When this happened, there were three (3) helicopters hovering over and close to my home, too many police agencies to mention, and a crowd of onlookers that were close to a hundred.
The above story by CNN was just the beginning of many others; i.e., True Crime, too many U.S. newspapers to mention, and also foreign news sources as well. What the news didn't report was that it was me, their father, that turned them into the police. (Back then, they (news sources) did not know it was I who ultimately was the one to turn them in...) By omission, I became guilty by association, and it was not the media's fault. I knew it would come out in the trial. Therefore, I believed the stigma would dissipate with time and the simple fact that I had nothing to do with the murder. (I was vetted by three law-enforcement agencies in Georgia and two or three in Florida -- and my innocence was not in question.)
Fast forward to 2017:
Frankly, I don't remember the date, but in late 2016, perhaps 2017, or even earlier, I heard from an acquaintance that I was on "Murderer's Row." I was stunned and asked her what she meant. She only said one sentence; go Google yourself, and with a grin, she walked away. I did what she said when I got home, and surprise, surprise, there was my photo wedged between my psychopathic sons.
When I first looked at Google, I gasped out loud! I had been living with friends for almost three years, who immediately stepped over to the computer to see what had shocked me speechless. (Well, almost. Unfortunately, I let out with a series of profanities that would have made a sailor blush.) My friends, the adults, reacted with shock themselves and exclaimed "What the hell are they trying to do to you? Google is making it look like you were involved in the murder."
(Please Google William Cormier. The screenshot is too large for OpEdNews to publish. Screenshot of my Google search results.)
I can almost hear you thinking; what's the issue, my name is William Cormier too, same as my eldest twin, right? That's what one of my friends thought too, and he stated it was only an algorithm, what's the problem? It's true, it's only Google's algorithm to blame for my photo appearing with William and Christopher, but that doesn't make it right. Google my name on Bing or Yahoo, just Will and Chris show up. Does this indicate that Google is the better search engine? No, I think not.
We live in an extremely fast-paced society. I learned via sales training that "you never get a second chance to make a first impression." Again, through experience, I have found the preceding statement to be a truism, not just sales hype. Even worse, once that first impression has been made, changing that impression is virtually impossible; people's opinions are their own, and not subject to fact-checking or verification, as journalists do.
Where are the father's photos for other murderers who have been convicted of heinous crimes? I know where they are not, next to their son's pictures on Google or any other search engine, only Google!
The aftermath:
The family I was living with, via mutual agreement, thought it best that I move (temporarily) until I can get this issue with Google straightened out. They have family in school, and no one wanted their children to find it necessary to explain why they were harboring an accomplice to murder. (No I'm not, but that's how it appears.) After all, how hard can it be to get in touch with Google, especially in a matter that is causing a great deal of stress and emotional angst to me and others? IMPOSSIBLE, that's how hard it is!
I attempted to write about this months ago, and instead found I was too rattled to write anything that made even a smidgen of sense, especially since I was homeless for almost five months. I leased a laptop so I could write while homeless, but never got beyond the first paragraph. I attempted to call Google numerous times but never made contact until last month. In the interim, I had a staph infection in my right leg due to an insect bite, have a chronic rash on my right shin due to a tick bite, and spent two days in the hospital with my legs swelling and angina. I did gain a new friend; a bottle of nitroglycerin I have to keep on my person at all times.
Here's the best part. Last month, I finally reached Google on their Mountainview Campus. (Great, huh?) I spoke at length with a young lady names Annabelle at reception, and that's where she kept me. I tried everything I knew for her to let me speak with someone at Google besides her, and she stated "Google is an Internet presence, and I have to put my request in writing to get the photo taken down with my reasoning for said request. I implored her to PLEASE connect me with someone, anyone, so I could explain what had happened. She refused, in an icy voice, and I sat on the floor and wept.
Google has become a behemoth and is unapproachable to anyone other than brief communications that have to be made online. Their staff in Mountainview is heartless and unappreciative of anything other than what they read as prompts on their computer screens.
I am now 67 years old. I used to say sixty-some years young, but now it's definitely years old. Real old. I'm tired, and my health is failing. There's nothing Google can do for me now. My plans now are to travel to Mountainview, California, and stand at their campus, if I can even get on the property, with a protest sign. Futile? Perhaps. Frankly, I see no other option.
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