[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 143 (Friday, September 23, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1717]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         HAPPY BIRTHDAY, RILYA

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. FREDERICA S. WILSON

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, September 23, 2011

  Ms. WILSON of Florida. Mr. Speaker, today, you would have been 
fifteen. Today, you would have been a freshman in high school. Today, 
you would have been the fine young woman you were meant to be.
  You are not forgotten.
  Mr. Speaker, Rilya Wilson was a foster child of the Florida 
Department of Children and Families. She went missing on January 18, 
2001, and was not reported missing until two years later. The resulting 
investigation culminated in the resignation of the DCF chief and the 
passage of a new law I championed in the Florida House of 
Representatives--a law improving the supervision of foster children and 
requiring the tracking of efforts to find missing children.
  It was later shown that Geralyn Graham, her caretaker, engaged in 
identity and Medicaid fraud by accepting payments during Rilya's 
disappearance. Today, Geralyn is in jail, and believed by many to have 
murdered our beautiful Rilya. Unfortunately, circumstantial evidence is 
the only evidence available to prosecutors, and I fear that Geralyn 
Graham will walk free.
  This must not happen. The laws governing the reporting of missing 
children simply are not strong enough. Failing to report a child you 
know is missing should always be a crime of the most serious kind.
  Once more--Rilya, you are not forgotten. I will never sleep, I will 
never slumber, and I will never rest until we find you--until those 
responsible for your disappearance are brought to justice.
  Many nights I dream that I will one day get to meet you. Every night 
I dream that you have grown into the fine young lady you were meant to 
be. Every night I dream that I will see you reunited with your loving 
sister, Rodericka.
  I pray that it will be so.

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