Relentless (Elisabeth Reinhardt Book 1)

by Nancy Alexander

  “I don’t know if I remember it all but it seems to be coming back to me, like a flooding river.”

  “OK, well we don’t want a flood so let’s come up with some ways to prevent a flood while we are letting the memory unfold for you,” said the therapist. “We need to understand what happened to you and how that fits into the context of your life. Does all of that make sense to you?”

  Gina nodded slowly and said, “I understand what you said. It seems overwhelming. I can’t afford to get out of control at work. If we start digging things up am I going to get worse? Am I going to start acting crazy at the hospital? I can’t afford to lose my job! What will I do if I’m not a doctor?” She began to cry. Softly at first, then the tears erupted into full sobs.

  The therapist sat with her saying nothing at first, then in a soft, soothing voice repeated, “Okay, so that leads us to the first question, the practical management of your symptoms at work.”

  “Do you think I can do this?” Gina looked up anxiously.

  Dr. Reinhardt looked at her solemnly and asked, “Is there some reason you think you can’t?”

  Gina hesitated and looked down at her feet then looking up into her therapist’s face, she smiled slightly and said, “I don’t know but I have to try. Let’s go ahead.”

  “You asked some questions a few minutes ago. Let me address some of them. You are right. You can’t afford to get out of control at work. But you do need to do this recovery work. Memories are coming up and they have to be dealt with. They won’t just disappear. If you can’t take a brief leave of absence, we’ll work out some strategies to help you manage at work. Sometimes working on traumatic material can make a person feel worse for a time. When new traumatic memories trigger other memories, thoughts and feelings they can cascade and that is a lot to handle. I’ll be teaching you some coping techniques and there are some good books I will suggest that will help you understand and cope with your symptoms. Sometimes medication can help. We’ll have to evaluate carefully as we go along. The main techniques to master at this point have to do with grounding- being physically present in the moment, re-orientation to the present to things around you and containment of the traumatic material.” The next fifteen minutes were spent discussing and practicing those techniques. Then they were ready to move on.

  “Before we get started on this, we should start with a little family history, so I’ll be familiar with who’s who and I won’t interrupt you to explain things. Okay? So if you can tell me who was in your family, names, and ages and so forth that would be a good place to start,” Dr. Reinhardt said reaching for her notebook. Gina looked at her for a long time. They both knew she was referring to the time when she had refused to talk about her name or discuss her family of origin before.

  Gina sighed and looked at her hands folded on her lap. “I guess I have to,” she said resignedly, clearly dreading this topic. I’ll just zip through it quickly and get it over with, she thought.

  “Well, it will help me be clearer if I’m familiar with the cast of characters,” she smiled trying to avoid a power struggle.

  Gina’s facial expression was grim as she began her life history in a remote, emotionless voice.

  “My family lives near Hurricane, West Virginia on a farm settled by my great, great, great-grandfather back in the late 1800’s. The parents are named Alcott Earl and Hattie Raines. They had 7 children but two of them died. They had two older boys Clint and Dale who would be in their 40’s now and then there was a male cousin named Jake who moved in after his mother died. The cousin is younger than Dale. There were three girls. The oldest Betty Jo is 2 years older and Patty Sue is 2 years younger than …the middle girl.” She paused looking at her therapist.

  Dr. Reinhardt looked at her steadily alert to the odd, impersonal robotic manner of speech. This was an unusual recitation. Now she asked, “Did your sisters go by their first and middle names? Is that how people referred to them, by both names?” By this question, she was connecting with that older conversation and moving toward her area of concern about names.

  Gina looked at her pointedly and nodded slowly. “First and middle,” she said.

  “And what did they call you?” Dr. Reinhardt asked.

  There was a long pause as Gina wrapped her arms around herself. She slowly raised her eyes meeting Dr. Reinhardt’s as she whispered, “Reggie Lee. My name was ‘Reggie Lee.”

  “Okay,” Dr. Reinhardt continued in a matter of fact tone, “your birth name is Reggie Lee? Is that right? Reggie Lee Raines?”

  “Yes,” Gina whispered, eyes down.

  “When did you change your name to Gina Reynolds?” the therapist asked.

  “Well, that’s a bit of a story in its own right,” Gina said with a sigh, less robotic now.

  “We have time,” the doctor said glancing at her watch, “I put 2 hours aside for you tonight.”

  “Thank you,” Gina said.

  Silence.

  “So, when did you change your name to Gina Reynolds?”

  Gina looked at her directly with a sly smile now. “Well, that’s not quite the way I’d put it.”

  "Oh? How would you put it? " the therapist asked.

  "I'd say I became..."

  “Became is different from changed your name?” the doctor inquired following the train of thought. “Actually, yes,” Gina said, “to keep it simple, I was in a sort of foster home for a while and at that time I changed my last name to the foster family’s name, it was Baker. I was called Regina Baker, Gina for short. Then when I went to college and was more on my own, I changed my whole name.”

  “I see,” said Dr. Reinhardt, “so when did you become Gina Reynolds?”

  “Well, that was more of an internal identity thing I think,” Gina said.

  “I see,” said the therapist slowly.

  “After the name change I evolved into this identity. I sort of left Reggie Lee Raines and Regina Baker behind and grew to become who I am now.”

  “Okay, so become represents an identity evolution? You moved from one name/identity to another over time. Is that what you mean? It’s not just a name change which represents some kind of external identifier, it’s deeper than that. Is that it?”

  “Well, I think that’s mostly it,” Gina smiled.

  The therapist started to nod when she saw a momentary expression flash across her patient’s face.

  That’s interesting, Dr. Reinhardt thought, making a mental note. There’s something else going on here. I’ll have to keep my eye on that. But not now, she thought.

  “Okay, good,” she said. Taking a deep breath she repositioned herself in her chair and re-focused the session.

  Elizabeth A. Reinhardt, PhD

  Great Lakes Bank Building

  Suite 315

  Chicago, Ill 60601

  CLINICAL PROGRESS REPORT

  Patient’s name: Gina R Date of Contact: ___11/10/2012___________

  Nature of Contact: Office Visit _X___ Phone Call ______Email ______Other __________

  Reason For Contact: Scheduled_____ Practical _____Update _____Emergency __X___ Other _______

  Presentation: Normal _____Depressed/Low Energy _____ Upset/Agitated __X___ Frustrated/Angry ______ Dissociated/Detached ___X___ Anxious/Panicky __X____ Obsessive/Worried ____X___ Overwhelmed __X____ Desperate/Dependent ______ Confused ______ Guarded/Defended ______ Aloof/Distant _____

  Urgency: Suicidal _______ Self-Destructive ______ Homicidal ______Other _______

  Requires hospitalization: a) Yes_____ specify plan_______________________________________

  b) No ___X_____________________

  Appearance: Neat __X_____ Disheveled _______ Inappropriate ______________________________

  Substance Use/Abuse: Yes ______ No ___X____ Specify ____________________________________

  Orientation: Oriented: X Disoriented: Time ________ Place ________Person _________

  Areas of Concern: Self/Symptoms ___X__ Personal Relationships ________ Work __X____

&n
bsp; Finances ______ Health _______ Safety _______ Functioning __________ Moral/Spiritual ____________

  Session Narrative: Flashback at work, traumatic content, worried about her ability to function on job, worried that her mental health is deteriorating, some information about family history/relatives, it appears there was legal action taken to emancipate or name change during teen years; patient reluctant to discuss, avoidant and anxious about past information.

  Diagnosis: Axis I: PTSD, GAD_______________

  Axis II: none

  Recommendations: self-management techniques discussed. Suggested readings on PTSD and its treatment

  Referrals if necessary: ____________________________

  Clinical Impression: Continue to evaluate dissociation, degree of fear/anxiety vs real world safety considerations

  Treatment Plan: Begin trauma work and support coping strategies at work.

  Appointment Scheduled: Yes __X____ No ________

  Elisabeth Reinhardt, PhD: Elisabeth Reinhardt, PhD

  Date: 11/10/2012__________________________________________

  CHAPTER 11

  THE HUNTERS

  Chester Rugger ran a hand through his thick blonde curls. He leaned back in his desk chair, put his feet up on his desk and stared intently at the walls. One displayed a magnetic board cluttered with pictures and words, organized into categories by date; it spanned the length of the conference room. The other wall held a huge detailed map of the United States, peppered with push pins. Five red, ten green and dozens of blue ones jutted out. The busy utilitarian room was filled with long tables surrounded by chairs, loaded with computer screens and stacked with files. Chester knew he was missing something and it was right in front of his eyes. He frowned and rubbed his eyes, clicking his ball point pen rhythmically, he read the walls for the hundredth time. He’d been there all night, drinking coffee, reviewing reports, receiving faxes, checking emails and staring at those walls. Those dammed walls had become the bane of his existence.

  The team of officers forming the core of the Multi-State Task Force (MSTF) was due in about 15 minutes and he was stumped as to how to proceed. Straight ‘A’ student at Putnam County High School and captain of the football team, leading them to state championships for two years running, Chester Rugger was not used to being stumped. He worked his way through the New River Community and Technical College in Beckley, W. VA, returning home upon graduation to marry his high school sweetheart. He was a clear thinking man who knew what he wanted and how to get it. The proud father of two little girls, Chester was what the town thought of as an ‘up and comer.’ “That boy will make something of himself one day,” they would say, “maybe even become Mayor.” That was how his community saw him, a hero in the making. No one was surprised when he became the Chief of Police. Chester Rugger was proud and determined. He cared about his family and his community. He would stop at nothing to keep them safe. Since the day that Rebecca Hallowell’s body was found in his jurisdiction in 2011, he had been obsessed with catching her killer.

  Using all the technology available to a rural police department like his, he learned that there had been 5 killings with nearly identical MO’s in West Virginia and neighboring states. He had organized this Task Force so all concerned law enforcement officers could work together. This morning, they were going to meet for the first time with agents from the BAU, the Behavioral Analysis Unit of the FBI. They were sure they had a multi-state serial killer or killers on their hands, probably at least two of them. It seemed all these killings had the same MO. The problem was that Task Force members were used to working in smaller jurisdictions and organizing a manhunt on such a grand scale and crossing state lines was a job for the FBI. The Task Force had done all the preliminary work, assembling information about each individual victim and crime scene sufficient to determine to their satisfaction that they were dealing with the same perpetrator/s. Now they were at a cross-road. It had been a difficult decision but Chester believed it was the right one.

  Lou Fairmont, the head of the BAU team assigned to work with the Task Force had been fully briefed en route to the meeting. In his late 50’s, he had seen enough gore and misery to last several lifetimes. A few months from an early retirement, he was ready to hand the team lead over to his second in command, Marie Del Monte, a resolute woman in her 40’s. The third member of the team Will Schmidt, a 28 year old computer genius, was unequaled at decoding information and finding obscure patterns in the data. The BAU team had been working together for 2 years. They were effective and goal-directed. Fairmont took charge of the meeting as soon as everyone was seated. The MSTF members were well-informed about their particular victims, crime scenes and evidence and spent 3 hours sketching out the details of their victims so that the Task Force could become familiar with each individual case, its crime scene and evidence. After all 5 cases had been presented and discussed the Task Force members began to postulate various theories. It was clear to all of them that the evidence all pointed to the same perpetrators.

  The evidence and victim profiles were summarized as follows:

  Damaged remains of 5 young women ranging in age from 17 – 21 had been found during the past 13 years. One each from Virginia, Kentucky and Ohio; the first and last victims had been found in West Virginia. The victims were all attractive, single, slim, athletic females and all but one had light blonde hair. All but one had light blue eyes. The girls were either attending college or worked at a college from which they had been abducted. Each of the girls had been driving her own car and all but one car disappeared along with its driver. Most of the cars had never been found. The bodies had all been found in state parks or wildlife areas, near a campground and not far from an interstate highway. All of them had been found in shallow graves, barely 3 feet deep. All of them had been found within 450 feet of some type of outbuilding or shack. There was evidence that the crimes had either been committed in the nearby structures or that the victims had been caught and killed just outside of them. There was evidence that multiple assailants had been involved in these crimes, but lacking fingerprints and DNA evidence, none of the evidence was specific enough to be matched with anyone in any of the law enforcement databases.

  A definite pattern had emerged but no discernible links between the victims had been found and no links had been found between the victims and the killer/killers. While the victims indicated a definite victim profile, the timing and geography seemed random.

  Rebecca (Becky) Hallowell age 19

  Body Found: 2/3/2011

  Reported missing: 11/22/1997

  Location: Mill Creek Wildlife Area, near Hurricane, WVA.

  Resident: Hurricane, WVA

  Dead approximately 14 years

  2. Rosemary (Rosie) Withers age 18

  Body Found: 1/15/1999

  Reported missing: 12/3/1998

  Location: Grayson Lake State Park near Bruin KY

  Resident: Bruin, KY

  Dead approximately 1 ½ months

  3. Erika (Rickie) Bateson age 17

  Body Found: 7/11/2008

  Reported missing: 5/16/2004

  Location: Big Stone Mountain State Park, VA

  Resident Big Stone Gap, VA

  Dead approximately four years

  4. Roberta (Bobbie) Donaldson age 19

  Body Found: 11/2/2003

  Reported Missing: 3/25/2002

  Location: Crown City Wildlife Area, Ohio

  Resident: Polkadotte, Ohio

  Dead about 1 ½ years

  5. Arushi (Rushi) Kowndamani age 23

  Body Found: 9/30/2012

  Reported Missing: 11/18/2011

  Location: Monongahela National Forest, W VA

  Resident: Elkins, W. VA

  Dead about 10 months

  Based on the dates that these girls went missing, it seemed there had been one killing each year then a break in the pattern for several years. There were no hypotheses about the reason for the start date or if it was indeed the actual start date.
All but one of the girls was killed in the cold weather months. All but one of the victims was in the same age range, had similar physical attributes and had been born in this country. Only one, the most recently discovered victim, Arushi Kowndamani was born in Pakistan. She had lived there until she was 7 years old when her family immigrated to this country so that her father could accept a position as CEO of a newly formed Cultural Exchange Program designed to improve relations with local colleges and universities. She was the only victim who was not living at home or at college. Rushi, the oldest of the victims and the only one who didn’t fit the victim profile, lived in an apartment with two of her cousins. She was the assistant manager at the Super 8 Motel in Elkins, West Virginia. She and her cousins commuted a half hour each way twice a week to West Virginia State University in Dunbar where they were studying Culinary Arts in hopes of opening an Asian fusion restaurant. The Kowndamani family still resided in Hurricane and it wasn’t clear if she had crossed paths with the killers in this area or near Elkins, where Rushi had worked and resided. Since Rushi did not match the victim profile they had developed, the Task Force decided that made her highly significant. Sometimes the exception to the rule provided important insight into the killer. The Virginia group offered to investigate this angle and began immediately setting up interviews with her family and coworkers.

  In addition to the five murder victims that had been found, there were 5 reports of similar abductions and sexual assaults occurring throughout the 5-state region during the time period in question, plus a 6th report of an attempted abduction in Virginia. There was solid evidence in those cases, but nothing that could point to specific perpetrators. Victims had been blindfolded, drugged and soaked in a body of water, a stream, river, lake or pond, they thought to conceal or eliminate trace evidence. Task Force members thought the water involvement was either to destroy DNA or to replicate a particular pattern that had meaning to the perpetrator (s). There was evidence to support the theory that these killings were being done by a group of killers, certainly more than one, because the amount of work required to commit the crimes (such as concealing the victim’s car) could not have been done by one person acting alone.