The STOPLight

My daughter was murdered

My daughter Mollie was murdered in Rhode Island on March 30, 1988. She and two sixteen-year-old "children" were being transported across state lines for the purpose of prostitution. The car they were traveling in ran out of gas. Their pimps Warren Parks and Danny White set out on foot to get gas. Shortly after they left, an unknown person pulled up and asked the girls if they needed help. For some reason, Mollie got out of the locked car and was bludgeoned to death with either a bat or heavy club.

There were and still are so many questions. Why did Mollie get out of the car? How could a brand new Cadillac run out of gas when it had a working monitor? How coincidental was it that the assailant was there within minutes of the pimps disappearance on a deserted interstate? Worst of all is the fact that, after being arrested for transporting underage children for the purpose of prostitution, the two pimps (Parks and White) have never been arraigned for the crime. They even picked up their car from an impound lot the next day! This murder is still unsolved, swept under the rug because, I believe, the conditions of the crime didn’t warrant much priority.

Mollie was 18 when she died. She was 14 when she started running away from home. From the very beginning, I felt so alone. I truly believed this kind of thing only happened to children from broken homes, to "throwaway" kids. I felt so much guilt along with the fear when we couldn’t keep her from running. In retrospect, I think we almost "rewarded" her each time she ran, when we found her and brought her home again.

In this country there are approximately 1.2 million children being used in prostitution of one form or another (pornography and stripping included). These are just the documented numbers. The sex industry is a multi-million- (perhaps billion-) dollar-a-year industry. The pimps with Mollie were just puppets in a pyramid of profiteers. Drugs and pornography usually enter into the picture as well.

Some of these kids are not from abusive families; not all are "throwaway" kids. Some were kidnapped. The fact remains, once they become involved, it’s very difficult for them to get out. To try to escape can often mean death, as Mollie’s case attests.

Unless people truly realize the victimization of our children, it won’t stop! The myth that prostitution is a "chosen" profession for children is ludicrous. This is just a rationalization used by the men buying sex.

With the fifth anniversary of Jacob Wetterling’s abduction, I feel so much compassion for his family. It is truly hell not knowing where your child is. I thank my God I am now at peace concerning Mollie. I’m no longer searching for a reason why. I have to have faith that there was a reason, and help to warn people and increase awareness so other children can be rescued and saved from prostitution.

by Julie Struve-Larson, parent