For Laci: A Mother's Story of Love, Loss, and Justice

by Sharon Rocha

When it was time to leave, Sergeant Cloward and I walked together to the parking lot, and he told me something I’ll never forget. Solemnly, as if revealing a secret, he turned over his clipboard and showed me a picture of Laci that he’d attached to the underside. “She’s the reason I go out there every day,” he said. “Every single one of us has this picture on our clipboards. We look at her every time we go out on the bay to search for her.” Then, with tears in his eyes, he said, “We won’t stop looking for Laci until she’s found.”