The tiny town of Elmira, New York pulled together last Saturday night to honor missing Florida Police Cadet Kelly Rothwell. With candles and song, poetry and love, they walked around Eldridge Park lake, with Kelly's sisters Lauren and Lindsay, to pay tribute to a vibrant, beautiful woman whose only fatal mistake was to try and walk away from her then boyfriend, Elmira native David Perry. She went home to their shared Florida condo to break up with him March 12th and was never seen or heard from again.
Perry, who has a police-documented history of domestic violence, has steadfastly remained silent, although many messages and comments to the Facebook sites and blogs started for Kelly by her friends, have been riddled with vile and disgusting comments by bang-and -run Facebook entries. After investigation, almost ALL of these profiles have been found to be fake, leading most to believe that Perry himself made them up. People in Elmira that knew him when he lived there have all called him 'arrogant, belligerent and egotistical', and many have surmised that it is Perry himself that has been posting the comments and vague threats of retaliation. Admins of the Facebook pages dedicated to Kelly have been strident in capturing and deleting these posts, although not before copying them and sending them in to law enforcement. Internet stalking, know as Cyberstalking and writing threatening or malicious words to cause harm to another person is a crime in New York as well as many other states.
The postings are taunts and grisly summations of what may have happened to Kelly and are too graphic to be posted here. Suffice to say that they are, in the least, the rantings and attention-grabbing ravings of an ego-hungry maniac. Could they be the confessions of a cold-blooded sociopath who knows what really happened to Kelly and is reveling in the publicity?
Statistics state that any "normal" innocent person would not taunt nor degrade a person with whom they had shared a life with, yet Perry has consistently berated and verbally abused his ex- wife Luana, to this day, sending her disparaging emails and calling her unspeakable names. The posts from other sites, purported to be from "Whoopisisobese, UKguy, Justified, Reasonable1234 and NYJRT ALL contain virtually the same language, including the misspellings and syntax There is a discernible pattern of speech that those who knew Perry say they recognize. The names on the different sites may be different, yet the verbiage is almost identical. Most who have read the posts on the various sites and this blog agree that the speech patterns fit Perry. It seems the entire town of Elmira has an opinion of Dave Perry.
The good people of Elmira honored a woman Saturday night who they never met, didn't know and will never have the opportunity to meet or talk with..... because someone cruelly took her life. A life she had worked hard for and was looking forward to, a life of service to her community and and a life with good friends and a loving family. She tried to run from a horrible situation with David Perry....
She just couldn't run fast enough.
Kelly Rothwell
Much Loved Sister, Daughter, Friend
Leigh this is very well written... It amazes me that Dave can use any alias he wants to intimidate and threaten people that comment about such a wonderful person as Kelly... As the say Actions speak louder than words and Dave your actions are loud and clear... you are not co-operating with the police, you claimed you loved Kelly but are not pleading for her to come home and you run back home to Elmira... I cannot believe that your lawyer is allowing you to avoid speaking to the authorities... Someone on one of the other sites only said your lawyers last name as Reilly, so I can only guess they are talking about Thomas Reilly..If he is indeed your lawyer than Mr. Reilly your client is a person of interest and isn't it in your clients best interest to co-operate and clear his name or do you know your client is guilty and you don't want him to incriminate himself... We know your here Dave and we will not be intimidated by a coward like you... I for one will continue to post and comment and there isn't a damn thing you can do about it Dave..... Thanks Nancy Rodabaugh Harkness
ReplyDeleteI have been following this story from day one. i live in Florida but i come from that little town called Elmira. we have been called a prison town since the civil war. people who work in the prison are proud of it. I am not proud to say that Dave Perry worked there. He has brought disgrace to all the Good people who work there. I have to agree that if you are not guilty then talk to the police and tell them things that will help find this girl. DO THIS FOR HER FAMILY.
ReplyDeleteHow is it that our own legal system, the one that protects the innocent, also protects the blatantly guilty? I heard perry profess his love for Kelly Rothwell - if this is how a "person" loves another, our world is much darker than it already appears. If Kelly was The One for him, why isn't he here doing the things that others are doing? How many times has he tried to reach her on her cell phone since she disappeared? No actions, no words, from a "person" who wouldn't leave Kelly alone for a handfulof hours while she tried so desperately to just get away from him so she could relax and have fun with her friend? perry, you are a very sorry excuse for a human being and nothing remotely close to being a man. I suppose you're enjoying this publicity and that's just fine, because once you're convicted of murdering Kelly Lundy Rothwell in cold blood, no one will speak your name again as you fade off into the world of steel bars and the unspeakable abuses you will be subject to.
ReplyDeleteLeigh, wonderful piece as always. It is fantastic that we can be strong for Kelly and her family...let's keep the pressure turned up to HIGH on Dave..he will get what he deserves.
ReplyDeletenice job leigh!
ReplyDeleteThank you for maintaining this blog for Kelly, Leigh. By meeting Lauren and Lindsey yesterday, we all have had a peek into what a wonderful lady Kelly was. It was our pleasure to attend the vigil and have the opportunity to speak with them. On another note, I did have the misfortune of working with Perry in the past, and he's not deserving of the air he breathes. Soon Dave...soon. You will be brought to justice. Much love and prayers to the Rothwell family.
ReplyDeleteFirst, To the scores of people supporting Kelly and her friends and family, I am truly awed by your dedication, commitment and love. Kelly has touched so many hearts across the country and in other countries as well. We are a determined group of people focused on two goals: Bring Kelly Home, and bringing the person responsible for her disappearance to justice.
ReplyDeleteSecondly, as an admin of one of the Facebook pages, I have seen first hand the cruelty of Davids posts, the countless fake profiles he has created, and the messages he has sent. These are not the actions of an innocent man, nor are they actions of a man who is capable of loving another.
David, I will not be intimidated by you. No message you send me, no profile you create, no matter how many of your vile comments I have to delete. You have met your match. You have been bettered by many, and you will be beaten. We will not give up, we will not stop shouting the message to the media and the country. This will follow you no matter where you move. We will make sure of it. None of us will stop until we bring Kelly home and you are brought to justice.
Wonderful... thank you so much Leigh for your continued dedication. We are eternally grateful. Lauren
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