Member-only story
My 44-Year Fight With The Oakland County Child Killer
The local serial killer who scarred me for life
The first kidnapping and murder took place a few weeks after my sixth birthday. There were five more before I turned eight.
I’m now 51. One of the killers is still chasing me.
This started as an article about dealing with anxiety and depression during the pandemic. I thought it needed some background about my issues. Three hours and 3,000 words later, I realized I was telling a different story.
I’ve suffered from anxiety as long as I can remember, but it took me decades to figure out why. I had never gone through any particularly traumatic moments. I did almost die after a bee sting, but that caused a reasonable phobia of bees, not general anxiety.
What was wrong with me?
In the early 1970s, I was one of the doomed “gifted children” in public schools. They gave us IQ tests, told our parents we were geniuses, then put us on display like zoo animals. I skipped the third grade — my parents vetoed the original plan of jumping me from first to fourth — and felt like a freak. As a result, a shy kid with a speech impediment only left the house to play soccer.
