Giving voice to the lost

PLATTSBURGH | In 2008, Aimee Baker was studying fiction writing at Arizona State University when she read a news article that altered her inspiration for years to come. As a young college student, the Beekmantown native read a newspaper article about the anniversary of a woman's body being found and the years of mystery surrounding her discovery. "The article was trying to find her identity and extensively about what happened to her," recalled Baker, who was so moved by the mystery that she began delving into dozens of similar cases and was soon shocked by the statistics and stories she found. As she researched, Baker discovered that the nameless woman-badly beaten and thrown from a speeding vehicle-was just one of roughly 2,600 unclaimed and unidentified murdered women in the United States. An estimated 300,000 women remain missing-leaving behind families and friends and seemingly forgotten by the masses. That realization moved Baker into a seven-year journey to help give a voice to some of those women- to share their stories in hopes of one day giving them back their name and dignity. Through braided poetry, Baker highlighted more than four dozen cases of forgotten women, weaving in facts of the case and the sorrow of their final silence. Compiled in the pages of her book, Doe, Baker's work ultimately won prestigious national awards and is now evolving into a local documentary with even bigger dreams. "We heard about Aimee's poetry book and we knew her as writing about missing and unidentified women, but we didn't understand the depths of it and how important her work is," said local photographer Vanessa Cicarelli, who, with her husband, Jason Greer, co-owner of Greer Cicarelli Photography in Plattsburgh, teamed up with Baker in 2019 to combine their creativity into an evolving documentary, now dubbed SHE. After partnering with Heartland Films, filming for SHE began in January as donations now help further their efforts and secure big-name partners, such as Kate Mulgrew, a well-known Hollywood actress now slated as a narrator in the film. "At first, we thought it would be a small project, but it got bigger and bigger and really needed to be shared on that bigger level," Greer said of the ongoing effort to raise funds for the project. "With funding and support, this will help us make the best possible film we can and get it out as far as we can to help raise awareness." SHE focuses on six poems involving eight women, who range in age from an 8-year-old young girl to those in their late 20's. With emotional dialogue and intense narration, the film focuses on the facts of each case, Baker's journey through the creative process, and her poignant poetry about each woman and girl. For Baker, seeing her sleepless nights and pages of blended words now making it onto the big screen is surreal, but a chance to further find justice for the women the world lost and seemingly forgot. "The general movement in Doe, and now SHE, is to recognize that this is happening and to call attention to what women face," said Baker, a lecturer at Plattsburgh State University.

Signup for our newsletter

Giving voice to the lost

COMPANY

CUSTOMER SUPPORT

SUBMISSION FORMS

BEYOND THE NEWS