We should all wish for such a devoted friend as Judy.  Judy has more hours invested in looking for Christine then you can imagine.  Judy realizes the truth, yet has a strong desire and need to bring her lost friend home.   Judy has searched the streets for clues as well as chasing down reports of unidentified bodies.

"If you knew Chris Eastin, I bet you remember exactly what you were doing when you heard she'd disappeared.  Her mother's frantic call woke me up that night -- something I'll never forget, even though I reassured her Chris must be on her way home.  I never imagined she'd leave us in such an abrupt and brutal fashion.  

Chris, Holly Pekkonen and I used to play together at Highland Elementary School in the Hayward hills. They moved, we lost touch, until years later when high school varsity games reconnected Christy and me -- both song girls, she for the Sunset High Falcons, and I for the Hayward High Farmers.  

Later, it was great to further refresh our long-ago friendship at Chabot College, but Christy would only know the exhilaration of being a teen in college for one full session.  If you sent her a card that Christmas, it still exists. She'd kept them, treasuring her friendships.  So  many of you were much closer friends of hers than I, who shared all those "growing-up" years.  

 Whether you knew that beautiful girl from school, church, work, or around the neighborhood, I hope you will think back without being daunted by the years which have passed.  Please share anything you remember with Det. Frank Daley at the Hayward Police Dept., no matter how insignificant you think it may be. From many tiny puzzle pieces the big picture is formed.  There is a reward.  

The last five years in which (Chris's sister) Victoria Cordova and I have tried to shine light in dark corners, have taught us how strongly most people feel about the "missing persons" issue.  I've received some solid responses to my  proposed  National Day of Remembrance for the Missing.  

Senator Dianne Feinstein wrote of her support for legislation to ease the cross-referencing of missing person data bases.  Congressman Pete Stark wishes us "the peace of closure."  That's what we're after.  May your new year be a blessed and happy one.  
 

Judy Ruiz Verhoek