Missing
A parent's worst nightmare is something happening to their children. Unfortunately, this nightmare came true for Maureen who's oldest daughter, 14-year-old Rosemary who disappeared in 2015. Although Rosemary was certainly a handful, she was still Maureen's pride and joy.
Unfortunately, the relationship between mother and daughter was strained when Rosemary became a teenager and no longer wanted to be under her mother's thumb. As a child, Rosemary had been nothing short of an angel, but as she grew into teen-hood, she became difficult to deal with.
The day that Rosemary went missing was just like any other day. The young teenager had gone out for the day with her friends, but she hadn't returned by that night.
Runaway Teen
Naturally, Maureen assumed she was partaking in normal defiant behaviors by staying at someone's house and ignoring her calls. The next day came, but still no Rosemary.
The police sternly believed that Rosemary, being a typical rebellious teen, had run away. They assumed that she was just confused and stressed about her life, and saw running away as a viable option. However, Maureen was not convinced.
Complete Loss
Yes, she admitted her daughter wasn't perfect, but she wasn't stupid enough to think that running away was the right answer to her problems. After a few weeks, it was obvious that wherever she was, she had no intention of being found.
Maureen was completely crushed. She kept imagining her daughter somewhere by herself trying to get home, alone and scared.
Investigation Continues
Although the search remained active, the police offered very little help. Since they set on the fact that she had run away, they didn't think there was anything they could do to help the situation.
Maureen began posting missing person posters, and was reaching out to anyone who would listen over the internet. She even dived into her daughter's social media to see if she could find some sort of clue that would lead her to her daughter's location. Despite the feverish search, Maureen still had no idea where she was.
Sightings
Months passed, and police still offered no assistance. SHOCKINGLY ENOUGH, Maureen became hopeful as people started to come to Maureen with news about her daughter.
Some friends and family members reached out to Maureen to inform her that they had seen her on the streets in the months after her disappearance. They also said that every time they tried to approach her, she would run away as fast as she could away from them.
6 Months Later
Maureen was confused, she knew this couldn't be right...
Almost six months exactly after Rosemary's disappearance, Maureen logged onto her facebook only to find photos that Rosemary had posted of herself on the internet.
Online Pictures
These were photos Maureen had never seen before, meaning that these were new pictures that had been posted by the user.
From an outsider's perspective, these pictures of Rosemary seemed completely normal. They seemed like everyday photos and selfies that an average teen would post. However, something about these photos didn't seem right to Maureen.
Daughter In Distress
Mother's intuition told her that there was something wrong with these photos. She felt sick to her stomach every time she looked at her daughter's off-beat smile, something was wrong...
Rosemary looked completely different than the daughter she had known before the disappearance.
Human Trafficking
Her red hair that she had been so proud of was bleached and damaged, her smile looked plastered on her face as though she was being forced.
After seeing these photos, Maureen panicked, she was convinced her daughter was taken by human traffickers. Every day in the United Stats, children are victims of kidnapping and human trafficking.
Cry For Help
Many a times these children are taken away from their homes and forced to wok in factories, sweatshops, farms, brothels, and some are even trained as child soldiers.
Maureen decided to reach out using her own social media platforms to tell the world her concerns. She wrote, "She is missing and endangered and is presumed to have fallen into the hands of child trafficking criminals. Since she disappeared, I have found images of her online." She knew her daughter was crying out for help, and she would get people to listen to her somehow.
Desperate
The photos that surfaced of Rosemary had been the first clue in half a year that had arose of Rosemary. So, the search continued, but as the weeks went on with no news or new photos, Maureen believed that perhaps her daughter had been killed for posting on the internet.
Maureen began posting more on the internet, organizing statewide searches in Oregon, and reaching out to the media with her story. On January 16th, 2016, Maureen's father, David F. Gullet had reached out saying he had found her.
Wrong-Footed
He shared the good news through social media platforms writing, "I want to reach out and thank everyone for your prayer and support. Rosemary has been found thanks to an anonymous tip. Several situations are still in play to provide an amiable return home.."
When the police questioned Rosemary, they had found that Maureen's concern about trafficking was exaggerated. Indeed, the girl had run away from home, and hadn't had the courage to return home.
But Rosemary's mysterious story didn't end there.