Collin A. Studer

This is Bridget Wetzl. She was one of the first girls I was ever friends with who I didn’t consider to have “cooties”. She was funny, cared about animals, and even though she was an elementary school cheerleader, she was not afraid to play tackle football with the rest of the boys. She was born August 21, 1988 in a small town called McDonald, Ohio, and she was kidnapped, raped and murdered on THIS day, 26 years ago. She was lured in by a family friend under the promise of showing her baby raccoons, her favorite. After murdering her, he left her, alone, undressed besides one shoe, posed, on a bike trail, to be found the next day by the police. I will not say his name, and I will continue to hope and pray for his death as I have every other day for 26 years. I will only say HER name, because Bridget DESERVED to live a full life. A HAPPY life. She didn’t deserve to have it cut short in the brutal way that it was. Bridget’s death changed me. I myself was only 11 when she died. It showed me that evil truly was in the world. It wasn’t just something you saw in a cartoon or movie or comic book. It was real. It was in places you didn’t expect, in people you wouldn’t suspect, and it can be closer to you than you realize. Bridget would be 36 today. She could’ve been a mom. A wife. An aunt. She could’ve been the veterinarian she wanted to be and help as many animals as she could. Sadly, we’ll never know. My only hope is that, she’s resting peacefully, and that her killer hasn’t known a moment of peace in 26 years. RIP Bridget 💔💔