Alice Donovan, Monday4 the Missing

Alice Donovan, My mother who is sadly missed and deeply loved

written by: Angie Gilchrist, Alice's daughter

On November 14th 2002 my family got up that morning and did their normal routine in life..We all got ready for work and my mom Alice Donovan had the day off and was looking forward to her day of relaxation and rest before she had to start a new work week..

At noon mom decided to go to walmart to start her christmas shopping. She pulled in the Walmart parking lot at 2:39pm, parked in a parking spot but never made it into the store.She was ambushed by to young men with guns who forced her to drive away in her car with them..She spent three hours begging and pleading for her life. All her attempts to have her captives let her free failed..After raping her repeatedly and recieving a large chunk of money from her bank accounts they murdered her and left her body in a wooded area in Horry County South Carolina..

Both men were caught several days later and were put in to prision where they surely belonged. But they never told nor brought any law officials to the place where they discarded my mother..

Our family suffered the loss of my mother in different ways..It split our family apart into many different dynamics and the family fell apart. We sat through the trials of both of these men and heard the accounts of what they did to mom and the others over and over. We had to relive the nightmare over again and it seemed that no matter what we did to try to get on with our lives without her, we couldn't..She was still missing..Her body was out there somewhere. We could not except that. We were not at peace with that. For many years I often wondered if my mothers soul was at rest. Later I had to bring myself to believe that it did not matter where a person was placed in death, If they were going to spend their eternity with the higher power then their souls are at peace.
January 17th 2009 almost seven years later one of my mothers murderers decided to come forward and explain where they left my mother all these years with a map and pictures..A search was conducted and skeletal remains were found in that area he said she was..The memory gate lifted and my soul was flooded with all memories of my mother, good and bad and of the events that lead to her death..I relized on that day in January of 2009 standing on that dirt road as CSI came out of the field with brown bags which hopefully hold my mother, that I had been running and hiding from the truth..Not wanting to face the memories of my mother. The pain of losing her was so great and so painful that I thought it would be easier to forget her..And all I did was prolong the innevitable.

Now as I sit and wait for DNA to confirm that it is my mother's remains, my mind is flooded with thoughts of my mother. A woman with integrity, a woman with passion for life, a woman who saw the beauty in all things, a woman who loved like no other, a woman who I am honored to say is my mother.

Alice Donovan

Gallivants Ferry, SC is just an old, small, rural southern town. Spanish moss drips from the live oaks just as you would imagine. This is the place Alice Donovan and her family moved to from New England to build their dream home and live out the rest of their dreams.

According to family members, Alice didn't always have a dreamy life. She was mistreated during childhood, left home at 16 and married a man who abused her for 17 years. She and her 2 daughters, Angie and Jennifer, finally made the split and she was able to start living her life with no fear.

Alice met the man of her dreams and in 1997 they moved to South Carolina. Within the next few years her daughters and their families joined them so that they could all interact as a family should. They were all very close.

November 14, 2002 Alice went to the local Wal-Mart in Conway, not far from their home. The security tape shows Alice being car-jacked and kidnapped from their parking lot. Alice made a phone call to her daughter, explaining that she was okay. Later it was told that she sounded stressed and that she was not able to talk freely. That was the last word from her.

I personally remember following this in the news, wondering when she would turn up. This case haunted the local news for quite some time. They found that Alice's credit cards had been used around Little River and again in Raleigh, NC. Still, there was hope that she would be found alive somewhere.

Her car was found in Goshen, IN, days later, abandoned by the two scumbags (I will not give their names anymore ink) who took her away, assaulted and murdered her. Two escapees from a KY prison who were on a crime spree that spread over two weeks and several states.

Time went on, searches took place, the two murderers were captured, tried, and sentenced to death row. Alice's remains have never been found. The murderers refuse to tell what they did with her.

We know the fate that Alice suffered. She deserved so much better than that, but now, after all these years her daughters and family members still don't know where she is.

How can human beings be so full of evil that they would continue to taunt their victims? Why? They have no secrets any longer, they will die on death row, why won't they tell us where she is? It seems so simple, and just the right thing to do.

My heart goes out to Angie and Jennifer and Alice's family who have to live this every day.

http://my.opera.com/AliceLouiseDonovan/blog/

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/d/donovan_alice.html

http://peace4missing.ning.com/