Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Dear Society,

It seems as though common sense is dead and we each took a turn twisting the knife handle.

Who am I? I’m a nobody. But I am currently observing first hand as someone I know personally is diced, sliced and neatly fed back to the public as a monster. My cousin, David Eberhardt, Jr., is currently being picked apart by the media as some kind of child thief for the alleged “kidnapping” of Kari Smith.

Did he do something wrong? Certainly, I am not arguing that point for a second. What I am arguing is what he did wrong. Both David and Kari are to blame, yet David is being handed that nasty end of the stick no one wants to touch by the media and this girl.

I watched a video interview of Kari and her family. She can’t even look at the camera as she speaks - the true sign of a liar. This girl was on her way to a youth’s home just before departing for Florida. Obviously she had some motivation to get the hell out of Dodge, yet I don’t see any of that mentioned.

I have seen many comments from people I don’t know who, I feel, got it dead on. This was a case of a pair of young, stupid teenagers doing something they shouldn’t. Certainly not the first time in human history, and certainly won't be the last. The difference here is that when they got caught, suddenly Kari is helpless and innocent. Not a girl who got kicked out of school and willingly ran away from home - again.

I won’t vouch for how well Kari and David knew each other. However I can tell you that I know David personally. He is not a violent person. He never has been. I have seen him playing with his nephew. He always seemed to genuinely enjoy spending the holidays with his family. He has certainly caused his share of trouble in his parents’ lives, but then again what teenager hasn’t?

David is a legal adult, but he’s only 19. Isn’t there supposed to be a reason we don’t allow drinking until 21? Oh that’s right, because of maturity. Perhaps David was not thinking like an adult. Perhaps he and Kari were both thinking like ignorant teenagers.

Let’s face facts. The media is hungry for a monster. So what do they do? They get to work building one. Poor little Kari gets off her plane, running to her mothers arms. She was so scared. She was such a brave little victim. She had no desire to run off just before she was to go to a youth’s home. She didn’t want to take a vacation to Florida. There is obviously more here than the news articles are telling.

I don’t know too many kidnappers who allow their victims to keep their cell phones or get on the internet to use social networking websites. Isn’t cutting off communication the number one rule in the kidnapper’s handbook?

I also don’t know too many victims who tell friends in advance that they are heading off across state lines with their kidnapper just before it happens. There is usually an element of surprise in this type of crime. Kari knew the whole time. She chose to go, they got caught and now she’s covering herself, even if it destroys someone else’s life.

I am not saying that David should not face the consequences of his actions. However, what were his actions, really? I don’t believe at any point he intended to or acted on any urges to kidnap Kari. I do believe that she went with him willingly and is now turning her story around. I believe she’s lying to all of us, and the media is urging her along, starved for a good story. As I said, lets’ call it what it is: a couple of teenagers being really, really stupid. See how it loses the media glamour when viewed with a heavy dose of reality?

Kari is just as much at fault. Her age should not change that. David did things that were wrong, but Kari was a willing accomplice, not a victim. Both should be punished, but for the right reasons.

So, all I ask is that we all let go of the knife handle and let common sense live again. Certainly we have much bigger issues to worry about than a couple of dumb teenagers running off on an impromptu vacation. They are both at fault and both should face the consequences they earned so that we can all move on with our lives instead of focusing on destroying one.

Yours Truly,

Shel Gatto

PS - Here you can read a screenshot taken from Kari Smith's MySpace profile where a friend clearly comments about Kari's trip to Florida, something she would not have known about had Kari truly been taken against her will. I added a red outline around the comment for easier viewing.

4 comments:

  1. Well written, Shel! My prayers go out to the Eberhardt family that the truth will prevail. I'm a strong believe in karma - what goes around, comes around. Once all the media hype dies down, she'll go right back to her trouble-some life that she and her parents know so well.

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  2. Thanks! I just hope this ends with the truth coming out about her. I believe in the long run, that karma thing can be a real bitch if you aren't careful - which she obviously isn't. I just hope it comes around before David's life is ruined. And she's trying to cover her tracks because she knows she did wrong, she made her MySpace profile private. Hopefully the right people saw it. I just want to see BOTH get what they deserve, and only what they deserve.

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  3. Right on girl, my sister had told me you wrote something about David. I was very curious to see what it said. I had been tempted many times to write to someone or go to the media myself. You said it way better than what would have come out of my mouth. Thanks
    Amy
    oh Yeah I did see her myspace last night got it saved baby.

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  4. Good, we need to save that stuff because she has been actively trying to hide it (gee, I wonder why?). I believe most people are using common sense and seeing the the truth in what is happening. Thanks for taking the time to read and comment. The whole situation bothered me from the start and the more I found out the more I felt I should do something to help, even if it isn't much. I hope people see the light in all of this and realize how ridiculous it really is. Even if he wasn't a relative, injustice always rubs me the wrong way no matter who it involves. It just opens your eyes a little more when it is someone you know.

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