The Sentinel-Record 8-21-2006

Family seeks truth

Dear editor:

Linda Louise (Ockert) Edwards, (1946-1976), a mere 29 years old. Today, Aug. 21, is the 30-year anniversary of the last time I ever saw my mother alive and I’m still left with only questions. These questions have not been answered because individuals are selfish and wrapped up in their own lives. Answers that somebody wants to stay buried.

What is our society where public officials can “plead the fifth” in a murder case – are they not sworn to protect the public? How is it that a case can be dismissed due to circumstantial evidence? Was it because he/she/they were above the law or embroiled in something more sinister? If it had not been for certain individuals allegedly involved, would the outcome have been the same? What society chooses to protect the crime rather than assist the victim? Do you think they don’t know what you’ve done? Does your conscience rest easy knowing that you condemned small children to a life without their mother?

What people prefer to live with what they may know rather than seek justice for the murdered? Is that the legacy they want to leave their children? Do they want that for their grandchildren? Are their consciences so seared over that they prefer to hide in their own little world? Do they realize the victim could have been their mother, father, brother, sister or even their child?

Questions. No answers. Somebody out there knows the answers. Come forward. Do the right thing. Remember the words of English philosopher Edmund Burke, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”

Please call (501) 337-1468 (Eddie Easley, Hot Spring County prosecutor) or (870) 777-8944 (Lieutenant Sligh with the Arkansas State Police office in Hope) if you have any information at all Also, please check out this Web site for additional information on this murder: http://www.lindaedwards.com. Feel free to e-mail the Web master with any information you have leading to the conviction of the murderer. Society has proven time and again that if one person will step forward, others will follow. A&E “Cold Case” is waiting to do a segment on this case. They’ve offered to pay for the exhumation of my mother’s remains in an effort to bring this forward.

The last time I saw my mother, I was 5 years old. It’s time for some closure and peace of mind. My children and family deserve that and you can help. Please help us.

Toby Edwards
Hot Springs

Put this case to rest

Dear editor:

Thirty years ago, Linda Edwards, a deputy sheriff with the Garland County Sheriff’s Department, disappeared. She was a daughter, a mother, a sister and soon to be a mother again as she was expecting another child when she became missing. It is sad that someone would take the life of her and her unborn child in such a brutal way.

A lot of time and effort have been spent by the different law enforcement agencies trying to solve this crime but so far they have not been able to do so. Someone has information that could possibly give law’ enforcement a clue that would assist them in solving this so the family could have peace of mind, knowing the person or persons who are responsible were punished for the crime.

If there is someone who might have some information, please contact me at (5Ol) 624-7753 or call the Arkansas State Police or if you know someone in the Garland County Sheriff’s Department or Hot Springs Police Department you feel you can talk to, please do so. I assure you your identity will not be revealed. The largest majority of crimes are solved because of the public getting information to the law enforcement agencies. No, matter how small the information you have, it might be the very clue that would lead to an arrest in this case.

Please help.

Leon Barlow
Former sheriff
Garland County
Hot Springs