The lake was murky and the day was dark with thick clouds intermittently releasing heavy rain. Though it was hard to see, her body was at the bottom of the lake. Her eyes open, her face a twisted mess stuck in panic and pain.

Because it was so hard to see, you might mistake her for debris or rotting bark, but I assure you, she is there and dead. No one will find her until she has been there for a year.

Her name was Kelly. She was twenty-six years old and just started her career as a medical coder. She had medium dirty blonde hair, brown eyes, wore glasses with small frames, and had an athletic build. She had a brother and a sister, and parents who were still alive and still married to each other. She lived alone with her beagle, Harry, and one short haired cat, Clyde. There was nothing particularly distinctive about her. She received average grades, made an average living, read average books in average coffee shops, and wore average clothes in average colors. She was easy to miss, even in death. 

It took her family two weeks to report her missing. They didn’t want to seem like the overreactive types, nor did they want to attract the attention of their neighbors. Kelly’s mother, Nadine, was a thin woman with short brown hair. She dressed as a professional business woman, though she never had a career and instead stayed home with the children. She was perfectly coiffed and she dyed her hair religiously. She kept her house clean and tidy, never a cushion out of place, nor a hair nor collar. She felt it was very important to look the part to be taken seriously and to be respected.

Kelly’s father, Frank, had gained some weight as he got older. What he gained in weight he lost in hair. He was a traditional man, with traditional beliefs, which included leaving the last bit of hair he had framing the bottom of his head in a horseshoe pattern trimmed and neat. He sold insurance and made a pretty good living. At least enough to keep the family in upper middle class.

The officers sat on the impeccably clean sofa that was white with pastel flowers that matched the one across from it where Frank and Nadine sat. As questions were being asked and answered, Nadine repeatedly got up from the couch and checked out the window to see if anyone was noticing the police car outside the house.

“She’s dependable, but sometimes people just like time alone.” her father reported to the detective. “Has she taken alone time in the past? Is that something she would do?”.  The detective inquired. “Well no, she’s never done that, but you know, people do that sort of thing.” he responded in earnest.

Nadine, pensively and methodically walked back to the sofa from the window. “I’m sure this is nothing. I’m certain this is an overreaction on our parts. What will the neighbors think? They’ll think we’re hysterical people in here! That’s what they’ll think!”. As quickly as she had sat down on the sofa, she promptly got up and slowly walked back to the window as if hunting prey.

“Did she have any boyfriends?” the detective asked. Frank nervously looked over to his wife, while she glared back at him.

Hesitantly he responded, “She called herself”, he hunched over closer to the detective and at almost a whisper replied, ‘pansexual and gender fluid’. We didn’t let any special friends around, you understand.”. Nadine interjected with a disgust in her voice, “What would the neighbors think!”

“So you don’t know if she is dating anyone or if she has any romantic interests? We have to ask. The more leads the better.” Detective Rita Flores asked. Frank sat back in the sofa, “No, she’s single as far as her mother and I know.”

“Did you know any of her friends or where she went to wind down after work or on the weekends?”. Frank looked down, “We just haven’t been that close with Kelly since - “. 

“What would the neighbors think?!” Nadine interrupted.