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Missing in Milwaukee: A Mother's Quest for Justice

But once Rodgers was on the police radar, the pressure mounted. Nearly four years after Marzo vanished, Rodgers was arrested on a different charge: a serious gun violation resulting from a search by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Jeffrey Stemper said, "[Carl] told me he didn't think he could be somebody that could be in prison."

Rodgers Commits Suicide

With the added stress of prison in his future, in October 2007, Rodgers, 39 at the time, went into his garage and killed himself.

"I just feel like I didn't fight hard enough for him," said Rodgers' mother, Anita Stemper. "No one can even feel what I feel. I can't even tell you how much I miss him."

Photo: Carl Rodgers Jr.
Courtesy The Rodgers Family
Carl Rodgers' family describes their son as having been a loving and hardworking divorced dad who also had a silly side.
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Kraemer says she feels a great deal of empathy for Rodgers' family, but denies any responsibility for his suicide. She also says that she will not stop until she knows exactly what happened to her daughter.

Already, she has been able to exhume two graves whose burials were handled by the funeral home owned by the Rodgers family. So far, none of those exhumations have yielded any clues.

She has also started a charity called the Broken Wings Network, an organization run by and for families coping with domestic violence or the disappearance of a loved one.

"Becky didn't die in vain. Becky died for a reason. And you know, the reason is what I'm doing now," said Kraemer.

"We, as mothers, need to know where our children are. We need to put them to rest, to say 'OK, I know where you are now. God bless you.'"

Click HERE to visit the official "Find Becky" Web site and click HERE to visit the MySpace page created by Rodgers' sister.

If you know any details about this case, please click here to contact the Milwaukee Police Department or call 414-935-7360.

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