Sometimes the act of blogging feels like you are literally screaming into a void. No one interacts with it. You have no idea if anyone reads the blog and no idea if anyone cares. Still you press on. Sometimes blogs contain things that can ruffle feathers like this blog I wrote about balloon releases.. Balloon releases are still the norm here in Oklahoma despite the negative environmental impact that they cause. This is largely due to a lack of education on the fact that they are really harmful – think like every balloon is a disposable diaper you are throwing out the window while driving down the highway. Most people would not do that and would be horrified to see someone else do this.
Two weeks ago, I learned that what I blog about does make a difference. I can help educate others and my words can stop a balloon release. I also learned I had no idea what it is like to scream into a void. I received a call from a lady named Kristina Ritzhaupt. She was calling to thank me for posting my controversial blog that she was planning a balloon release in Tulsa to honor her mother who went missing 25 years ago. When Kristina found my blog she read about about the harm that they cause and, based on that new information, stopped planning a balloon release and instead shifted to an alternative; a bouquet toss.
Kristina’s mother Tracy Samuels was an avid fan of wildlife, and she and her two children would rehabilitate wild animals. For Kristina, honoring her mother in a way that could hurt the environment seemed completely the opposite of honorable. Tracy was a woman who very much loved her family and was an involved parent. When Kristina boarded the bus and her brother was dropped off at grandma’s they had no idea that they wouldn’t see her again that afternoon.
As of Feb 17, 2018, Tracy Samuels has been missing 25 years. Details have trickled into the police over time but the family still has no answer. Tulsa Police Homicide Detective Eddie Majors still is working this case 25 years later. A witness told police he saw Samuels get into the passenger side of a white truck driven by a man with a mustache.
Kristina hopes that someone who hears about this bouquet toss will remember something and that new information will help them complete this puzzle. Tracy would now be 49 years old.
As the friends and family gathered on the 21st Street Bridge over the Arkansas River here in Tulsa they said prayers for answers for other families who are missing loved ones as well.
Tulsa news stations KOTV, KJRH, and KTUL were on hand to help share this message.
I am using this post to add my voice in with the voices of Kristina, her family, and Detective Majors. Please if you think you might know anything about Tracy Samuel’s disappearance, speak out. You can anonymously report to the Tulsa Crime Stoppers (918) 596-COPS .
