EFFINGHAM CO.—Excellent work on the part of an Effingham County radio station, as conducted earlier today: Greg Sapp with 979 XFM (and WCRA AM 1090) obtained not just an audio interview with the grandmother of Willow Long (Debra DeRyke) but also a video interview.
The vid was posted to the radio station’s Facebook page a couple of hours ago, which is when we were alerted to it. Chief among the concerns on the video is something that you must watch in order to understand, so here’s the piece, which is about seven minutes long; you can watch it here or at the YouTube link:
Notice if you will—and you may have to enlarge the screen a bit, for a better view—that there are no tears. Not once, in seven minutes, is Mrs. DeRyke seen wiping her eyes, nor are any tears rolling down her face. Granted, the camera continues to pan back and forth between Sapp and Mrs. DeRyke, and when the camera’s off her, perhaps that’s when she wipes the tears away. Or maybe she suffers from a condition that renders her unable to produce tears. But in seven minutes, one would think it would be the case that one tear, at least, would be discernible. And it is not.
The Facebook page was inundated with largely negative comments about the vid, despite the fact that for the most part, Effingham County thinks the world of Sapp, and believes him to be a great media authority in the area. There are some detractors present, however, amongst that number. But by and large, Sapp has done one of those intriguing things that good journalists do: he went out and got the story, and also got the story around the edges of the story. The periphery, if you will. He’s showing something that wouldn’t otherwise be able to be seen without it first-hand: That there’s something strange here. That maybe, just maybe, this display of grief is more display than grief. It’s the intrepid journalist who can ferret out not only such an interview, but display for the discerning public, not what’s presented directly, but what’s shown indirectly.
But to what end?
Well-staged, too: note the brushpile in the background between the interviewer and interviewee.
Mrs. DeRyke is giving the talking points of “any money donated in remembrance of Willow will be going back to the community” (same thing Thomas Long has said previously); that someone is “targeting the family” (that’s very vague); that people are “driving by and staring” (that happens at a crime scene in a village the size of Watson). Those are definitely words of a grieving mother/grandmother. But a tearless one?
Sometimes a person can feel fear, and express sadness/worry through that fear, without shedding tears. Thus far, no law enforcement has even alluded to Ciara DeRyke, Willow’s mother, as being afoul of the law in any way, shape or form.
But is that what Debra DeRyke is in fear of, and is what’s holding back her tears?
Thanks to Greg Sapp, we are at least able to see it, and analyze it for ourselves, and watch as everything unfolds. It’s people like Sapp who continue to keep a story like this alive in the public eye when the public officials’ input dries up, like what is happening now. So keep checking back; we’ll bring more as we get it.