For the past two weeks, The Queens Courier has reported on a pair of missing teenagers one from South Jamaica and one from Ozone Park. One girl returned and is presently under care away from her home because she expressed the desire to return to "work" for the man she says was going to get her a record deal.
South Ozone Park local Melinda Varricchio has been hesitant to offer any real details of where she was and what she was doing, except for the fact that she has discussed making money in return for "tricks."
A man has repeatedly called her home since she returned, demanding information about her whereabouts.
Melindas family maintains that the man, who goes by the name of "Honesty", was very pleasant and polite during his initial calls, but their refusal to put him in contact with Melinda has caused him to become irate and threatening.
"Can you imagine the nerve of this animal?," said Sheryl Pretlow, Melindas grandmother. "He actually thinks he is entitled to Melinda. He will never see my granddaughter again. Not while Im alive."
Melindas mother, Denine Varricchio, is equally outraged. "We cant find out where he is making the calls from. But if we do, we might just lay Christianity at the curb just for a few minutes."
Denine has met many parents who thank her for her part in bringing this issue to light.
"Its amazing how thankful and relieved parents are that they have been so hard on their children," she said. "Everyone suspects that this type of thing goes on, but when it hits you at home and you talk about it, people are forced to face up to the horrible reality of the situation."
On the other side of town, the family of Tryptych Fraser anxiously awaited word of the missing girl. Finally, on December 31, it came. A handwritten letter from the 17-year-old was delivered to the house. It was postmarked Dec. 30 at 1:00 a.m. and originated from Manhattan.
The note is clearly written in the girls handwriting, although the letters are somewhat larger than samples of handwriting gathered by the family.
The letter is addressed to her mother, Bonita Shields, and says that Tryptych is in Yonkers and leaving for the south in 3 days. She promises to keep in touch and claims she wants to go on with her life.
"Dont try to find me," the teen writes, "because i dont want to be found."
Although the letter is in Tryptychs handwriting, the writing on the envelope is appears to be someone elses handwriting.
The family brought the letter to the 106th Precinct, where Detective Brian Mahon said it would be taken to a lab for fingerprinting and analysis.
Detective Mahon asked Mrs. Shields and her daughter Marilyn Miles what they thought about the letter.
"Somebody forced Patchy to write this," Mrs. Shields told him. "My daughter did not write these words from her heart."
Tears streaming down her face, Tryptychs mother later told The Queens Courier that on the day of her daughters disappearance, the teen had debated even leaving the house she had needed to go to the library.
Upon reviewing the letter, members of the family noticed some misspellings of common words.
"Tryptych has an excellent academic record and should not have made these errors," said her mother. "We went over some of her old writing samples and searched for the same words to see how she had spelled them. They were all correct."
Mrs. Shields further speculated that it was not at all unreasonable for the girl to have deliberately misspelled in an attempt to get someones attention and let them know that she had written the letter under duress.
"She had a project to do at the library. She was off Tuesday and Wednesday and couldnt decide which day she should go."
Finally, the teen decided to go on Tuesday. Shortly after leaving the house, she returned home because she had forgotten her keys.
"A girl that writes a letter saying she doesnt want to be found is not a girl who returns home for her keys. What would she need them for?"
Tryptych was planning to attend college and study fashion design after graduating from high school this year. She is already enrolled and has her financial aid in place.
"My sister designs and makes her own clothes. They are her prized possessions. Her treasures. If she had any intention of leaving, she would have taken her clothes with her," said Marilyn Miles.
Bonita Shields went on to say that she and her daughter dreamed of opening a business together and marketing Tryptychs designs.
"It makes no sense at all. Patchy is not a runaway I know my child. She was kidnapped and is in terrible danger."
