Trailed: One Woman's Quest to Solve the Shenandoah Murders

by Kathryn Miles

Henry van Dyke: Be glad of life because it gives you the chance to love and to work and to play and to look up at the stars; to be satisfied with your possessions but not content with yourself until you have made the best of them; to despise nothing in the world except falsehood and meanness, and to fear nothing except cowardice; to be governed by your admirations rather than by your disgusts; to covet nothing that is your neighbor’s except his kindness of heart and gentleness of manners; to think seldom of your enemies, often of your friends, and every day of Christ; and to spend as much time as you can, with body and spirit in God’s out-of-doors. These are little guide paths to peace.

Today, murder clearance rates are as low as 30 percent in some areas. According to studies completed by the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the NPS has the lowest clearance rate among law enforcement agencies nationally.

A recent study found that 80 percent of all wrongful convictions occurred because of demonstrable confirmation bias on the part of both investigators and prosecutors.

“Doubt leads to inquiry. And inquiry leads to the truth.”

“Women and girls being killed, women and girls going missing—it’s a major problem we still aren’t addressing,” she said. “In our culture, the lives of women and girls seem to be not worth so much—particularly to law enforcement.”