There are public servants in our community who often go unrecognized until the moment their help is needed.

I would like to publicly thank the Port Townsend Police Department and all those who responded to the search-and-rescue call that was issued on Sunday, Dec. 29, to help locate my husband Warren Shelley-Rose. The police involved in both the initial response and the follow-up search were extremely helpful and kind. I would also like to extend gratitude to the folks at Kosec Funeral Home, who likewise did their job well and compassionately, after Warren’s body was found. These people have eased the weight and grief our family is experiencing, by not only doing their jobs with skill, but with kindness and consideration.

I cannot say as much for the Port Townsend Leader, who took our family’s devastating loss as an opportunity to sell papers, going out of their way to report not only the simple facts (which Peninsula Daily News did quite tastefully), but irrelevant, personal medical and financial information, mined from our Facebook pages and used without consent.

Our three young children are now returning to school, with the whole town having seen photos of the recovery of their dad’s body – photos that their own family didn’t see before they were published online and then on the front page of the paper, only days after he was found.

I hope that in the future, the Leader can act as considerately as the other public servants in our community when doing their job. I’m sure their readers will be paying attention to the true colors the Leader shows in their future reporting of tragic events in our community, and will determine their support accordingly.

Alexa Shelley-Rose
Port Townsend