Rose Sieniawski, RIP

This picture of Rose Sieniawski is from her Facebook page

I've been upset ever since the story first surfaced - on Valentine's Day of all days - that a woman's body was found inside a recycling bin near Dieruff High School. The victim was described as an Asian woman who could be anywhere between 18 and 30 years old.  I called a few Asian women I know to make sure they were OK, but without scaring them. After all, a call from me is probably annoying enough. The last thing I wanted to do was ask, "Oh by the way, you weren't murdered and stuffed into a recycling bin lately, were you?"

Fortunately, the women who have not yet blocked my number told me they were doing fine. But still, everything about this murder really bothered me. It disturbed me that no one seemed to know the victim. Descriptions of one bracelet inscribed with "A daughter is a little girl who grows up to be a friend" hit me.

This was a person. She had family. She lived a life.

I never would have guessed that Allentown Police would be so successful, and so quickly, in cracking this case. It came at a cost, as one officer was himself shot while serving a search warrant. The intensity of their investigation tells me that at least they feel that all lives matter, even Jane Does who were never reported missing. They did not make wisecracks about her like the insensitive comments I read in several news forums, posted by anonymous cowards. They instead found out who killed this human being.

Her name is Rose Sieniawski, age 59. According to what appears to be her Facebook page, she graduated from St. Adams High School in India. She apparently continued her education, graduating from the City University of New York, College of Staten Island. She worked both there and in the legal department at Goodwill Industries. She also worked for United Way. She received a master's degree in 2010, at age 53.

She signed a petition to President Obama in 2013, asking him for a U.S. Policy in Colombia that would end the violence and killing there.

She had her opinions, and weighed in with Staten Island Live when that paper covered Angelina Jolie's proactive decision to have a double mastectomy. "Why not get a mammogram, go to the doctor?" she asked. "What is she going to do next, remove her leg so she doesn't get leg cancer? You can't do that."

She seemed to be a spiritual person, though I know nothing about her family except that she had one.

May she rest in peace.