A Letter from Sheri

A Letter from Sheri is a story inspired by the 1986 California serial killer murders executed by Charles Ng and Leonard Lake. I began writing a book in 2001 about how it felt to be adopted. As a child, I was led to believe that my biological mother was murdered by my biological father. When I was a teenager, I dove deep into a seemingly endless search that spanned a decade, searching for answers. As an adult, my biological Aunt found me and confirmed that my mother had been a victim of the Calaveras County, California Charles Ng and Leonard Lake serial killings, in 1985. After reaching out to the since retired detective on her case, he sent me an eleven-page letter written by my mom that had somehow been gleaned from a sea of evidence left at the crime scene. It answered almost every question that I had. After learning everything through her letter, my biological father, and my adoption files, I finally concluded that she never had a voice or a chance in life. My attempt to become her voice gave way to a passion to tell a whole new story. A story once about my search for answers as an adoptee, had been transformed to the harrowing story of a victim; "A Letter from Sheri". The details accounted in the letter, tell the story of a life of trauma that started at an early age, and culminates with Sheri's life in the hands of ruthless serial killers when she took her last breath.

-- Cheryl Gyant