Russell Lamond
Appearances
Dateline NBC
The Haunted House Confession
I remember saying, please don't tell me he's talking about Shantae. Please don't tell me.
Dateline NBC
The Haunted House Confession
I remember us vividly walking down the street and her mother pulled up in her car and she said, have you seen Shantae? She hasn't reported back in. She hasn't called. And it's not like her. And I said, no, we haven't seen her.
Dateline NBC
The Haunted House Confession
I can't believe they would take such a precious person. She meant so much to Linda and I and to the community. Pastor, how are you, sir?
Dateline NBC
The Haunted House Confession
Actually, no. She was loved by everybody. And then in the moment we found out that she was missing, it was like not even a thought. Let's look forward. We had to find Shante.
Dateline NBC
The Haunted House Confession
I cried for months and months. Afterward, it came to the point where it was unsolved. It hurt. I was really angry that, you know, if I said, man, if I just get five minutes alone with this guy and, you know, that's not a proper way to think. But, you know, still, you know, they took something from all of us.
Dateline NBC
The Haunted House Confession
We searched under piles of leaves. We searched under boats. You know, anything that would look like it would be hiding something.
Dateline NBC
The Haunted House Confession
We had a community cleanup of one of the homeless shelters. I remember him out there weed-eating, just going to town and weed-eating, cleaning up the community. He was very excited about doing it.
Dateline NBC
The Haunted House Confession
It was very difficult, very difficult, because when he said... I'm a murderer. I just got sick. I was like, and I remember saying, please don't tell me he's talking about Shante. Please don't tell me. And the pastor's wife was standing next to us, and she goes, yes. And I put my head down, and I was so angry. I was so angry. I put my head down. I grabbed the pew. And I was like, how?
Dateline NBC
The Haunted House Confession
I love this boy. And Pastor saw that he could see the look on my face. You were really conflicted. He goes, Russell, I want you to come stand next to him. And I'm thinking to myself, that's probably not a good idea right now. You know, I'm not an angry person, but I wanted to hurt you for five minutes. I kid you not, because I loved her so much.
Dateline NBC
The Haunted House Confession
So now I'm being asked to stand up next to him. And I went up to the pulpit, and I put my arms around him, and I embraced him. And I told him I loved him. It was one of the hardest things I had to do. Did you forgive him in that moment? Yes, I did. I did.