911
Monday, May 27, 1991, 2:30 A.M.
In a tale bereft of the usual sort of heroes, the actions of Glenda Cleveland, her daughter, Sandra Smith, and her niece, Nicole Childress, stand out in bold relief. The school system, the United States Army, and the officialdom of justice in Ohio and Milwaukee had failed to heed the storm flags that Jeffrey Dahmer had been waving for years. The three women were apparently the first to actually stand in his path and say, “No.”
When Sandra and Nicole hurried to Cleveland’s neat flat, not far from the Oxford Apartments in
which grisly things were taking place at that early-morning hour, they were upset, talking fast. The story spilled out of them as they talked, stepping on each other’s words in their haste to describe their adventure. Cleveland let them talk, knowing they would eventually get through it. But she did not like what she had heard so far.
The girls had been out on Twenty-fifth, they said, when they saw that little Laotian kid stumbling about “butt naked,” like he was hurt. They saw blood on his naked buttocks and legs and the boy was mumbling incoherently when they reached him. The boy would fall down every time he tried to stand up. Then that tall man came up, carrying some beer he had bought over on Twenty-seventh Street, and saw what was happening. When he tried to pull the boy away, twisting him by the arm, the girls called for help and a pair of police cars and a fire engine rolled quickly to the scene, and a crowd began to gather. Then the police took over and walked the man and the kid back to the Oxford Apartments. When Sandra and Nicole told the officers they were witnesses and wanted to have their names taken down in case testimony was needed, the cops told them to go away.
Glenda Cleveland, thirty-seven, hails from a family of nine kids in Carthage, Mississippi, a place she left eighteen years ago, looking for work. She was an unwed mother carrying her baby, Sandra, who has recently given birth to a son of her own, making Cleveland a grandmother,
a role in which she rejoices. Coming from such a family, she has a strong protective streak where children are concerned. A slender, soft-spoken woman who pulls her hair back away from her face and watches the world through large, plastic-rimmed glasses, Cleveland works as a typesetter for the C.P. Gauger Company in Milwaukee and she believes in taking care of business.
So when the girls finished their story, she realized that something bad might have happened to that Laotian boy, a child that she knew. He was just a baby! She decided to get involved herself and dialed the police emergency code, 911.
She was polite, but not awed, when talking to the police. Being persistent in tracking down someone who knew about the incident, she remained steady to her inquiry when one of the officers who had investigated the incident finally picked up a telephone to talk to her. It wasn’t until she realized that her call was not going to send police back out to investigate further that her voice began to shake.
A transcript of that ill-fated telephone conversation reads this way:
911 OPERATOR: Milwaukee Emergency Operator 55. May I help you?
CLEVELAND: Yes, yes. A moment ago, how long ago was it? About 10 minutes ago, my daughter and my niece flagged down a policeman when they walked up on a young child being molested
by a male guy and, uh, no information or anything was taken, but they were taken downtown. I was wondering, I mean, I’m sure further information must be needed. The boy was naked and bleeding.
911 OPERATOR: O.K.
CLEVELAND: Have you had any reports of that? Anyone been brought down like that?
911 OPERATOR: O.K., you know where it happened at?
CLEVELAND: The squad car was Number 68 that they flagged down and they picked him up.
911 OPERATOR: Um hunh.
CLEVELAND: And my daughter and my niece said, that, you know, their names or nothing was taken down or whatnot, but the fact is that a crime was being committed, I’m sure you must need, you know, some kind of information based on it.
911 OPERATOR: O.K. Let me get you someone to talk to.
CLEVELAND: O.K.
[She is put on hold momentarily until another voice answers.]
OPERATOR: 66.
CLEVELAND: I was calling to see if a squad car, Number 68, brought someone in, a child being molested by an adult that was witnessed by my daughter and my niece?
OPERATOR: Where was this?
CLEVELAND: 26th and Highland, Sandra? 25th and State. O.K., they was the ones that witnessed
it and flagged the policeman down, and you know, told about the situation, but their names or nothing was taken down, and I’m wondering if this situation was being handled. Because what it indicated was that this was a male child being raped and molested by an adult. It was …
OPERATOR: Where did this happen?
CLEVELAND: Around 25th and State.
OPERATOR: O.K., now what district were you calling?
CLEVELAND: What district? They were flagged down. The policemen were flagged down.
OPERATOR: O.K. If that’s where it happened, then they were in that district. Hang on one second.
CLEVELAND: O.K.
[She is put on hold a second time while the call is transferred once again.]
OPERATOR: District Three.
CLEVELAND: Yes. I was wondering earlier this evening about 15 minutes ago, my daughter and my niece flagged down a squad car, Number 68, whereas they witnessed a young child being molested by an adult.
OPERATOR: Um hunh.
CLEVELAND: And has this been reported?
OPERATOR: Where was this happening at?
CLEVELAND: 25th and State.
OPERATOR: 25th and State.
CLEVELAND: Yes.
OPERATOR: Hold on. Let me check.
CLEVELAND: O.K.
[She is put on hold for a third time and the call is transferred to a specific police officer’s telephone.]
OFFICER: Police.
CLEVELAND: Yes. There was a squad car Number 68 that was flagged down here earlier this evening, about 15 minutes ago.
OFFICER: That was me.
CLEVELAND: Yeah. What happened? I mean my daughter and my niece witnessed what was going on. Was anything done about this situation? Do they need their names, or …
OFFICER: No, I don’t need them.
CLEVELAND: 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 has dealt with him before, seen him on the street, you know …
OFFICER: Yeah. No, uh, he’s uh, he’s … It’s all taken care of, Ma’am.
CLEVELAND: Isn’t this … I mean, what if he’s a child and not an adult? I mean, are you positive this is an adult?
OFFICER: Ma‘am. Ma’am. Like I explained to you, it’s as positive as I can be.
CLEVELAND: Oh. I see …
OFFICER: I can’t do anything about someone’s sexual preferences in life, and if …
CLEVELAND: Well, no, I’m not saying anything about that, but it appeared to have been a child, this is why …
OFFICER: No.
CLEVELAND: No?
OFFICER: No, he’s not.
Despite the fruitless results of her conversation with the Milwaukee police, Cleveland was not ready to dismiss the situation from her mind, feeling that the Laotian boy could be in jeopardy. Four days after calling 911, she read a newspaper article concerning the disappearance of Konerak Sinthasomphone and decided to go one step higher in her effort to alert authorities. This time, she telephoned the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
The FBI telephoned the Police Department and Inquired about the report on a missing person, apparently deciding that since no evidence existed that a federal crime had been committed, the local authorities should handle the matter.
The Milwaukee police returned a call to Glenda Cleveland, saying they were aware of the incident and would contact her. She waited. No one came to talk.
It would be learned in a few months that her
efforts would have been to no avail in any case, even if the police had come zooming back to apartment 213 with sirens wailing and lights flashing. The fatal mistake already had been made. A quick response at that point would have done nothing to help Konerak.
Dahmer, in discussing the matter, told investigators that as soon as the door closed and the three police officers walked back downstairs, he had strangled the drugged Laotian boy until he was dead.
Dahmer said he then had sex with the corpse, took some photographs to add to his horrible collection, and began the long process of dismembering the body. As a trophy, he chose to keep the teenager’s skull.
Konerak Sinthasomphone was one more person who would never leave Jeffrey Dahmer.