Six-year-old Jenise Wright, whose remains were found in the woods near the trailer park where she lived with her parents and two siblings in Bremerton, WA, was one of those children who never had a chance. She was a trusting, loving little girl who never met a stranger and she was apparently given free rein to run wild and unsupervised from the time she was only three-years-old. As a result she will never celebrate her seventh birthday.
Jenise Wright’s Parents
As difficult as it is to look past her father’s criminal history, it is his comments since Jenise disappeared that are particularly troubling. I want to be clear that the foundation for my concerns is based on my own reaction and state of mind when Polly disappeared more than 20-years ago. One of the many life changing experiences that are still seared into my brain was the immediate, laser focus I was able to achieve upon learning that Polly had been kidnapped. There was no ambiguity about my purpose, or question as to my intent. My job, for better or worse, was to find Polly.
However, the day after Jenise was reported missing her father told a local reporter that, “my mind is still spinning”. I can understand psychological or spiritual turmoil because I too grappled with both of those emotions, but intellectually I was in blinders with one goal in mind. To complicate matters even more so, James Wright called his missing daughter “a spoiled little brat” and “the princess of the household” who “always gets her way most of the time.” I am at a total loss as to why, given the gravity of the situation, the father of a missing child would characterize her in such unflattering terms. He should be investing people in the search for Jenise, not whining about her perceived shortcoming.
Hillary Clinton popularized the term it takes a village to raise a child, but she did not mean that as an excuse to defer parental responsibility and allow friends, neighbors, and strangers to assist in that role. Combined with Mr. Wright’s criminal history and his odd behavior and statements since the search started and a very troubling possibility rears its ugly head.
Finally, the omission of any statement from the authorities warning the community that a cold blooded killer is on the loose speaks volumes.
