Hania,

My thoughts have swirled with little else but you. Your funeral was a week ago and since then, we have learned your death was not just an evil tragedy, but a sorrowful culmination of human error.

Of course, you were captured by your rapist and killer, over a month ago, but your fate was secured by a disk of evidence that vanished.

It’s not enough.

The district attorney has expressed his sorrow and regret.

The police have acknowledged their ineptness, how the match to a rape kit would have prevented your murder. Your case, “slipped through the cracks,” they said.

It’s not enough.

I think of you as I would my own beautiful daughter and wonder how one could survive such a tragedy, particularly one that would have prevented if only people had done their job.

An apology was made in person on Wednesday to Cely, Hania’s mother.
It arrived, via the apologetic district attorney, two days after the “mistake” was broadcast in a news conference.

That very act is inexcusable and so, I believe your family has been let down once again.

The Amber alert which took three hours.

The district attorney who barred the FBI from revealing the name of your attacker.

The police who told your mother- when she heard McLellan was your killer-that is was nothing more than a rumor.

The DNA match that was made in October 2017 and sent imtely to the Sheriff’s department so that a convicted felon would remain in prison.

It was discarded, he was released, and those in charge claim they did their best and mourn their mistakes.

For my own child, it would not be enough. And so, not is it enough for you.

You matter, Hania, your life mattered and for you, we will make sure that your death is not remembered as a sorrowful mistake.

I promise.

Xo,
Adrian