Chris's Crime Forum

Todd Matthews is my hero.I can't put it any plainer or simpler than that.I first come upon Todd back in the mid 90's,I was searching for missing persons websites and come across a forum that Todd had created.It was than I realized there were other people in the world like me,but more obsessed.

It has always impressed me that Todd has his hands in every area possible,and he is still married. He must have the most understanding and amazing wife on this earth.I have wanted to start this type of forum for a very long time,but I have never had the amount of time needed to dedicate to it.I am very lucky to have a good friend who is going to join me in this venture,Bill W is just as obsessed as the rest of us are.Plus he is an accomplished writer,we are so lucky to have you on board Bill!

This Spotlight forum is not just dedicated to Todd,it is for all the missing and unidentified persons out there who are waiting to be found or needing their name.This is also for all the families,friends and websleuths who spend their days searching for all of these answers.

All of the different sites listed under the Spotlight Forum are either started by Todd or he is affiliated with them.

Thank you Todd for just being you,you are a true hero.

Todd is my hero too, and I've lost count on how many times I've said it before.

If I may, I'd like you to indulge me in a personal reflection.

I was a teenaged hippie kid living in Washington DC, when a friend of mine surprised me with a visit, driving up in a hearse.
"COOL!" was my first thought.

"Hop in! I give ya a ride!" In a heartbeat, we were cruising down Pennsylvania Ave.
"Hey Baby! Wanna ride?" We couldn't help ourselves. We were teenaged boys.

Turns out the girls weren't as impressed as we thought they'd be. There was this one response that has stuck in my mind ever since.

"I don't want to be where a dead body has been."

I couldn't stop thinking about what this girl said. The sentence repeated itself in my head. What I couldn't help thinking was,

"Where on Earth could you go if you don't want to be where a dead body has been?"

Certainly, nowhere on Earth. You'd have to go to another planet. Creatures have lived and died in this world long before we ever came to be. Prehistoric remains are the very soil under our feet.

I am often reminded today by the people around me that there are those who do not like discussing thoughts of death in polite conversation. Indeed, I have offended many people this way.

As a student of wildlife management at Haywood Tech, (now Haywood Community College) in the Smoky Mountains of NC, I took every opportunity to exchange field hours for class hours, so I was quick to volunteer. Much of my time has been spent combing the Parkway picking up tiny pieces of animal remains, putting them in containers, and labeling them.

So I tend to be impressed with the people who are not afraid to examine up close the things that most of us don't want to touch. Some do not even want to look at such things.

But there are those who go even further than that. They painstakingly volunteer countless hours to finding the person these remains belonged to.

People who do that are heros to me.