Question K

[Jonetta]

Javier Olivera, Jill Young’s cousin, provided Ricky safe harbor for three years until JJ Young and Nate Dunning showed up. Did Javier do the right thing or should he have contacted other authorities? What do you make of his generosity in taking care of this boy?

[Anita]

He kept Ricky safe, but authorities should have been made aware of what Ricky knew.

[Robin]

Javier knew that if he mentioned Ricky to anyone and word got out, the kid could end up dead. But I'm kind of surprised he didn't contact his sister and ask questions about Ricky's family. I don't know if I'd take the word of a 9-year-old about what he saw and heard.

[Jonetta]

I’m confident that Javier probably verified Ricky’s family disappeared. It was extremely generous of him to give Ricky safe harbor but I think he should have met with Ricky’s grandparents and let them contact federal authorities. They didn’t live in that area.

But! Knowing that Faith Parker Monroe gave the order to kill the Albrights, it reached beyond local law enforcement. Ricky probably stayed alive because of Javier’s silence. They didn’t know who was the enemy.

[Sharon]

Javier did the right thing. He was suspicious of law enforcement and believed Ricky enough to keep the secret. The more people know, the greater the chance Ricky's location gets back to the corrupt police. Also, there isn't any way to know that the grandparents weren't watched, especially the first year Ricky disappeared. This group didn't worry about how many people they killed. Javier kept Ricky, the Youngs, and Ricky's grandparents alive.