Posted on 08/13/2008 8:39:21 AM PDT by murdoog
CHAPEL HILL - Even after she went to Charlotte for school, Irina "Ira" Yarmolenko spoke to her mother, Yelena, almost every day.
On May 4, the pair made plans for Ira to return home to Chapel Hill that week. She had just turned 20 but couldn't come any sooner because of exams.
Expecting to hear from her the next day, Yelena Yarmolenko instead got a knock on the door at dinnertime from a police officer: Her daughter's body had been found on the banks of the Catawba River next to her car.
"I don't think what I'm living is called life anymore," she said.
In her first extended interview since her daughter's murder, Yelena Yarmolenko talked about the difficulties of emigrating from Ukraine to give her children a better life, the almost too-carefree attitude of her daughter, and why, despite everything, she's still glad to be in Chapel Hill.
"Without this community, it would be impossible to survive," she said.
Mount Holly police say Irina was asphyxiated. They have made no arrests.
The code words may vary, but the reality is always the same.
Children who don't disappear usually live in an environment where "too-carefree" is not an option.
Usually this is accomplished by the simple concept of responsible, engaged and constant parenting. For at least 18 years, with the emphasis on the first 8.
No, I don't believe any non-criminal deserves killing, ever, so spare me the "so..." hypotheticals, oh confused ones.
I knew Ira. If you are reading “too-carefree” to mean wild and irresponsible, or not raised right, you are wrong.
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