Through the Rain: A True Crime Memoir of Murder and Survival

by Marla Bernard

In a motel room on the east side of the city, a little girl is brutally murdered by her mother's sadistic boyfriend for failing to know her ABCs. The family disappears, along with the child's body, and the scene of the crime spans over 1,000 miles. Despite the lack of a body, the detectives of the 1020 Squad obtain a conviction but it will take another eight long years before the little girl's remains come home to rest. In a twist of fate, the 1020 Squad no sooner closes the final chapters of this case when the headless body of a tiny girl is found discarded in a makeshift dump site in the woods Sgt. David Bernard and the 1020 Squad will work over four years, following 1,500 leads and conducting the single largest area canvass in the history of the Kansas City, Missouri Police Department before finding the true identity of the seemingly orphaned little girl known only as "Precious Doe" Through the Rain is a candid and touching account of the painful impact that these brutal murders had on Sgt. Bernard, his family and the KCPD's 1020 squad. It chronicles the all too frequent stories of child abuse, failed social services, a flawed court system, and battered women who sacrificed their own children to shield their abusive lovers, echoing the same preposterous explanations of " . . . but I love him" It is the story of a family, a group of committed volunteers and a community who reached out to embrace Angel Lea Hart and Erica Michelle Marie Green aka Precious Doe and give them in death the humanity and affection they so desperately deserved in life.

288 pages, Paperback

First published February 22, 2014

About the author

A former police sergeant, Marla Bernard is a passionate victim’s rights advocate, writer and public speaker. She received her Masters of Arts with honors from Baker University. She serves as adjunct faculty for a national university where she has written several criminal justice courses. Her work has been published in Chicken Soup for the Soul and she is currently writing her second book. Marla and her husband, retired Sgt. David Bernard, reside in Kansas City near the loves of their lives – their two children and three grandchildren.

Reviews

[Barbara Andrews · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was very interesting. I found that seeing what happens in the life of a police detective and his family during the course of a childs murder was unbelievable. It gave me a new prospective of what these people go thru having to deal with things like this and how it affects their families. Well written. I received this book from Goodreads First Read.

[Terri Bond · Rating 4 out of 5]

if you like true crime this is a book for you. very endept and so sad

[Theresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Child murder.

I don't know why I keep reading books about children being murdered.It is the most reprehensible crime there is.I am just glad that in these books the perpetrator is caught.

[Lisa Espich · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Through the Rain" is a beautifully written and engaging memoir that shares a side of true crime that we rarely see or hear. The book shares the cases of two young murdered girls in Kansas City. The author, Marla Bernard -- wife of Dave Bernard who was the homicide investigator for these cases -- tells the story from the eyes of a wife and mother. It was enlightening to understand just how much detectives and their families are effected by the cases they are working. I have a new respect for the work that they do and the sacrifice of their families. The story of these two young murdered children is heartbreaking and the details are painful. This book touched me deeply and these two young girls will now forever hold a place in my heart