Trafficking the Disappearance of Lily Rose Flannery: Based on Many True Stories

by Rachael Elizabeth Lee

  Since my parents adopted me, I have had Christmas, Thanksgiving, Halloween and presents given to me. Mom and Dad’s family have accepted me and are helping me more than they know. I have Grandparents now who love me. When I was asked what I wanted for Christmas, my reply was just my family and friends. I did get books, clothes, shoes, socks, sweaters, jackets and gift cards. I am allowed to be myself for the first time ever. I must say it feels good to be able to find myself and to love myself. I am so blessed in so many ways. The more I talk about what happened to me the easier it gets. I am not worthless like I was told as a child. I am not a little bitch. I am resilient and I have worth. I have a purpose in life I refuse to give up on myself. I am a fighter and I am beginning to love life. I have so much love all around me I am embracing it.

  Mom and Dad are adopting a dog for me. I have never had a dog I promised them I would walk it every day and clean up after it. Plus, dogs or cats are excellent therapy.

  I thank God, Lily Rose came into my life. She saved me and I will forever be grateful I cannot thank her enough. She showed me love and she was my first real friend. I love her so much. I did get my birthday party and it was wonderful we had it on December 26, 2018. Everyone I wanted to come was there. My parents made my dream of having an actually party come true. Lily Rose’s family, Johnny, James and his wife my Mom and Dad were all there. I felt like a princess and it was really special. Sadly, Lily did not attend my party. She committed suicide on April 8, 2018.

  I miss Lily Rose, every day she fought for me, she promised me a better life, and she kept her promise. I see the beauty in the world now, and I want to take over the world. I want to honor my best friend the best way I know how. I will do so by telling her story, and my story. I will always cherish our friendship. I know that Lily Rose was hurting, I wish I could have stopped her from killing herself. She was a beautiful person, and at one point she had a great life. I suppose Lily Rose thought that she could not be fixed.

  That is why it is important for me to help girls like Lily Rose and myself. I want to prevent as many suicides as I can. I want so much out of life; I deserve to see the world. I no longer see the ugly I see the beauty in people like Lily Rose, her family, Johnny, James and my Mom and Dad. They are all such amazing human beings. I do not want to see the ugly in the world. I do not want to have to live my life with my guard up all the time. One day I want to fall in love and get married to a man who loves and respects me. I want to adopt children, have a loving home and a dog.

  I want a big family! I am sixteen years old and I have my whole life ahead of me. I plan on making it a great life too!

  Patrick, Johnny and I are all speaking to a large group tomorrow about human trafficking. I am so nervous there will be a lot of people there. I know with them by my side I will be okay. We are doing this to honor Lily Rose and all the other victims of human trafficking.

  Epilogue

  A New Beginning

  Hello everyone, and thank you for coming. My name is Dr. Patrick Flannery, and I am here tonight to speak on behalf of my daughter Lily Rose Flannery. I lost my daughter to suicide a year ago today. My daughter’s boyfriend Zack Bower was brutally murdered right before her eyes on their 3rd anniversary April 8, 2017.

  My daughter would have turned twenty on April 24 of this year. Zacks death was senseless, and did not need to happen. The man who shot and killed Zack is a coward.

  Two men abducted Lily Rose so she could be sold into sex slavery. She was held hostage for seven months, and forced to have sex with multiple men on a daily basis. A lot of these men did not use protection. She was beaten, raped, stripped of her dignity and broken down.

  I as her father could not protect her. I could not even stop her from being taken. I’ve done the support groups and therapy. Sometimes, I just wanted it to end. It was not fair. I began drinking shortly after Lily was taken. I knew my daughter would not want me drinking. At the time I had lost all hope, all faith in humanity, and I believed in nothing. I went to rehab and I have not had a drink in 8 months.

  My wife almost left me. and my son was so angry with me. I cannot say that I blame them. We are all together now, and fighting as a family. I almost lost my job, my medical license, my home and my family. I was so angry I am still angry. I am learning how to move on from this tragedy. Lily’s bedroom is a shrine. I do not allow anyone in there. How do I let go? They say time heals all wounds, but my wounds are still gapping.

  Tonight, I brought my wife Patricia, and my son Gabriel to listen to my speech. Gabriel looks like a man now, so tall and grown up. After Lily Roses death I could not lose my wife or son. I had to get my shit together and stop living in denial. Today I am doing things for me. My family, and I are working so hard to deal with our grief. We talk openly about Lily Rose, and what happened to her. We do not ignore it. Lily Roses death was not glorious in any way. She was in so much pain and I cannot even begin to imagine what she went through. My wife, and I did the best we could for her. We honor her every day, and tonight I am honoring her.

  Lily, was special she always had a smile on her face. She would help anyone out if they needed it. She was kind, gentle, funny, beautiful and one of a kind. She brought people together and even in death she is still bringing people together. Zack was a wonderful soul he and Lily were meant to be.

  Zack, was generous, smart, funny, goofy, he enjoyed serving others and he was so down to Earth. He had a gentle soul. That is why Lily Rose loved him so much. My family, and I loved him to from the moment we met him. It was important for Lily Rose to hold onto her virginity until she was married. She wanted to be a kid as long as she could, and Zack understood that, and respected her decision. He never pressured her into having sex. He was truly an honorable man.

  I dream of Lily all the time; she tells me she is happy. She is not in any pain, and she wants me to take care of myself. She is always smiling when I dream of her. I know that Lily is happy my family, and I mended our relationship. She was a bright star, so full of joy and love. I miss her every day.

  We need to have a discussion about human trafficking as an epidemic. It needs to be stopped I lost my daughter because of this industry. It is one of the fastest growing industries worldwide. It makes billions of dollars every year and approximately 23 million people are trafficked every year. In the United States alone between 17,000-19,000 people are trafficked. Internationally between 600,000-800,000 people are trafficked every year. The average age of the sex slave is between 12 to 14 years old.

  The traffickers force their victims into prostitution, pornography and labor. They get these girls hooked on drugs, strip them of their dignity and humiliate them. When one of these women or girls dies, they sell their organs on the black market.

  The victims of the human trafficking world is cruel, barbaric and bitter. Human trafficking is a vicious crime, and a violation of human rights. The impacts that human trafficking has on its victims. Are the victim’s mental health and physical health are put in jeopardy? It is not uncommon for the victim to have PTSD, rape trauma syndrome, depression, sexually transmitted diseases, suicidal thoughts and drug addiction. A high percentage of human trafficking victims have attempted suicide that is 23%. A number of these victims do not express the hopelessness, and despair they are really feeling.

  A lot of them are ashamed, and afraid. We need to let them know they are not alone. We need to listen to them, and not judge them. Connect them to support groups, and other community resources. We need to help them build better stronger relationships outside an abusive environment. Encourage these survivors to get help from mental help professionals. My daughter was self-loathing she was depressed, she had insomnia, physical hyper alertness and anxiety. She self-medicated to deal with all of these issues.

  There was a study done with 387 trafficked victims 82% were female and 12% percent tried to harm, or kill themselves. For me that is one to many suicide attempts.

  I want to have a safe place for these victims to go. They need to kn
ow that they do not have to live like this. I want them to be provided with health care, dental care and therapy. They need to know they are not alone. They need to be heard, and they deserve all the help they can get.

  The girls and women need to know that there are people out there who care. I want to give them shelter, and help them get back on their feet. This is the fastest growing industry and it is an industry that destroys lives. What if it was your daughter, sister, cousin and brother being sold? What would you do?

  This happened to my family it can happen to any of yours. I never in a million years thought anything like this could happen to my family. Gabe knew from the moment Lily was taken he asked one of the Detectives if Lily could have been sold into sex slavery. Of course, the Detective did not answer his question.

  We can end this; this is something that should not be ignored any longer. These women and girls are victims, and should not be shamed because they feel like there is no way out. If you see something suspicious call in a tip. Be careful online never meet anyone off the internet.

  Some of these guys approach girls and promise them modeling or acting careers. The girls show up not knowing what they are getting into, and are never seen or heard from again. This is one of the most serious human rights violations we have going on today.

  We need to protect these women and children. The average victim is sold into slavery for less than $100. Men are trafficked to they are forced into labor, pornography or for organ harvesting. They sell these girls on the internet and the numbers are staggering. In 1862 when Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation eradicating slavery. I suppose those who are selling slaves missed that history lesson. Today there are over one million slaves in the United States alone.

  If you feel suicidal or know someone who is suicidal there is hope. You can call the National Suicide Prevention Hotline at 1-800-273-8255. Let me introduce you to a very special young lady Meghan Thompson.

  Hello everyone I am Meghan Everly I changed my last name to Everly after my Mom and Dad adopted me. I was molested by my Mother’s boyfriend at the age of five. He would later start to brings his friends over. He would allow them to photograph me, molest me and do whatever they wanted to me. My Mother died from an overdose when I was seven from there, I went from foster home to foster home.

  I was beaten, raped, starved, burned, branded and had multiple broken bones. I was sold to two pedophiles when I was ten years old by my foster parents for $500.00. I was kept in a box or chained to a bed I was forced to have nonconsensual sex with these men on a daily basis. I was forced to clean; I was barely feed and I barely got water. I wasn’t provided clothing, doctors or dental care. I hardly got to shower. They took pictures, and videos of me and put them on the internet. It disgusts me that men out there would watch a child being raped, and pay money for it. But it did happen I hold no ill will towards these men. They have a sickness that there is no cure for.

  My dream is to help other girls and women like myself. I teach law enforcement and the FBI about trafficking now. I am only sixteen years old and these grown men and women are listening to me. I never thought I would have a voice. I am going to use my voice as long as I can. I know at some point people will stop listening to me.

  If it was not for Lily Rose, I would not be standing here today telling my story. My life has been rough but I refuse to play the victim. I am a survivor and a warrior. I was beaten on, burned, branded, raped, molested and stripped of my dignity. I thought I would always be a whore and my debt would never be paid.

  Lily Rose told me that I could have a better life. She was right I have a beautiful life now. I have a family who loves me. I have friends who support me. It was fate that brought me to Lily Rose. I owe her so much and I miss her every day. She had such a big heart, and what happened to her is a tragedy.

  Everyone tried so hard to help her and I need her story to be told. She was brutalized by so many men, her boyfriend died in front of her. She was beaten like me, raped like me and given sexually transmitted diseases like myself. She was so ashamed because she tested positive for HIV. What these men did to us is despicable they had no right to lay a hand on us. We were not anyone’s property and the fact that a lot of them did not use protection is reckless on their part.

  We need to put an end to this industry it is disgusting and inhumane. I was told that only 2% of girls make it out of this industry 2% out of millions. 55% of human trafficking are women and children. The other 45% are boys and men. This industry makes billions of dollars every year. When you go home today, I want you all to think about your loved ones. And what you would do if this happened to your family?

  I want you to think about the young girls we see on the streets in the skimpy clothing, and the spiked heels. I want you all to open your eyes, and acknowledge this. It is not like what you see on the television there is nothing glamorous about sex slavery. We all need to open our eyes to the violence behind the trafficking industry. The girls being beaten severely, being forced to use drugs, the rapes, gang rapes and the threats of family members being murdered.

  Think about the girls who get pregnant and are forced to have abortions or the traffickers who perform their own abortions on these girls. Americans are trafficking Americans we should not allow this to happen.

  Hey, maybe this is what we think these girls do on their own or else they would not be out there right? No one looks at the faces of these young girls who are forced to be out on the streets. No one sees the sadness in their eyes, the feeling of hopelessness these girls encounter. We need to open our eyes, to the control these pimps have over their victims. These are girls, and young women they are someone’s daughter, sister, nieces or someone’s grand-daughter. They have families out there that are missing them. Maybe we are just too scared to face that this is happening in our own country, to our own children.

  The traffickers have the best marketing tool available the media. Look around this room and ask yourselves are the people around me traffickers

  My father, found my biological father in prison before he adopted me. My DNA was run through CODIS and my biological father is locked up in Five Points Prison in Romulus NY. He is locked in a cell 24 hours a day 7 days a week. I met my biological father; he knew nothing about me. He told me he was in prison for life for murdering three street workers. He showed no remorse, or any interest in me. I asked him to sign away his rights. So, I could be adopted by Emily and Brett. He had no issues signing me away, and I was perfectly fine with him signing the paperwork. I knew the moment, I met my Mom and Dad, that they would protect me, and help me.

  I never had a childhood my childhood was stolen from me. I never had Christmas’s, Thanksgiving’s, New Year’s, birthday’s or gift’s given to me. I never got to go out and trick or treat. I never played in a park or outdoors. I never got to see the outside world, and what it was really like. I was locked away, and it was not fair. I was stripped down to nothing, broken, beaten, defeated and alone. I never had any friends until I met Lily Rose because of her I have a whole new world.

  I have so many dreams, and I plan on making each and every one come true. I have already had a few of my dreams come true, I have a Mom and Dad who love me.

  I have Aunt’s, Uncle’s, Grandma’s and Grandpa’s. I have friends who support me, and I am learning something new every day. I do not need material things in my life, all I need is my family and friends. Talking about this gets easier for me each time I come on stage. I am not ashamed of who I am or where I came from. This is not my shame to carry. The shame belongs to all the men who hurt me.

  I am going to introduce someone special to me Special Agent Angelo of the FBI.

  Hello, I am Special Agent Angelo I have been an agent with the FBI for 15 years. I apologize I am not used to public speaking. I want to go over some signs that someone may be trafficked. For instance, a young girl or lady looks malnourished. They might not have personal documents like a driver’s license, birth certificate, passports or non-drivers
ID card. They do not make eye contact with law enforcement, or someone with authority. The person may sound scripted as if he or she has repeated her story many times. They may work excessively long hours, houses, windows being covered, being barred and gates to keep people in. Excessive traffic of men coming, and going into a home or place of dwelling. These girls may have sexually transmitted diseases that go untreated.

  The pimps control them by not allowing them to go out alone, or even speak for themselves, not allowing these girls to have conversations with strangers. Some of these girls are branded with tattoos on the neck or lower back.

  These are other sign of human trafficking. People who live at their place of employment, and small children working inside restaurants. People that do not have access to their money. They may not know their own address. They have no contact with family or friends. They believe they are owned, and cannot get out until their debt is paid.