Finding Daddy: A Memoir of a Murder, Survival, and a 911 Operator's Worst Nightmare

by Sheila Hanna-Wiles, Katie Vecchio (Contributor)

On the first day of school, ten-year-old Jeffrey and his six-year-old brother, Tyler, climbed out of the school bus at the foot of their driveway, walking into their home, excited about the first day of school. Instantly, their anticipation for the family back-to-school celebration turned to horror as they found their father murdered, stabbed and shot in a laundry room awash with blood. With a rush of adrenaline and terror, Jeffrey hid his younger brother, huddled behind the couch and called 911 where his mother had worked for years as a dedicated telecommunicator. The boys survived that day and their widowed mother fought to raise her family, but the horror, fear and grief haunted them for years. In Finding Daddy, the boys turned young men, describe their journey from the terrifying moment they found their father, through the 911 call and on to the courageous years that would follow with their mother at the helm, guiding their survival. Told by public-safety telecommunications professional, Sheila Hanna-Wiles, Finding Daddy is the inspiring true story of reconciling grief, overcoming fear and looking within to discover the character necessary to fight and move forward in the memory of a father and a husband taken too soon. In a rare ironic turn, readers will journey with a 911 professional as that daily call becomes her own. The most daunting part of telecommunications is wondering what happened to the people saved in their most critical moments. Finding Daddy brings readers back to the beginning and then to the inspiring ending of a mother and two sons who traversed the impossible to a healed life.

240 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2012

Reviews

[Amy Ewers-Jackson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't usually cry during books, but this one got me. I am so sorry for what this family had to go through, I can't imagine how hard it was. It was a good read though, I like the fact that she had a lot of police report and coroner report facts involved in the story, so even though it was hard to hear, it helped build the case and made you want justice. I wish more people had been brought to justice on their behalf. I would recommend reading this to anyone who likes memoir's, just be prepared it is emotional, obviously.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book hits so close to home because not only have I met the family but I have encountered the killers. We are all from the same towns, shop in the same stores, talk in the same community. In the 90's my childhood home was also getting robbed by "a man and his girfriend". The similarities are just too scary to think of. What a test that God has turned into a testimony.

[Lori VanGilder Preuss · Rating 5 out of 5]

This amazing book reads like a personal conversation with the author and her children about the most traumatic event that could be imagined, the loss of a loved one. As you follow the family, and the search for justice, one cannot help but be drawn in to the story, which is only more dramatic because it's real!

[Wes Turner · Rating 5 out of 5]

very good book.known the family all my life.this book brought back so many bad memories of that day this great family was ripped apart.R.I.P. FATBABY