Sometimes stories are both difficult and delicate.
Such was the case with our Friday story when we wrote about the horrible incident involving Bethany Storro.
It was 12 days ago when Storro described an assailant who, in a random attack, walked up and threw acid in her face near Esther Short Park.
According to police, there appear to be no witnesses, and although Storro gave police a description, no one has been found.
So, late this week, we asked the difficult and delicate question to police: Is it possible that Storro injured herself?
A quick answer came back that police had no evidence to suggest that was the case.
Fair enough. And I’ll come back to this answer a little later. But let me address the larger issue first. Was this a fair question and thus a fair story?
My view is “yes.”
I have to admit this was not the first question that came to my mind when I first heard of the story. We’re paid to be skeptical, and so most reporters, thankfully, are. We don’t take what we’re told at face value. We need to keep asking and probing.
In part, that’s because we live in a crazy world.
Too many times, the husband has said an intruder killed his wife and it turned out to be him.
Too many times, the wife has said an intruder killed her husband and it turned out to be her.
Too many times, children have gone missing and it turned out to be one of the parents who took them.
But I just couldn’t imagine this one. And I admit I still can’t imagine this one.
Still, at some point, if investigators come up empty, turning back to the victim would not only seem logical, it would seem like standard operating procedure.
Yes, this is different than a missing child. But the first thing investigators do when there is a missing child is to eliminate relatives as suspects. If they are able to do that, it allows them to concentrate on outside factors.
And on some level and at some point, investigators need to do that here, as well.
Police spokeswoman Kim Kapp told Columbian reporter Bob Albrecht that news outlets are the only ones raising the question of a possible self-infliction in this case. I can’t imagine this is true. To believe this would mean you’d have to believe that investigators haven’t even considered this. And I’m certain Vancouver’s investigators have raised this issue.
Now back to the main answer we received: that there is no evidence pointing to self-infliction. I would say again, fair enough. But for this case to move forward, police simply would have to come out and say we’ve eliminated the possibility that this was self-inflicted.
They have not done that.
For me, it’s still unimaginable that anyone could do this to themselves. My base instinct as a human being simply won’t allow me to believe that.
As terrible as husbands killing wives and mothers killing children is, that’s the twisted world we live in. And as a weathered news guy, I’ve seen plenty. But this one simply doesn’t fit in any compartment I have in my brain.
But then I also think it’s pretty unimaginable that someone could do this to another person.
All I know for sure is, it’s a fair story to ask these kinds of questions.
I also know I’m still praying for Bethany.
Lou Brancaccio is The Columbian’s editor. Reach him at 360-735-4505 or lou.brancaccio@columbian.com.
