http://suburbanjournals.stltoday.com/articles/2008/03/31/top_story/sj2tn20080329-0330fhj-missing2.ii1.txtWhere's Janet? Family protests police handling of missing woman's caseMarch 31, 2008
It was an expression of one family's frustration - and hope.
A protest was held in honor of Janet Tillman Thursday morning in front of Belleville City Hall by about two dozen family and friends, carrying signs and chanting. The protesters alleged city police had failed to properly investigate the disappearance of the 50-year-old Belleville resident whom family members said worked as a prostitute in East St. Louis.
"I'd just like people to be aware and help find her," Janet's older sister, Vanessa Outlaw, said. "We just need the help of the police force and community and we need their help."Janet Tillman was last seen the evening of Oct. 16 in East St. Louis, getting into a solicitor's vehicle while working as a prostitute.
She was declared missing Nov. 4 when she had failed to call siblings and her neighbors reported pets had been left unattended outside her Belleville home.
Her younger sister, Vickie Tillman, said the family believed the police investigation had been wanting from the beginning and demanded police work harder to find Janet.
"They don't think that she's a priority," Vickie Tillman said. "I have to try something; I can't just give up on it."
Family members allege police had failed to properly investigate because Janet Tillman was a prostitute and updates on the case were few and far between.
"She was my sister, she was my kids' aunt," she said. "It's no excuse for what they did. Is she any less of a person because of what she did? Is she any less of a human being? Their job is to protect and serve - at least I thought they did."
Belleville Police Capt. Donald Sax did not work on the case but agreed to represent the department in an interview.
He disagreed with the family's assertions, saying detectives had put a lot of effort into the case. Yet he said the case had gone cold.
"It will remain as an open case," he said. "Will we spend an exorbitant amount of time on it? No."
Because Janet Tillman worked as a prostitute and plied her trade in East St. Louis, the investigation had to deal with finding someone who was constantly mobile and putting themselves in harm's way on a regular basis, Sax said.
"Obviously being with strangers in a very vulnerable position and situation and where she was known to work her trade was not in the city limits of Belleville," Sax said. "Any person who could have been a witness to her being picked up wouldn't have noticed anything out of the ordinary."
The department had interviewed a person of interest at the end of February but he was released due to a lack of evidence. Sax declined to release the person's name because no charges had been filed against him.
Janet Tillman was known to family and friends as a troubled woman with a kind heart. She had survived epilepsy as a child and had made a decision to become a prostitute early in life.
Vickie Tillman said that Janet had worked as a prostitute as long as she could remember. She said her sister had continued working the streets despite its dangers and had known that she was risking her life every time she went out.
"I was always afraid of her being out on the streets," Vickie Tillman said. "She said, 'One thing I know is I know the streets,' and she said that she would fight for her life."
Vickie Tillman described her sister as "kind and generous."
"I used to say, 'You're too nice to people,'" she said. "She would pick up a stray dog or a cat and she would try to nurse them back to health."
The family claims the department failed to follow up leads and spend time trying to interview potential eye-witnesses because of winter snow storms and had taken weeks to gain entry into Janet Tillman's abandoned residence to search for clues.
"Finally a month later they found the owner of the building, got the keys from them and staked out the place," she said.
Sax disagreed with the family's assertions that the department had not done everything it could.
"It went cold because there's no further leads to follow up on," he said. "(Detective Marvin) Henderson did everything that he could have done until the leads went cold. He followed every lead there was."
Though she is listed as a missing person, as an adult, Tillman would have the option to simply move anywhere she wanted to without notifying friends or family. Because of that legal capability, the department is left with little evidence anything to the contrary occurred.
"There's absolutely no evidence that something happened to her," he said.
The public isn't as prepared to provide support when searching for a missing adult as they would be a missing child, simply because adults are generally responsible for their own well being.
"To be honest, the majority doesn't care as much for an adult missing as they do a child missing," Sax said. "You're not going to get the support of other people wanting to go out and pay attention to people paying attention to a missing person. People are thinking, 'They're an adult, they can take care of themselves.'"
Vickie Tillman said that when Janet went missing, it was obvious to friends and family something was wrong. Janet, who was known to her siblings as a "caller" and telephoned her five brothers and sisters often, suddenly stopped phoning home on schedule.
"She's never taken off anywhere without no one knowing where she was going," Vickie Tillman said.
The last update on the case was at the beginning of this month, when a member of the family was asked to volunteer a DNA sample for the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System. Since then the case has had no further developments.
Vickie Tillman said she was hopeful they would find out what ultimately happened to Janet.
"My heart tells me my sister is no longer is alive. My head tells me that she's out there," she said.
"I will not stop for this cause because it is my sister. It's not right, she's my sister."
