WARNING: This post details content relating to mutilation and murder. Viewer discretion advised!
(P.S. This post contains a picture of the victim's teeth.)
If it wasn't obvious from my previous true crime posts, my favorite cases include unidentified decadents. The last cases I discussed thankfully had their identity discovered, but this one remains unsolved.
Today we will talk about the disturbing case of Barstow Jane Doe (2010).
Latest recon for Barstow Jane Doe by NCMEC
Beheaded in a Backpack?!
On February 10th, 2010, a man was looking for cans along Lenwood Road, Barstow, California. While he was doing so, he came across a black backpack, which appeared to have white plastic bags in it.
Upon further examination, he discovered something gruesome-...the severed head of a female.
Backpack where victim was found
He alerted authorities, who confirmed the head's presence. It was wrapped in two plastic bags- one from Walgreens, the other from Fiesta Foods. Not much evidence was found at the crime scene. It appeared to have been there for a few days.
Now, unfortunately, with only a head to work with, we can't determine how she died- strangulation, drowning, stabbing- completely unknown. It wasn't even proven she died via murder. Of course though, considering a decapitated head was found disposed in a backpack, I think it's fair to say her death was definitely homicide.
Aside from being beheaded, the victim of the face was in very poor condition, as it had been brutally mutilated in a presumable attempt to avoid identification. It isn't known how bad this maiming is, but law enforcement said that reconstructions of the victim may not even be that reliable because her face was "destroyed". She may have fallen victim to a serial killer.
Original NCMEC reconstructions
A few things were still available; for one thing, the victim appeared to be a teenager around the ages of 14 to 19, which is absolutely horrific to think about. She was only high school aged and yet such a destructive thing happened to her.
The victim also appeared to be of White and Hispanic ancestry. Other characteristics included her hair, which was dark brown, wavy, and may have had light red highlights. She had brown eyes and pierced ears. Lastly, her dentals proved she had various treatments and fillings.
Dentals
Current Case Status
Barstow Jane Doe has been unidentified for 15 years, and as of 2025, she has 39 rule-outs, but I have a feeling in the near future she may be identified via genetic genealogy.
In 2021, the San Bernardino County Coroner’s Office announced they were working with genetic genealogist Barbara Rae-Venter in order to identify Barstow Jane Doe. Barbara is well-known for assisting in the identifications of offenders like Joseph James DeAngelo.
Barbara Rae-Venter
Recent DNA testing has confirmed she has distant relatives in Mexico. If these relatives could be located, it could cause a break in the case. With a case developing like this, I can only hope for the best.
What happened to this girl is horrible. How cruel can you be to actively decapitate and maim a teenage girl, chuck her in a backpack, and move on with your life? Her killer is likely out there, somewhere...
I hope one day soon this victim of such a horrendous case can get her name back. Somewhere out there knows who she is. If you have any possible leads on the identity of Barstow Jane Doe or her killer, please contact authorities.
My alarm clock blared in my face, and my face grinned a wide smile. I opened up my curtains and the sun beamed my eyes like a laser. My eyes readjusted and I looked at the bright sunrise.
“Good morning world,” I said to myself. I knew today would be the day; a perfect Saturday. I rushed through my closet and put on my bright tie-dyed shirt, accompanied with a light unzipped sweater, all while my jovial smile whiter than a sheep kept put. I was so giddy and filled with bright bliss, you would’ve thought I found the cure for cancer.
As I finished dressing, I slowly opened my door into the kitchen. My eyes glittered with joy as I opened the refrigerator. I carefully poured some recently bought milk into a cup. A plastic cup to be safe, as I did not want to ruin this morning. My anticipation was immeasurable.
I precariously placed the milk on the table. I went up to the cupboard, pulled on the knob slowly, preparing myself for an appetizing adventure. My smile was uncontrollable. I put my hand out into the cabinet, ready to grab it.
Hold on.
I put my hand out…and nothing was felt.
My hand touched a bare, brown cupboard bottom with nothing of substance.
I paused, looked at the cupboard, and confirmed there was nothing there.
“It…it can’t be…” my voice started to shake, and I looked around the kitchen. Nothing out of the ordinary…except the empty cabinet.
Sweaty bullets ran down my face, and I hurried through every cabinet. They were filled the rim with various groceries I bought last night.
I had everything except what I was looking for. I fell to the ground, my hands shaky and jittery.
I screamed, “HOW could this happen to me?!!” all while tugging at my hair. I was on the verge of tears.
“Pull yourself together,” I had to reassure myself. “Maybe I just misplaced them…I do that frequently,” I rushed through the house in what felt like ten seconds. I pulled books from the shelf, opened my old boxes, and went through my desk.
To no avail did I find them. My desperation increased; I tore up the carpets, shoved every table, and flipped over the couch, as my despair abruptly transitioned to aggravation.
I saw red, and my hand slapped the milk glass. “THIS IS YOUR FAULT!” I shouted like a madman, as the milk splattered, getting all over the kitchen floor.
I looked at the white disaster that was on my floor. It felt like a decade had passed. The disfigured and wet personification of a calm contained day spiraling into disaster. It was runny and pale, just like my face.
My lungs sucked up as much air as possible and unleashed a loud explosion. “WHERE THE HELL ARE THEY?!” My screaming shattered glass and caused an earthquake. I fell to the ground again, dishelved and fuming. The milk stained my recently washed clothes.
I looked at the wreck that used to be my living room, realizing I had turned my entire house upside down. It looked like a tornado went through it. Despite this, I still hadn’t found them. Not even a crumb I came across. It’s like they vanished.
A blue aura arose around me, until I burst into tears, and sobbed for what felt like a year. Only fifteen minutes have passed since I woke up.
“I just wanted them…” I wailed louder than a siren. “How could they just…disappear?!” Glaring at my stained kitchen floor and the disaster of my house, I continued wallowing.
I sniffed. I whined. I paused. I knew I couldn’t do this anymore. At last, the one drop of hope inside me has dried out. This was not worth it. Was I even hungry anymore? No.
Looking at the back door, I decided on going on a long walk, where I could think of what might’ve been. “I guess it was wishful thinking,” I tried to gaslight myself, but I fail.
It’ll probably take me weeks to get over this, but I muster the courage to start grieving. There’s nothing I can do to solve this, and I shouldn’t spend so much time miserable over it. After all, I can just get it another time. When I come back, I’ll work on cleaning up the mess.
I wipe my tears and slowly opened my door, all while looking down.
Then I looked up.
My eyes saw something, and opened real wide.
Unbeliavable. Inconceivable. Impossible!
The thoughts were rushing through my head. I had to rub my eyes multiple times to make sure I wasn’t dreaming. I stared at the spectacle for what felt like a century.
Warning: This post contains detail regarding murder, mutilation, and torture. Viewer discretion advised!
Undated enhanced image of Gordon Edwin "Gordie" Sanderson (1950 - 1977)
26-year-old Gordon Edwin Sanderson, who often went by "Gordie" to his friends and family never had an easy life. He was an indigenous man born in Canada (First Nations). At the age of 9, he was a victim of the Sixties Scoop, and he was separated from his biological parents and placed into foster care.
By the 1970s, he was living in Edmonton. As a young adult, Gordie struggled with addictions and often found himself with the wrong crowd, leading to frequent police run-ins. However, Gordie still was a pretty fun-loving dude who liked his family. That's likely why sometime in 1976, he was going to visit his brother Arthur.
He would never make it to his brother.
THE SEPTIC TANK DISCOVERY
Tofield, Alberta, where Sanderson would later be found
On April 13th, 1977, a farmer in Tofield was searching the property for a septic tank pump. As he searched through his septic tank, he smelled something strange, and noticed something disturbing. It was a human leg, floating in the septic tank. The farmer and his wife immediately notified the authorities, who arrived to the crime scene.
Two officers arrived and spent an hour emptying the putrid septic tank with an empty ice cream pail. As they cleaned the scene out, they found the badly decomposed body of Gordie Sanderson. The scene was absolutely horrific. It made headlines in the small town.
Now, even though we now know this was Gordie, because the man couldn't be matched with any missing persons records, he remained unidentified for decades. The victim was given the rather undignified and infamous nickname of "Septic Tank Sam". Later on, some Websleuths referred to him as simply "Sam Doe" or "Tofield John Doe" to humanize and respect the victim. Personally, I also find the nickname rather insensitive. Imagine being immortalized as something like "Fecal Tank Frank" or "Toilet Bowl Ben". For most of the rest of his blog post, I'll be referring to him as simply Sam.
Sam's clothing upon recovery
Reconstructed shoe
Anyway, as you can tell, Sam's clothing was highly deteriorated, but police could still tell it was a blue buttoned Levi shirt, with blue jeans and knock-off Wala bee shoes. Sam was estimated to be around 26 - 40 years old. He was initially thought to be Caucasian, but later investigation suggested he was of aboriginal descent.
He had all his teeth, with a few fillings. He was also likely right-handed and may have suffered a disease around the age of 5. He also had long, dark hair. Coroners then took an autopsy of Sam, with astonishing results.
(I'm about to talk about his death in detail. Be warned, it truly is abhorrent!)
The victim had been dead for at most a year. Sam had been brutally tortured the day of his death. His killers presumably tied his body to a bed (based on marks on his arms), then beat and burned him multiple times, with the use of a butane torch and cigarettes. As if that wasn't enough, Sam's genitalia was then severely mutilated with a small knife, which was a statement if there ever was. The man had been put out of his misery by two gunshot wounds, to his chest and head.
After killing him, the killers went to the septic tank and dumped his body. Police believed he was killed far elsewhere due to the lack of evidence at the scene. The killers then poured quicklime all over his body, likely in an attempt to accelerate decomposition. In reality, the quicklime ironically helped dry out his remains and keep them preserved for longer. Even then, he was so horrifically decayed and mutilated, it took MONTHS for the medical examiners just to find out if he was a male.
WHO'S SAM?!
So, police had a problem. They knew how Sam died, but they didn't know why he died, who killed him, and who he even was. There were many missing clues in solving this case, and barely any leads, ultimate resulting in the case going cold with a long investigation process. Even though he was badly decomposed and maimed, two reconstructions of Sam based off his skull were still able to be produced.
RECONSTRUCTION DISCUSSION
Reconstruction by Betty Pat Gatliff
The first one was created by Betty Pat Gatliff, well known for her reconstructions of JWG's victims. To say it was unnerving and creepy is putting it nicely. They barely even gave him the dignity of eyebrows. The low quality resolution certainly doesn't help. Looks like something out of an analog horror!
Reconstruction by Cyril Chan
This later sculpture was produced by Cyril Chan in 2000. It's also a bit offsetting, but definitely less uncanny. I also like how he put a cap on him and used a clay that resembled that of someone of aboriginal descent.
Both reconstructions do a pretty good job replicating Sanderson, despite how unsettling they kind of are. I think Betty's reconstruction matches this image of Sanderson the most, in which he doesn't have his beard.
Gordie Sanderson
IDENTIFICATION
For 44 years, Sam would only be known as the unfortunate torture victim who was left behind in a septic tank. At least...until Othram came in. Othram is a company dedicated to genetic genealogy, where DNA is compared to people on a database in an attempt to identify unidentified decedents. If you want to know more, search it up.
Anyway, money for DNA testing for Sam was raised, and Othram began working on the case sometime in 2020. Sanderson was finally identified sometime in 2021. The announcement was made on June 2021.
He was no longer Septic Tank Sam. He was Gordie. Gordie Sanderson was home.
THEORIES
Gordie Sanderson
Gordie Sanderson may have gotten the dignity of his name back, but his murder remains unsolved. And considering it's been about 50 years, it's likely his killers are elders or possibly dead by now. But that doesn't matter. Future investigation may still be able to uncover his killers. Until now, all we can do is speculate.
With a killing as horrendous and unimaginably painful as this, it's very clear whoever did this to Gordie absolutely HATED him. It's also likely there were multiple people involved. But why did they hate him, and take such extreme efforts to kill him? Did Gordie know his killer(s)?
One of the most popular theories (especially before his identification) was that Sam might've been killed out of vigilantism or sexual revenge. As I mentioned earlier, he was severely sexually mutilated. This is not only cruel, but it's also a sign whoever attacked him felt it would be a statement. People suspected Sam could've been unfaithful to a partner, or even a child molester. Was Sanderson's death a case of vigilante justice?
Now, obviously, we shouldn't demonize poor Gordie. We don't know all that happened in the years before his death, so it isn't fair for us to just assume he was a bad person and that's why he was tortured. He seemed like a pretty nice person in fact. However, as I mentioned earlier, we do know he was involved in criminal behavior and drugs in his early adulthood. Perhaps Gordie had wanted to back out of that type of life and be better...but his associates didn't like that. When one of them happened to encounter Gordie again, it all went downhill from there.
However, something interesting to think about is the fact he was dumped in an abandoned septic tank local to the area. A Reddit user named debrisaway pointed this to me and said "It's unlikely that his criminal confederates from Edmonton would know about an abandoned septic tank in rural Alberta." The killer might've been someone who knew the area well if they did know about that random septic tank. But what did the random local have to hate against Gordie?
The last theory I know of is a short one, but plausible one: perhaps Gordie's murder was a hate crime against Native Americans. I already mentioned he was a victim of the Sixties Scoop. Racial crimes have always been a problem (especially today), so I think it's possible really messed up people wanted Gordie gone just because of his ethnicity.
Right now I'm split on most theories. What do you think the most? His old associates in Edmonton? A vigilante local who wanted revenge? Or the victim of a hate crime? Maybe something else entirely...
AND NOW...
Gordie Sanderson
To this day, the case of Gordie Sanderson remains a tragic, horrific, and cold one. Even if Gordie did have a turbulent early life, I think what happened to him was highly unjustified. If he was still alive today, he would've been turning 75 in a few months.
Rest in piece, Gordie. You did not deserve such a vindictive, horrific death. I hope one day there will be justice for you.
(This comic will make sense once I get to the analogy.)
Random fun fact of the day: "I am angry!" In Spanish is "¡Estoy enojada!"
A few weeks ago, I was having a very frustrating day for reasons I won't explain, and I did some very rash things which I look back on with disappointment. However, one smart thing I did during that period was rant in my journal for a page.
Later, I mostly forgot about the morning and wanted to go to the library. It was closed earlier today and I didn't know. I overreacted to say the least and I regret it also. It wasn't even that bad in retrospect, but it's still kind of embarrassing to explain what I did, so I won't.
As I cooled down, I went to the bus stop and realized how dangerous impulsive rage really is. I usually take my anger out on objects, but in future, I could start lashing out on people or more valuable things, which isn't a healthy emotional regulation skill.
I remembered I drew a half jokey poster and put in my school about cheering yourself up when your having a bad day. It pictured a drawing of a frog eating flies.
So, I opened up my new sketchbook my mom bought me and drew what represented me at the moment.
By the end I was calmer and actually able to reflect and chuckle at my impulsive misbehavior. Then the bus arrived, and now I'm home.
I opened up my journal again and read through some of my angsty words. I mentally laughed again, and began writing again now from a better perspective. By the end of my reflection on the day, I figured this would be a good thing to blog about.
So ultimately, here's what I've learned:
Taking anger out on an object is still bad. But don't hold in all your frustration either, as that's just a replacement for being sad. Instead...
1) Allow yourself to feel these emotions, but don't outwardly express them in a harsh or possibly irreversible way.
2) Use some sort of calming strategy that doesn't involve violence. Drawing, journaling, taking a walk, you know the deal. You could even cry if you want. Or take it on something you know isn't valuable...like a pillow.
3) By the time your done with your meltdown, reflect on what your upset about. Is it actually that big of deal you thought it would be? Now solve the problem in a more reasonable manner.
And there you go! Note that this strategy is very variable depending on the type of person you are. But overall, it seems to be working for me. I'm still having trouble with my anger, but I hope I improve in the future with strategies like this.
Warning: This blog post discusses sensitive details about death and abortion, which may be disturbing to some readers. Viewer discretion advised!
(I recently made a Reddit post about this, where you get to see other people's input on the case. Don't forget to check it out!)
Welcome to my first true crime blog post! Today I would like to discuss the case of Patra Patmios, formerly known as Miss X, which remains unresolved.
Enhanced undated image of Patrona "Patra" Patmios (1946 - 1967)
Patrona Patmios, who often went by "Patra", was a Greek woman in her 20s who had been adopted by a Alexandros and Margarita Patmios as a child. She then immigrated to the United States sometime during her childhood. She was living in New Jersey in 1967, living a pretty unknown yet normal life.
Immigration document; Patmios and her parents have been highlighted
However, in 1967, she disappeared, and her life come to an abrupt, graphic...and rather strange end in Delaware, that to this day people are still confused about.
DISCOVERY
On March 18th, 1967, the partially nude body of Patmios was found near Porter Road, located outside the rural area of Bear, Delaware. Her legs were covered in a laundry bag, and a red bow was found near the scene. Blue panties were also found at the scene. She had been dead for a few hours to a few days. Sadly, she had also been about 3 months pregnant, and her unborn baby was dead to.
Laundry bag
Ribbon
Initially it seemed it was another case of some trash human being murdering and discarding a innocent life like garbage on the highway, like many cases you've heard before. However, the autopsy proved that she hadn't died from murder...but the results were still odd.
AUTOPSY
The initial investigation suggested the woman had actually died of fat embolism due to the insertion of a foreign object in her uterus. Something also intriguing- but disturbing, was that a foamy, soap like substance was found in her vaginal cavity. And as I mentioned earlier, she was pregnant.
Due to this, police concluded at the time she likely died from a botched illegal abortion. You see, back before abortions were legal in more states, women would insert harmful chemicals into their uterus, killing the baby, which sounds terrible, and understandably dangerous. Hence why police thought this is what killed her.
Original death certificate
However, later investigation revealed she had actually died of sepsis (blood poisoning), which is when deadly bacteria invade the bloodstream. She had not received medical care for this infection, which lead to her demise. We aren't sure of what caused the infection, and it could've been completely unrelated to the abortion theory.
Now, it is good to know she was not brutally murdered. However, knowing she died from sepsis only made her death more confusing.
Considering the fact her body was dumped on a road side, it's clear whoever was involved in her death did not want people to know. But why would they go through such efforts to conceal her death? And why hadn't they tried to get medical help for the victim? Did she even know she had sepsis?
Because of these suspicious circumstances, examiners ruled her manner of death as homicide. Remember, homicide is when a human kills another one, whether through manslaughter, accident, or murder.
WHO WAS SHE?
Unfortunately, there was another problem: investigators could not identify this woman. No missing reports were connected to her; as a result, she remained unidentified. She was given the nickname "Miss X".
The victim was estimated to be a late teen or early adult, about 16 - 25. She was also possibly of Jewish, Italian, or Greece descent. Along with this she had long, curly brown hair and brown eyes. The victim also might've had good access to health care, as she had a vaccination scar on her left thigh. Her teeth were also in good condition, suggesting she had visited the dentist at least half a year before her death.
In an effort to help identify her, multiple reconstructions over the years were made of her, and police released her autopsy photographs. They're not necessarily graphic, but they are kind of disturbing. You can see her bruises and skin discoloration as a result of the infection. I won't show you the postmortems on this website to spare you, but you can view them here and here.
RECONSTRUCTION DISCUSSSION
Here are the reconstructions of Miss X over the year:
Inital sketch
PM Derivatives
This was the initial sketch, and the postmortem derivatives. Looks pretty unsettling if you ask me. Looks like they could be in an analog horror! But the strange sketches do have some similarities, particularly the eyebrows and nose. It still just looks so...wrong...
Carl Koppelman reconstruction
Then there was this reconstruction by the ever so talented Carl Koppelman, depicting her with the ribbon found at the scene. I think this one matches her the most, especially her nose and teeth. I also like how the skin matches someone of her descent.
NCMEC Reconstruction
Lastly was this reconstruction by the NCMEC, which is also quite accurate. However, I feel they slightly misrepresented her Greek ancestry, and she looks younger here.
IDENTIFICATION
For over 50 years, Patra would only be buried under Miss X. That was until some time in 2022, when Patra's younger half-brother wanted to figure out what happened to his half-sister. He ended up submitting his DNA, and ancestry connected it to the Doe and his sister. Further DNA testing was needed to verify this. Her grave was then silently updated to match her alleged identity; however, this remained unconfirmed.
In January 2023, her NamUs was removed, and the Doe Network successfully announced Miss X was in fact 21-year-old Patmios.
Patra Patmios was finally home.
AND NOW...
Bould Blvd Potter's Field, where Patmios would be buried.
To this day, we still don't know what happened to Patra Patmios in the months she was missing and on the fateful night she died. And considering it's been over 60 years, it sadly seems we may never know. However, the main theory is that her partner of Patmios, the father of the baby, was responsible for dumping her body. Why remains unclear.
I have mentioned another theory was the infection was a byproduct of an attempted abortion, but the theory she had tried to is unconfirmed. As I mentioned, the infection could've just been from something else. I also understand the concept of abortion is controversial in some places, but regardless on your view on it, I don't think Patmios deserved to die if she (or someone else) didn't want her baby. If you think she did deserve a fate like this, I suggest you get out off the internet for a while.
I hope one day a break in the case can help find whoever disposed of Patra, or possibly even killed her. Patra would've been in her late 70s at of writing, so the guilty party is likely in their 80s or possibly deceased at this point.
Rest in piece, Patra Patmios. You were never forgotten, and will always be loved.
I'm gonna be honest I was a bit worried going into this. I knew beforehand this was apparently Pixar's worst failure box office wise, some reviews on YT seemed...meh, and people are still talking about the art style or whatchamacallit.
However, after watching it, it's pretty safe to say it was actually amazing! I especially adored the animation style and the themes of being "alone".
Elio is also a pretty great protagonist. Some moments I think regarding his behavior could have been expanded on, but he's still pretty fleshed out. He's relatable, fun, and another case of "oops we might've accidentally wrote an autistic character".
The antagonist (Glordon's father, I don't even remember his name) was kind of forgettable, but still had memorable moments and was unstoppable.
As I mentioned, the animation and art is also amazing, with use of certain hues and colors to really make things stand out.
Of course though, I feel like there were some moments where more could've been done or more build up to be emotional, such as the climax scene. Some lines also could've been more subtle. Certain characters also feel underutilized or could've had longer arcs.
The ending was still great though, and I'm glad Pixar is still doing their thing.
I don't care that this movie didn't do well money wise. There are many people at fault for this, mainly those who didn't give it a chance and Disney's poor advertising. Just because it didn't succeed financially doesn't mean it's bad. (Just like how financially succesful movies aren't all good...I'm coming for you Lilo and Stitch...)
I also don't care about the "bean-mouth" style or Elio originally being "queer-cooded." Stop forcing everything to be a problem, internet.
What we should care about is the quality of the movie, and I think it was great. I highly recommend it.
I've begun writing this blog post in July. I only escaped 9th grade about a month ago, yet I have to go back in a little less than 2 months. If you asked me to do freshman year over again or make me live in the woods for a day, I'm more willing to get devoured by bears then go through THAT heckhole again.
It's a good thing I'm smart (not to brag but I'm an all As...okay all As and one B student) or else I would've faced the reality of summer school, or worse- being held back. Having to do one extra year of school is one heck of a punishment, and if it didn't influence someone to become a better student, I don't know what would.
That being said, if I had to repeat one year of high school over repeating four years of high school, I'd obviously do the first. Thankfully, no one has ever had to repeat high school all over again!
...at least, until, this happened.
The Awful Alumni
"Student sent back to 9th Grade from 12th Grade"
Yep. You read that right. A student actually had to repeat four years of high school. FOUR YEARS of high school. After all that time, he got held back to the beginning. This is absolutely shocking and tragic.
By the time your out of high school, your about 17 or 18. Still a teen, but close to adulthood. It's where your life should begin- you start to consider career paths or colleges. But because of this, the student will have to spend the first four years of what should've been the beginning of his life...still in high school. He would be 21 or 22 when he gets out- and not even in college!
Of course though, as you learned in 1st grade, every effect in life (having to repeat high school) has at least one cause. How could this student flunk so bad he has to repeat high schoool? Many factors.
As you can already guess by the title, I'm going to discuss how EVERYONE in this situation failed. In specific:
The school system
The mother
Even the student himself
I suggest you watch the video for yourself first to get your own thoughts, then come back here when your ready to hear from me.
Have you done it? Let's go.
Faking the Grade
So immediately, before we begin, we can already make some assumptions...if a teenager was held back, it's usually due to poor academics. So obviously, this student probably wasn't doing well in school. And we find out how bad he was doing after we're introduced to the mother, Tiffany France. She has three children (including the student) and has to work three jobs. She is confident in knowing who failed him.
"He's stressed, and I am to. I don't know what to do for him! He's like 'Mom, what was all this for? What did I do this for?' Like, do he get a chance? Why would he need three more years in school? He didn't fail, the school failed him. The school failed at their job. They failed! (x3) He didn't deserve that."
And immediately, I definitely have to agree. The school where this incident occurred is Augusta Fells Savage Institute of Visual Arts, (a school in Baltimore, Maryland) which is actually surprisingly still open to this day. If a school had a student have to repeat the entirety of high school, I'm pretty sure it's closing immediately. There's still more people we have to blame later on, but we'll get that when we need to.
Anyway, it's obvious the school didn't give the child a chance for proper growth an education. It's the school's responsibility to make sure every student has a chance to graduate and prosper in life. So how could they let this student slip by the cracks? It's...interesting.
We finally get to see the grades of this student in question and- HOLY MOTHER POTATOES- WHAT THE HECK IS THIS?!
I bet if you placed a kindergartener in a high school class they'd still do better than this.
He only passed 3 out of 9 of his classes. A THIRD of his classes he passed. And even then, he did it just barely. Let's just observe this real quick.
The classes he got Fs were Algebra, American Government, Biology, Fine Arts Drama, SAT Prep (Math)-...he even failed PERSONAL FITNESS! It's the LOWEST grade here...my question is, how do you fail gym?! It's the one class that doesn't have any written exams, tests, or homework that you could screw up. Yes, there are running tests, but-...you can't fail them unless you went out of your way to not run. All you got to do is just participate and keep active in the class, and you get an EASY A. Even if your bad at sports, you shouldn't be able to fail gym. Here are a few explanations:
1) He's really inactive and doesn't participate all.
2) He doesn't dress properly with gym clothes
3) He ain't even bothering to come to class at all
I have a feeling #3 will be correct given the information I will tell you next. Anyway, he did manage to barely pass 3 classes, but they are still Ds in English and the Fundamentals of Art. Oh yeah, how do you fail art class to? Again, no tests. Even the most uncreative person could pass art.
His highest grade and the only good grade here is a B in Health Ed...and all I'm wondering is, why is that class in specific he passed? I don't even know how to answer that. It's just a random outlier. And in all, he only has...2.5 credits. Wow.
But anyway, just by seeing that report card, we can already get an idea this student does not show up to class or care about doing his schoolwork. He may as well not handed anything in. That part can be blamed on the student. However, we also have to ask...how did no one notice or care about him failing this badly? If I had grades like this, my counselor's probably scheduling a conference with my parents. Despite this, the mom only found out about this FEBRUARY of that year!
The video then explains that even though his grades were literally in heck, he still managed to be PROMOTED every year to higher classes. Why didn't the teachers tell anyone about this? Well, my favorite explanation is from someone who reacted to the video (link at the end) saying the teachers were just tired of his lazy, annoying behavior. Seems fitting.
Then they dig deeper into the son's records, and-
"In his first three years at Augusta Fells, he failed 22 classes, and was late or absent 272 times."
WHAT. THE. HECK.
And they said only his first three years! Imagine what happened in his senior year.
Strange School Statistics
Let's do some math to understand how awful this actually is:
We see for this year he had 9 classes. Let's assume he had that many each year. 9 times 3 is 27, so he would've had about 27 classes. He failed 22. 22/27 = 0.8148, or about 81%. He failed about fourth-fifthsof classes in his first three years of high school! That is UNBELIEVABLE!
Now let's address the absences and late days. While there's obviously a difference between not coming at all and missing some of class, we're going to merge them in a similar category. After some quick research, I found out there are about 180 days in a Maryland school year, not counting weekends or most holidays.
I did some estimation and I think there would be about 40 - 70 of those school days dedicated to weekends or holidays. We're going to say about 130 days your actually in school. Multiply by that 3, and 9th - 11th grade would be about 390 days. 272/390 = 0.697, or about 70%. He missed nearly two-thirdsof classes in his first three years of high school! This is UNACCEPTABLE!
At that point, I'm surprised he didn't just drop out. He practically failed nearly 75% of school in general and actually expected to graduate. I don't know what else to say, he's screwed! And apparently, there was one conference planned by a teacher, but the mom didn't find out, so the student just carried out.
So anyway, with the knowledge this student will have to repeat 4 years of high school, has only 2.5 credits, failed 22 classes, and didn't even attend said classes 272 times...what do you think could top this?
THIS.
This is what tops all. His GPA is 0.1373- which is already astonishing. But then you look at...his class rank.
Out of 120 students...he ranked nearly halfway, at 62.
I want you to pause for a second and actually consider how abominable that is. If he ranks #62...what are the grades of the 58 students BELOW him?! His GPA is 0.1373!! There are also 61 students above him, which do have better grades than him...but how better? How many students have at most a GPA of 1 in this school?!
And the fact that 58 students are actually somehow doing worse than him demonstrates that it's not just this student who slipped through the cracks. Half of this school is failing. What kind of high school is this with a pass rate less than a half? How is the school still open after this?
The Blame Game (pt. 1)
So we've already made it very obvious it's the student and faculty's fault this has happened. The school clearly did not make much of an effort to keep his grades up to date or refer to him to say, summer school. At the same time, the student himself clearly did not put much effort into his studies. The fact he's almost perpetually absent shows he didn't care to go to class or do his work.
However, we also have to consider there's sadly many reasons students won't work besides laziness. Sometimes bullying, mental disorders, living situations, or learning disabilities can decrease a student's drive to attend school. I wonder if this student had any undiagnosed condition that may have hindered his ability do work.
There is one more person however who shares the blame for letting this student's grades get so bad...I wonder who it could be...
"He's a good kid! Like he didn't deserve that- where is the mentors, where is the help for him? I hate that this is happening to my child!"
Yep. Mom. Where are the mentors? Where is HE?! He's not GOING to class in the first place! He's not going to get a chance to get help unless he actually goes to class. And excuse me ma'am, I understand being mad at the school- they should've helped you. But at the same time, I find it ridiculous YOU didn't know anything about his poor academics. Did you not get any report cards? I didn't actually get report cards for my 9th grade year (for some reason), but that doesn't mean you wouldn't not know about his grades at all. Nowadays you can easily check online your child's grades, which my mom does frequently. You clearly didn't.
The Official's Opinions
We'll get back to my opinion on the mom later, but let's resume the video, where a city school administrator explains what he thinks of the situation. With a very weird voice filter on him that makes him sound like Darth Vader because he doesn't want to be identified in fear of retaliation. A part of me finds this scummy considering your in charge in making sure things like this don't happen in the first place, let you casually did. Then again, I do know people go crazy and genuinely harass others over things like this, so I guess I can't be too upset.
Anyway, CSA has based opinions on the incident. "We see on the news the crime that occurs, the murders, the shootings; we know there are high levels of poverty in Baltimore...things like this are adding to it." And yeah, most students who don't end up having a chance at an education and growing up in healthy environments like this will end up in terrible situations like this when they're older. The CSA also said he would personally apologize to the mom. I appreciate the sincerity, but apologies mean little when a student has to repeat the entirety of high school.
"Dr. Sonia Santelesis was school CEO four years ago, when France's son was a freshman," She refused to be interviewed, but she did send an interesting statement explaining what should have happened when a student is flunking or persistently absent.
Apparently, at the end of the school year, letters are sent to the students about their academic status, and they can find it in the Campus Portal...right, because if I'm hypothetically the student in this case who is NOT going to class in the first place, I'm totally going to this "Campus Portal" and telling my mother about improving my education.
...I'm pretty sure this would be more effective if it was sent to a family member. It also said that a call should be made to the home when a student is absent in class, and they were willing to conduct home visits when the student wouldn't show up- which is a good system. However, Tiffany France claims NONE of this happened, indicating the system wasn't held up.
Also, we still need to adress the other problems that led to this- why could he move up grades if he was failing? How is ranked 62 out of 120 students, and what does that mean for all the students below him? This sounds like a very poorly structured school. The letter does say they will "review actions that impacted student outcomes." In other words, they didn't care to make sure students were succeeding unitl it was already too late for one of them. 10/10 system, American school system.
The Blame Game (pt. 2)
Anyway, the mom shows up again, and says:
"It really took a lot to just build up the courage to do this, like... [...] And he feels embarrassed, like he feels like a failure, and I'm like- you can't feel like that. You have to be strong. You have to keep fighting. He's willing, he's trying, but where would he turn to when the people that's supposed to help him is not (there)?"
Listen here mom. I understand being distraught by your son's failure, but...the school system did not give birth to him. You chose to have three children and needed three jobs, but that doesn't mean knowing about your son's education is a last priority. He was struggling and you failed to notice that. It's not just the school's fault. And your giving him the mindset that it was only the school's fault- not any personal responsibility on him or you. As sad is this situation, he should feel embarrassed, and take responsibility for messing up this badly. He can channel his negative emotions to improving. If he's not going to class, he's already not going to have the opportunity to get help from the people you say weren't there. For all we know they may have been there but he didn't realize it.
Yes, life is about fighting, being willing, trying your best...but he wasn't. He didn't fight to keep his grades up. He wasn't willing to go class. He didn't try to do his work. He didn't care, and his grades reflect that. So now you want to pretend he's willing to do all this when the damage has already been done? This type of mindset might give him the false (and toxic) illusion it's not his fault when he fails. When you mess up, confront that setback. Don't just blame others for it. Blame yourself, in a healthy manner of course.
I understand it's easy to push all the blame on the school for not doing their job properly and making sure this student has a great education- and it's true. It is the school's fault. But if we only blame them, we're going to the miss the other people at fault: the student and his mom. The mom clearly didn't do anything to help her son in school, which is how it got this bad. And the student himself did not bother. He doesn't care. He just thought he could dilly dally his way through school and actually graduate. Now that he's facing the consequences (which I imagine he never did in the first place), he's screwed up.
It's Everyone's Fault
So, we've gone through the entire story of this student's flunking. Who exactly is to blame here?
You already know the answer.
First of all, it's the student's fault, because:
He didn't care to show up to class on time
He didn't care to improve his grades or ask for help
He didn't care to participate in classes and do work
He literally thought he could just graduate by doing nothing
Remember how earlier he told his mom, "Mom, what was all this for? What did I do this for?" Excuse me, weren't you absent or late 272 times and failed 22 classes? What do you mean "all"? You did nothing, and as a result, your graduation was nothing. Assuming he looked at his grades, did he actually think he could just waltz out of school with...those grades?!
It would be one thing if there was at least evidence he tried to pass in his work or participated, but his persistence absences and failing even easy classes like gym tells me he doesn't care much about school, and doesn't have a good word ethic.
I did mention that I felt the student may have more going on, like a learning disability or something at home. I think there should be more investigated on his homelife and relationships if the situation got this bad. I remember most bad kids from my school hung out with each other, so he may have been influenced by his other poorly educated peers. (I bet those friends were ranked even lower than him)
Secondly, it's the mother's fault, because:
She didn't help her son with his work and promote responsible study habits
She's defending her son as if it wasn't his fault at all
She had children but wasn't bothered to check on her son's academics
Something just comes across as frustrating how much the mom tries to only blame the school and pretend she wasn't the one who gave birth to him in the first place. It's your job as parents to make sure your child has the best education, and even if the system was broken, you neglected to notice or care about your son's academics.
I do understand she was busy with her 3 jobs and other children, but that doesn't mean what your child is up to should take the back burner. I'm not saying to be obsessive about your child's personal life, but just checking in once and a while might stop problems like self-harm, drug abuse, or in this case- missing school.
Lastly, it's the school's fault, because:
They failed to look into his absenteeism
They promoted him despite him failing classes
They didn't address his flunking to his mom
They lacked resources available to help him
Your a school. Your job is to make sure no child is left behind, has a great education, and is motivated to be a someobody in the real world. Little to no efforts were made discerning his bad behavior. In my school, if your chronically late or absent, your grade drops to a D automatically, which would be very noticeable and alarming. I also remember sometimes during the year I would be late a lot, and my mom was sent an EMAIL so she could discuss it with me. This helped me be more punctual. For all I know, nothing happened when he was late or absent. No one asked where he was.
I also can't believe that despite him failing literally two thirds of his classes, his teachers batted an eye and let him move onto the next grade. Highly negligent and careless of them to do that. If I was a teacher and noticed consistent behavioral problems with a student, I would probably schedule a conference with the parent. One teacher did try that, but for some reason it didn't get through. Either the mom didn't bother to read her email or the teacher didn't properly send it.
I wonder if there were any mentors, tutors, or counselors in this school. These types of people exist to promote emotional growth in students for a reason. I began going to counseling sometime in 3rd grade, and look at me now!...Well, I'm not perfect, but at least my GPA is greater than 4, not less than 1! I bet without people like that in my life I would be in a much worse mental state right now. (Shoutout to all my counselors btw) I feel like if this student had the chance to meet someone like that, he could have been saved.
EVERYONE in this situation failed, which is how this unfortunate teenager ended up in such a tragic, stupid, and just preventable predicament.
Overall Thoughts
Our story does have a bit of a bittersweet ending to it. Tiffany Frances took her son out of Augusta Fells and he was enrolled in an accelerated school program in another high school. The news reporter said "if he works hard, he could graduate by 2023". It's 2025 now, so hopefully he was able to graduate and he's gotten his life back on track. I mean, if being held back by 4 years wasn't a wake up call enough, I think my grades being so bad they end up on the NEWS would certainly be one.
Still though, this entire situation demonstrates how easy it is for students to slip into the cracks and end up flunking or dropping out. I think we should look at this incident to prevent something as absurd as it happening again.
So, here's my advice to all the parties I mentioned:
If you're a student:
Attend your classes and try and be on time
Seek help if you need it
DO YOUR FREAKING WORK
You've been given the important opportunity to grow as a person and develop good habits for the future. If you don't care, you're early adulthood will be unstable.
If you're a parent:
Pay attention to your child's behavior and academics, don't let it slide
Teach your child it's okay to get things wrong, but to always try their best
Make sure you know what's happening at school
You gave birth to your child, so its your responsibility to raise them.
If you're a school:
Don't let students get this bad, and address the problem once it's noticed
Make sure resources such as counselors are available for students like this
Consider closing down if a student with a GPA of 0.13 IS RANKED #62 OF 120!!!
I still refuse to believe that half of this school has a GPA of 0.13 of lower. Someone has to be in the negative at that point. And if #62 ends up having to repeat the entirety of high school, my question is...what do you think happened to student #120?
...I don't even wanna think about it.
I actually read on the Augusta Fells Wikipedia page that one year, only four seniors graduated. First of all, that must've been a very lonely graduation. Secondly, if only four out of 120 seniors had the grades to graduate...this school has about a 3% pass rate.
Note to self: Never enroll my future child in Augusta Fells.
