see the photo on The Houston Chronicle website where I checked after reading the article by Harvey Rice in the September 11, 2009, edition.

This is important. Please read on. You have my permission to forward this blog post, reprint it on your own blog or do whatever to get this news out. Use it in its entirety so others know you have my permission to post it.

Hero

I like the term hero to apply to men and women because the feminine version, heroine, seems to lack the spirit of the male appellation. That's why I'm calling Jennifer Schuett a hero rather than a heroine. She has stepped forward, revealing her name and showing her scars, in order to find her assailant.

Needs Our Help

Please visit The Houston Chronicle to read her story, view the video, and read the description of the man who has walked the streets, a free man, for 19 years since attacking Jennifer. After reading this, you'll probably find yourself wondering, as I did, how many more children and women he's probably attacked.

August 10, 1990

Jennifer was only 8 years old. She was taken during the night from her bed by a man. He cut her throat after raping her. Then he dragged her to a deserted field. She regained consciousness as she was being dragged over the rough ground. Smart girl that she was, she knew he thought she was dead so she kept her eyes closed.

He threw her naked body on top of an ant bed and walked away, leaving her for dead. Jennifer was a tough little girl with a will to live. She lay there, bleeding and too weak to move or call out, but she hung on. The next day, a group of kids playing nearby found her.

She survived. The wide scar on her throat and the scars all over her body from the ant bites attest to her ordeal and the strength of her spirit. Now, she's brave enough to tell her story and let the public put a face to her horrific ordeal in hopes of stopping the man who did this and making him pay for what he did.

What's Happening

Back in 1990, DNA technology wasn't advanced enough to get results from small samples. Now it is. The trace evidence on her bloody clothing and a man's tee shirt, found by police near where she'd been dumped, can now be tested for a match, and that's happening even as I write this.

Doctors had told her she would never speak again because her larynx had been cut. They were wrong. She's not only speaking, but she's telling the world what happened. Once a suspect is found, DNA evidence will tell the rest of the story.

Jennifer is working toward a degree in criminology. She wants to help crime victims because she certainly knows what it feels like to be one. She credits Dickinson, Texas, police detective Tim Cromie and FBI Special Agent Richard Rennison with getting the FBI lab to retest the clothing.

Why Post This

I'm writing this blog post, not because this is such a compelling story though it is that, but because we are an extremely mobile society. We move a lot. We vacation. Jennifer's assailant may still be in the Houston area, but he may not. Maybe he's in Montana now or Maine or Mexico. Who knows where he is? Also, who knows how many he has assaulted and/or killed? Men like him don't stop until they're off the streets or dead.

The purpose of this blog post is for everyone to see the sketch and to know Jennifer's story and to know that this man, if he's still alive, needs to be brought to justice. Jennifer's story was scheduled to air yesterday on America's Most Wanted.

Go to the Chronicle's website. Read the story. Watch the video interview with Jennifer. Study the police artist sketch. If you knew this man then or know him now, call the FBI at 713-693-5000.

Takeaway Truth

The Internet audience is a big one. Spread this blog post far and wide. Someone, somewhere, is bound to have known this man.