By Stuart Thompson

17-year-old Abbi Obermiller, who had been missing in Ohio for nearly a month, was found in the attic of an apartment being leased by her 20-year-old boyfriend Robert “Bobby” Young. Obermiller is safe and in relatively good health according to the police report. But what was more intriguing to officials at the scene was a diary found in the attic where Obermiller had been hiding for several weeks. Investigators examined the diary and found that she had chronicled the entire ordeal she had experienced, from running away from home on June 7^th to her discovery on June 30^th. Below are some excerpts from her diary, in which Obermiller used the pseudonym “Anna Francis.”

June 5^th

I hope I will be able to tell you my secrets in confidence. I don’t have many friends I feel I can share my true feelings with, and my parents don’t always understand what I’m going through. Hopefully, you will be able to support me and comfort me when I need you most.

I’m so glad it’s summer! Now that I’m done with school, I can spend more time with my Bobby! However, Mom and Dad don’t approve of him. They say he’s overbearing and rude and have begun placing more restrictions on my day-to-day life. For example, they took away my car privileges, restricted when I can go shopping and visit friends during the day, and don’t let me go out at night. They even asked me to wear a star shaped promise patch on my shirt, signifying that I won’t run away to be with Bobby. The only way I can have contact with Bobby is by texting.

Oh, my God, they are so annoying! Why can’t they see he’s just a big sweetheart?! I know he’s 20 and I’m only 17, but we’re in love and want to get married. Bobby was texting me yesterday and has suggested that we run away and elope when I turn 18. He said I could stay at his apartment, in the attic where it’s safe, and he’d take care of me. Oh, he’s so romantic! I just hope I can find a way to be with him.

-Anna Francis

June 8^th

I got a call from my Mom and Dad while I was visiting my grandparents. They threatened to cut off all of my contact with Bobby by taking my phone. I was so scared by the forcefulness and sincerity in their voices that I felt I had to get away. I texted Bobby about staying at the apartment he told me about. We made plans for my escape.

Bobby drove by my grandparents’ house after they had gone to bed, around 9. I got in his Dodge Dart and we rode off into the night to his apartment. When we arrived he quietly showed me to the attic, or as he called it “the annex,” where I was to stay until things boiled over. It was quiet and a little cramped, but I knew that soon I would be able to get out of this town, maybe even out of Ohio, to escape my parents. (I’ve come to call them the Suspicious Sinisters, the SS.)

The only thing I have to worry about is that I have to be really quiet because the floorboards creak loudly. Bobby said there wasn’t anything to be afraid of and that no one was going to find me. See, Mom and Dad, he really does care about me.

-Anna Francis

June 19^th

It has been nearly two weeks that I’ve been hiding here in Bobby’s attic. I only see him every couple of days, especially lately since he’s been questioned by the SS and the police. They’ve been searching for me everywhere, but they’ll never find me. Bobby brings me food when he can, but some days I’m too scared to move, let alone eat.

The police came to Bobby’s apartment and interrogated him. They tried to search the house, but if there’s any law Bobby knows, it’s the law about search and seizure. I was so worried they’d find me here in the attic and take me away from my Bobby. I wish they’d just leave us alone. We’re in love! Why won’t the police and the SS let us be free? I just don’t understand the world we live in and what it has become.

-Anna Francis

There are over twenty-five entries in this diary. These three are the most insightful. Abbi, or Anna, whoever she is, is being charged with obstruction of police business and being an unruly child. I’m not sure if the latter is an actual law that humans have to abide by. Perhaps the SS has recently enacted the law to more easily keep an eye on their daughter.