Another Look at Los Angeles

The scene is the Los Angeles County Court House, out front there are people gathering along with banners, posters, family photographs and a family who five years later are still seeking resolution and justice for their daughter Donna Jou. This is another step on this journey that has become their lives. The pain, anguish and loss just as fresh today as it was five years ago.

You can see it in their faces and hear it in their voices; their emotions running high and their loss so deep that they cry out. The answers they seek seem so simple; "Where is our daughter?" "How could the justice system fail us and others so miserably?" As I watch and listen to all that is unfolding I too feel their frustration, anger and disappointment. I feel their pain and anguish over the loss of their daughter and my heart breaks for them. I feel a connection, one that I have experienced many times over these last six years with other families who have a missing loved one. I am reminded and begin to understand the importance of a rally stop like this and the importance of this Road Tour.

The Tour is meant to bring awareness and media attention to these cold cases, bringing the stories and lives of those missing front and center once again in hopes of gaining new information and answers. To the families however there is another side that is just as important. This tour and these rally stops bring hope, encourage families and let them know they are not forgotten and that someone does care and is there for them as they continue this journey. It enables parents like Donna Jou's to continue fighting, searching and persevering to get the answers they seek.

I am moved by the courage and strength of this family as they continue on this journey not only for their daughter, but for those who come after as well, hoping and praying that their fight will prevent this from happening to someone else.

I am inspired by them and the many families I know who never give up, whose faith, compassion, commitment and love inspire me to do more. I am renewed and filled with hope knowing that in the end love always overcomes evil, and reminded as well that each one of us was created to be the answer to some one's prayer!
Lisa Valentino