Will Billboards Help Solve the Murder of Deverrie Schiller?

On June 26, 2016, the body of a young woman was found on a dirt passage way dividing two sections of a California City park. Children had stumbled upon the woman, who had been strangled, before getting an adult. The adult arrived at the scene, called the cops, and then took photos of the woman. This person then posted those photos to social media. The victim’s mother would eventually see these photos, and she would never forget them.

The woman in those photos was 23-year-old Deverrie Schiller.

Deverrie and her mom, Debi Fones, lived across the street from the park. Debi had grown concerned after her daughter failed to return home from a trip to the store with a friend the night before, and she grew more concerned when she realized a body had been found at the park.

Debi has not stopped fighting to solve her daughter’s murder — even in spite of her own health issues. One year, Debi took inspiration from the photos somebody took of her daughter. She had somebody pose in the same position, wearing very similar clothes to those Deverrie was wearing. She wanted people to see what she had been forced to see.

Next, Debi took inspiration from the movie Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. She had billboards posted in town bringing attention to Deverrie Schiller’s murder and pointing out the attention cops have brought to their drug busts but not their failure to investigate violent crimes. The billboards brought attention to a crime…