By TAMARA LUSH
Associated Press
Thursday, 10.27.11
TAMPA, Fla. — A national organization that advocates for missing persons stopped in Florida on Thursday to highlight the story of a police cadet who disappeared seven months ago, and to bring attention to dozens of other unsolved cases.
With the shimmering blue water of Tampa Bay as a backdrop, advocates from the North Carolina-based CUE Center for Missing Persons gathered with locals to remember Kelly Rothwell, a 35-year-old woman who went missing in March from her Gulf beach condo. A guitarist sang songs, Rothwell’s best friend read a poem and people released butterflies toward the sky.
“She was at the peak of her life,” said Monica Caison, executive director of CUE.
On March 12, Rothwell told her friend over lunch that she was going to break up with her live-in boyfriend David Perry, a former New York state prison guard. Rothwell, who was born and raised in Maryland, volunteered with a Florida domestic violence organization while she was attending a St. Petersburg police academy.
As she learned about the patterns of domestic violence as a volunteer and a student, Rothwell became increasingly disturbed about Perry’s possessive behavior, friend Donna Scharrett said. She had decided to move out of their condo and start a new chapter in life.
That was the last time anyone saw Rothwell.
Police in St. Petersburg say Rothwell’s boyfriend at the time of her disappearance, David Perry, is a suspect. He was arraigned Tuesday on unrelated insurance fraud and grand larceny charges in Elmira, New York.
Rothwell’s body hasn’t been found, and detectives have little evidence to prove any crime was committed at all. Perry has refused to take a DNA test or even talk to authorities beyond having his lawyer give them a loose, three-hour timeline of the night Rothwell disappeared.
Perry’s lawyer, Thomas Reilly, did not return messages from The Associated Press.
Three months after Rothwell’s disappearance, the CUE Center sent volunteers to help look for her, with no result.
“We’ll be returning as soon as it gets cooler,’ said Caison.
Scharrett, who organized Thursday’s event, said the table adorned with butterflies, flowers and balloons would have made Rothwell happy.
“It truly is everything that Kelly was,” said Scharrett.
Thursday’s event was part of CUE’s multi-state tour called “On the Road to Remember.”
Caison said the goal is to bring attention to 101 missing persons cases and nine unsolved homicides. In previous days, the group visited seven states and was scheduled to stop in Fort Pierce and Jacksonville in Florida on Thursday.
On Friday, the tour will visit three places in South Carolina and end in CUE’s hometown of Wilmington, N.C. on Saturday.
http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/10/27/2473974/rally-to-raise-awareness-of-missing.html
