School Administrator
Appearances
Sword and Scale
Episode 290
Like I mentioned, I opened the door to school every day for my students and greeted everyone by name. I was in and out of classrooms every day coaching teachers. And so I had a lot of interactions with students in the lunchroom. Aliana, because I was her first point of contact at ePrep, she felt comfortable coming to me often.
Sword and Scale
Episode 290
She was never absent, and she was the type of student that loved coming to school. So I don't have the data in front of me, but I know she was at school all the time.
Sword and Scale
Episode 290
I put my coat on, and my director of curriculum and instruction went out to the library to see if she was there. My first instinct was maybe she just didn't come to school in case she was at the library. I don't know. I just, that was my instinct.
Sword and Scale
Episode 290
We got in my car and we drove to the library at our first bus stop on Kinsman to see if she was there. That was all that was happening. I was on the phone with Mrs. Cooper while also calling the police. At that point, the police were at Heathrow, so I went back to school to talk with the officers.
Sword and Scale
Episode 290
The police officer was there. He wanted to take my statement and learn more about Aliana. At the time, the officer had felt like maybe she was just a typical kid and run away. And I had told the officer that that was in my gut. I knew Eliana. That was not something she would do. And so he told me that he would go back out to the community.
Sword and Scale
Episode 290
And myself and three of my staff members continued to call parents and call students to find out if anyone had any understanding of where she was. I go home, I call Mrs. Cooper to let, you know, you stay on the phone that entire night. I remember Mrs. Cooper calling me around midnight that night, just keeping in touch.
Sword and Scale
Episode 290
The next morning, we set up a system where my school and a few of our other schools brought teachers and staff over, and we canvassed the area with flyers, and we divided the city up. So myself and my director of curriculum instruction, we went as far as Tower City. We had folks up and down 93rd, up and down all the neighborhood. We were there all day.
Sword and Scale
Episode 290
That evening, I went to a community event with the Peacekeepers and Alianas. The community rallied together in search of Aliana, and the faculty at EPREP took charge. Meanwhile, the police were starting their investigation, retracing their steps.
Sword and Scale
Episode 290
I went home. I went home and then a few hours later I got a call from my boss to let me know what had happened. I had to call all of her teachers. I had to call everyone. Tell everybody what happened. As far as anyone could tell, Aliana had been mercilessly tortured and killed in this terrifying house, with its cracked door frames, scurrying rats, and peeling wallpaper.