A woman, whose dad murdered mom 20 years ago, meets up with the original journalist who covered her mom's story. She wants to share the second half of the story by revealing what she knew.
Sarah Ripoli sent a Facebook message to Jan Hefler, saying that she wants to meet up with her. She wants to share what happened to her after seeing lots of articles Hefler wrote about Ripoli's mom.
Ready to learn about her past
The 27-year-old daughter is finally ready to know about her past two decades after her grandparents tried to protect her from trauma. The retired Philadelphia Inquirer reporter spent years writing about Brenda Ripoli's murder.
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On April 8, 1999, Brenda died after her abusive husband, Frank Ripoli Jr., shot and killed her while they were living in a New Jersey neighborhood. Sarah was six years old at that time when the tragic incident happened that shocked the people.
Kept the secret for two decades
The 69-year-old journalist told TODAY Parents that Brenda was tortured but could not escape. She noted that the mom knew it would be the end of her life. Sarah tried to live a normal life and only shared her secret with her best friend, Kim.
On her 25th birthday, Sarah received a package from an unknown sender. It was full of tributes and memories from her mom's co-workers written in 1999, including a binder full of photos.
There was a sign
She was grateful and astonished to receive letters addressed to her from 20 years ago. It made her believe it was a sign to learn more about her past. While she did not act on it, it made her want to unravel her mom's past more.
Sarah launched a fashion blog in 2018. As she grew more followers through her Instagram and blog, she felt the urge to open up to the public. She decided to share her secret with the world in January 2019.
Posted by Sarah Ripoli on Sunday, May 17, 2020
She wrote a post about domestic violence, which has triggered positive responses from strangers who survived the same trauma as hers. It had sent a signal to her friends that she is finally ready to talk about her mom.
Debbie Wende, Sarah's best friend, met with her and told her that there was a lot on the internet about her mom's story. Sarah could not find anything about Brenda on Google because the peak coverage had not been cached on the search engine.
Learned about allegations about her father
Wende sent a long piece of Philadelphia Inquirer Magazine and stories about allegations about her dad. She kept seeing Jan Hefler's name as the article writer, so she tried to track her down in the summer of 2019.
On August 30, 2019, she sent Hefler a message on Facebook because she could not contact her elsewhere. The two talked for hours about the painful event that occurred two decades ago. Sarah shared that her mom kept running up and down the stairs as she filled garbage bags with her things.
View this post on InstagramA post shared by Sarah Ripoli • Fashion Blogger (@sarahrip) on Oct 18, 2020 at 1:52pm PDT
During that time, Sarah was watching TV with her granddad, who was in his 70s. Sarah chewed on her nails nervously, and her mom told her to get her hands off her mouth. Those were the last few words she has heard of Brenda. The little girl heard a gunshot, and her grandfather took her away, saying that her mom is already dead.
Sarah asked Hefler to give a few more details about her mom's death. The retired journalist gave Sarah a detailed archive. She dug through her basement and gave everything to Sarah. All Hefler prays for is the future of journalism, and she wants people to know that tragic things do happen behind closed doors.
