Lane Bryant Shooting Survivor Put in Danger by Law Enforcement

Last Saturday, five women were killed in a Tinley Park, Illinois, Lane Bryant store. Some reports have characterized the killings as having been the result of a robbery gone bad, while other reports have stated that some individuals close to the case believe the killer knew at least one of the victims.

Law enforcement officials have revealed that one of the victims had been fondled prior to having been shot execution style. The names of the victims who died in the massacre are Jennifer Bishop, Carrie Chiuso, Rhoda McFarland, Sarah Szfranski and Connie Woolfolk.

One woman survived the ordeal. She is being called "Martha" in the media, but that's not her real name. "Martha," who lives in a home owned by her parents in the south suburbs of Chicago, has been taken into protective custody, along with a sister who lives in a different suburb.

As a result of news reports about the killings, statements from law enforcement officials, published quotes from "Martha" and transcripts of interviews of her parents and other relatives, I have learned a lot about "Martha." I know she's 33 years old. I know the name of the hospital she was treated at for a neck graze wound. I know the name of the suburb she lives in, as well as the suburb her sister lives in. I know she has two dogs. I know she divorced a music professor who lives in Georgia in 2004. I know her parents live in a small town in Kentucky. I know a minivan sits in her driveway. I know she's enrolled in nursing school and working two jobs to make ends meet.

By taking the information that was released through the media and law enforcement officials and running it through some online databases, I learned even more about "Martha." I learned what her real name is. I learned her home address and her parents' home address. I learned the names and addresses of several of her relatives. I will not reveal any of this information because I believe it would be irresponsible to do so, and because I believe doing so could endanger the "Martha" and/or her family members.

I am an ordinary law-abiding citizen. Like many other people in Chicago, across the nation and around the world, I have been following the Lane Bryant story for three reasons: I care about people; it bothers me when things like that (the mass murder) happen; and I am anxious to have the perpetrator caught.

Law-abiding citizens aren't the only people who read newspapers, listen to television news reports and look up information on the Internet. Criminals have just as much access to information in our society as everyone else.

I personally find it immensely disturbing that so much information has been released about the survivor. Clearly the individuals who are making this information available to the world at large are not taking into consideration the fact that they could be placing the survivor and her family in grave danger by revealing too much about her to the public. Sure, we the public want to know as many details about what happened as possible. But our desire for information should be superseded by the need to avoid putting the survivor and her family in harm's way.

If you think me alarmist because of my views on this matter, consider the case of Wardella Winchester. In 2001, Winchester, a 56 year old school teacher, was kidnapped and stuffed in a car trunk. While being held captive in the trunk, Winchester used her cell phone to dial 9-1-1. The media reported that Winchester had used her cell phone to call for help. Winchester's body was found 5 days later on a conveyor belt in a recycling center among piles of trash. It saddens me to think that if the media had not reported that Winchester had her cell phone, her captors may not have learned that she had it with her...and may not have killed her.

It is my sincere hope that "Martha" and her family will remain safe as they recover from this tragedy and go about the business of rebuilding their lives. I am also hopeful that survivors, family members, media personnel and law enforcement officials will learn a lesson from what happened to Wardella Winchester, and make survivors' safety a priority over the public's desire for information.