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"Glenda Cleveland was Jeffrey Dahmer's neighbor, and the serial killer could have been stopped two months earlier if police had only listened to her."

"God knows she tried. 'Are you sure?'  she kept asking police on the phone when they insisted that a dazed and naked boy trying to escape from Dahmer was actually an adult involved in a lovers' spat with him. We know now, of course, that he was 14-year-old Konerak Sinthasomphone, and that he was about to become Dahmer's next homicide victim. Cleveland's daughter, Sandra Smith, and niece, Nicole Childress, had spotted the boy fleeing from Dahmer in the alley on May 27, 1991. They were rebuffed by police at the scene, but they told Cleveland who then called police numerous times."

Cleveland died on Christmas Eve at the age of 56.

A 911 call transcript:

Cleveland: ?Yeah, uh, what happened? I mean my daughter and my niece witnessed what was going on. Was anything done about the situation? Do you need their names or information or anything from them??

Officer: ?No, not at all.?

Cleveland: ?You don?t??

Officer: ?Nope. It was an intoxicated boyfriend of another boyfriend.?

Cleveland: ?Well, how old was this child??

Officer: ?It wasn?t a child. It was an adult.?

Cleveland: ?Are you sure??

Officer: ?Yup.?

Cleveland: ?Are you positive? Because this child doesn?t even speak English. My daughter had, you know, dealt with him before, seeing him on the street. You know, catching earthworms.?



Officer: Ma?am. Ma?am. I can?t make it any more clear. It?s all taken care of. He is with his boyfriend, in his boyfriend?s apartment, where he has his belongings also.?

Cleveland: ?But what if he?s a child? Are you positive he is an adult??

Officer: ?Ma?am, like I explained to you, it?s all taken care of. It?s as positive as I can be. I can?t do anything about somebody?s sexual preference in life.?

Cleveland: ?Well, no, I am not saying anything about that, but it appeared to have been a child. This is my concern.?

Officer: ?No. No. He?s not.?

Cleveland: ?He?s not a child?

Officer: ?No, he?s not. OK? And it?s a boyfriend-boyfriend thing. And he?s got belongings at the house where he came from. He has very nice pictures of himself and his boyfriend and so forth.?

Cleveland: ?OK, I am just, you know. It appeared to have been a child. That was my concern.?

Officer: ?I understand. No, he is not. Nope.?

Cleveland: ?Oh, OK. Thank you. Bye.?

Full post as published by Althouse on January 05, 2011 (boomark / email).