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About This Site
Yes, that's me. Click on the pic for large size, if you dare.
Hi!
In case you haven't already guessed, my name is Rich. I live in Willoughby,
Ohio, and I am 31 years old. Allow me to tell you a little bit about myself,
and how this site came to be.
I was born and raised in Eastlake, Ohio (a suburb about 30 miles east of Cleveland),
moving to Willoughby (the next city over) in 2002. Music has been a part of
my life for as long as I can remember, starting with piano lessons when I
was probably seven or eight years old, switching to drums through high school,
and then branching out to the piano, keyboards, drums, and electric bass after
that. I do a little singing also, but as many people will tell you, my voice
certainly is not my most versatile instrument. :) After high school was when
I really started experimenting with home studio recording.
Back in the year 2000, my fiancee Keri passed away at the age of 21 as a result of a congenital heart condition (DORV, subaortic VSD causing CHF, and juvenile diabetes). June 13, 2000 is a day I certainly will never forget. That's when I decided that my music was going to become more and more of a priority in my life. That's also about the time DreamScape, my self-titled music project, began.
So what does any of this have to do with this web site?
Excellent question!
Back in February 2004, like most of the country (and the world, for that matter), I watched the tragedy of Carlie Brucia unfold before my eyes. The surveillance video from Evie's Car Wash was shown over and over, and to this day remains one of the most disturbing things I had ever seen on television (that video has often been referred to as the most chilling surveillance video in history). I honestly couldn't believe what I was watching. At the same time, however, this video was played so many times that I had no choice but to come to the devastating realization that I was most likely seeing the last moments of little Carlie's life. Right there on my television.
Every time I saw the video, I yelled. I screamed. "Get away from him NOW!" For some reason, I must have thought that she could hear me. Then, five days later, on February 6, 2004, came the news that saddened the world. Carlie's body was found beneath some brush behind a church, tossed away like a bag of garbage. She had been brutally raped and strangled.
I have never met Carlie, but like many, that doesn't mean this hasn't irrevocably changed me. Seeing what turned out to be the last moments of her life in the pixellated images of the motion-activated still camera mounted outside of Evie's has lent this tragic story a very personal feel. It was suddenly very easy for one to put themselves in Carlie's place, and wonder what was going through her mind as she looked up and saw Joseph Smith right there in front of her. Only God, Carlie, and Smith know what he said to her in that parking lot, and something tells me Smith isn't going to be telling anybody.
Could this tragedy have been prevented? In my opinion, to a point. One can be armed to the teeth, both physically and educationally. Sadly, however, there exists a phenomenon I like to call "wrong place, wrong time", for lack of a better phrase. Unfortunately, on that fateful February evening, that's exactly where Carlie was, through no fault of her own. I do not blame her parents either. The blame rests solely on the shoulders of one person (and I use that term loosely).
So can we help prevent such tragedies in the future? Absolutely! Programs and classes have sprung up all over the country (see www.carliescrusade.org), designed to teach youngsters what to do if they ever, God forbid, find themselves in a similar situation as Carlie. Not only that, using widely available information (such as that found on this site, among others), we can effectively equip kids to be as prepared as possible should the unthinkable happen. Can we prevent all future child abductions? Unfortunately we cannot. But we can make a difference, if even a small one.
...and THAT, along with honoring
Carlie's memory, is why I started this site.
When life-changing events happen, we humans subconsciously find a way to make
sense of them. Some of these ways are very productive, such as informing and
educating others about preventing abductions such as Carlie's (see www.carliebrucia.org).
Every now and then, however, someone chooses a way to deal with an event by
creating a devastating and crippling personal tragedy for family and friends,
and in some cases, countless others around the world as well.
Please enjoy your stay, and feel free to contact me for any reason whatsoever. Input is always welcome.
Cheers!
P.S. For those of you still wondering what the connection is between my music and this web site, I deal with things most effectively by writing music. I hope to eventually share some music I wrote for Carlie.