Johnston's Two Lost Sons Tell Us All Something About Community

As a journalist, I have covered two wars, a half-dozen terrorist attacks, too many fatal car wrecks and way, way too many brutal murders. The scenes I have witnessed have been far too grotesque to describe here and far too disturbing to be understood anywhere.

Still, after so many years in this business and so many deaths, nothing hits me in quite the same way as dealing with stories about young people taking their own lives. I think about the kids, yes, but also about the parents and the other family members left behind: about their horror, their sadness, their attempts to understand what can never really be understood.

I’m telling you this because in a very short time Patch has developed a warm relationship with our readers in Iowa, and I think it’s important to let you know that when Johnston lost two of its sons, Cameron Carico and Spenser Nelson, we felt an obligation to share the story not only completely but also with complete sensitivity.

Here’s the truth, though: When something like this happens, we have no User’s Manual to tell us how to do our jobs. We’re left to our own devices as journalists and, more importantly, as neighbors. We make guesses, and we hope we’re right.

When we heard the news about these kids – good kids, by all accounts – our first thoughts were about what not to do: Not to rush the families, not to intrude on the grieving, not to ignore the reality that these kids have family and friends and classmates who are left wondering about so much.

And then we thought about what we could do, about how we could handle such tragedy in a responsible, caring way. So, we reached out to the pastors of the families, reported what we could about these kids, talked to experts so we could share information that might reduce the chances of such sadness enveloping a community again.

The reporting by Ashlee Kieler, Johnston Patch’s local editor, opened my eyes to something, though. It made me see how much of a community Johnston really is and how much people care about these kids, about their families, their neighbors. Johnston made it clear how to cover such tragedy: Be like Johnston – strong, aware, sensitive, caring.

That made a tough story just a bit easier. A bit. 

For the thousands of people who have been reading our coverage of Cameron and Spenser, I hope we’re doing our best.

Johnston certainly is.

Todd Richissin is Patch's regional editor for Iowa.