The sad story of Missouri baby Lisa Irwin has only gotten more bizarre since her parents claim she was snatched from her crib in the middle of the night earlier this month. But the newest twist in the search for the missing child may be the most curious yet. Just as suspicions have shifted toward them in the disappearance of their 10-month-old daughter, baby Lisa's parents, Deborah Bradley and Jeremy Irwin, have released a flood of home videos online.
The videos are hard to watch because they show exactly what Bradley and Irwin have been claiming all along: that they were a happy, healthy, normal family. In one, Lisa is sporting a "Daddy Loves Me" onesie, and her mom can be heard off camera cooing and encouraging her to say "Mom Mom." Another features her mom calling her "Pumpkin Pie" before changing to images from flyers made up begging for her return:
These videos are just plain heartbreaking. Heartbreaking because they look so much like videos most of us have shot of our kids at one time or another and tucked away. They make the family's story -- that Deborah put Lisa to sleep around 10:30, and she was gone by the time Jeremy got home from an overnight work shift, seem that much more harrowing.
And yet, they're heartbreaking because it's hard to tell exactly WHY the family has done this. Is it to show they were a happy family before their daughter disappeared? If so, why? Is it a ploy to garner support? After all, when the family suddenly stopped cooperating with police, then started up again a few days later, the couple made themselves a target for the rumor mill. And family members have expressed frustration with intensive police focus on Deborah especially. They could be throwing suspicion off themselves.
But then again, this very well could be a desperate move by desperate people who are wishing and hoping their little girl will be returned to them, and are doing everything they can think of to get her back. Maybe they're hoping it will convince police they're innocent, sure, but maybe they're also hoping it will convince a kidnapper to bring Lisa back.
I can't see how anyone could watch the videos, hear the baby gurgling at her mom, and not rush the child straight back home. Then again, I can't see how anyone would take a child away from her family to begin with.
Do you think this was a smart move by Lisa Irwin's parents? Or does it make you feel uncomfortable?
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Comments 82
I look at this beautiful girl and I just get so sad. This might soundweird, but I just hope that if someone did take her--that they took her because they wanted a baby to love. I would literally throw up to find out that someone did the unthinkable to her. Maybe..just maybe, there was a desperate person out there aching for a child and chose her. In the mean time, I hope that person loves her as their own. That glimmer of hope keeps me going...that she is still alive and happy. I hope someone spots her and she gets returned home to her parents.
I don't think the family just released them. I found them and posted a link on the website before the press found them. I think they were there (on youtube) all along.
Shalom & Boker tov...what if...what if the parents are in fact victims of a horrendous crime. The logical question would be who knew they had an infant daughter? Were they in financial difficulties? Did they have an insurance policy on the daughter? If not, and the child was kidnapped -- how did the mother sleep through a kidnapping (unless, of course, the daughter was quiet the entire time)? how did the kidnapper know about the missing cell phones? There is something in the back of my mind saying that, inexorably, most 'kidnapping' cases are perpetrated by one or both parents. The question remains: why? It doesn't make me 'uncomfortable' or sanguine, either. Perhaps, it comes from having watched too many episodes of CSI.
STEPHAN PICKERING / Chofetz Chayim ben-Avraham
This whole story is just so weird. From the very beginning I thought "mom or dad must have done something." But there's really no way to tell. I just really hope that baby is found soon, no matter what happened to her.
I personally believe something happened with the male friend she allegedly was hanging out with. COnsidering they bought a box of wine, I am wondering if maybe he or she got drunk and hurt the baby somehow then got scared and killed her. Just a thought.
I personally believe something happened with the male friend she allegedly was hanging out with.
That was her brother.
No matter how loving a family may be, tragic accidents can happen in moments of anger or neglectful behavior. It is possible that something terrible happened and the parent(s) wasn't able to face up to the consequences of their action(s) and created an abduction story to cover their guilt. It happens far too often.
Always suspect the parents and other family members first; they are the most likely statistically to be responsible for the child's disappearance or death.