Sun, Jul 05 2009
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Published August 02, 2008 08:47 pm - During their 30th reunion last month, members of the Cullman High School Class of 1978 had more on their minds than the school days of yesteryear. Graduating group shows rare class By David Lazenby The Cullman Times During their 30th reunion last month, members of the Cullman High School Class of 1978 had more on their minds than the school days of yesteryear.
A fellow student — one who several members of the class helped rescue from a life of misery and abuse a few years earlier — had died since the group’s last get-together. The reunion held on July 19 at Terri Pines was about a week after the one-year anniversary of the passing of the woman known in high school as Rita Taylor. “She had no power, no water, no food when we found her,” said Mary Alldredge, a classmate who recalled how beautiful Rita was when the two attended school together. Another classmate, Charles Radcliff, who said in high school Rita was “the sweetest little girl,” alleges she was being physically abused prior to the intervention. “She was getting beat up on a regular basis,” Radcliff said. SEARCH PARTY Finding Rita was not easy. The quest began more than 10 years ago when 20-year reunion organizers tried to invite her to the event. The search was put into overdrive after a classmate received a chilling hand-written note from Rita, whom she ran into at a Wal-Mart store. According to Alldredge, the message contained three words: “Please help me.” With help from another classmate, D’ete Cabri Sewell, Alldredge began to take the search more seriously. “We dug deep. I called the FBI,” Alldredge said. “Even if we had to find her buried somewhere, we were going to find her.” Finally, five years after the initial search was started, the women found Rita in Summerville. The classmate was remembered for the beauty of her youth, but those characteristics were hidden away by years of abuse, malnutrition and neglect. 
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