The moment I received the call from Dionne Gordon -- I knew I had to do whatever I could to help. I was a correspondent at "America's Most Wanted" and she called me directly. I will forever remember her word to me. She said "Jon -- My family needs you. Maurice needs you." At that moment, I knew Dionne would become a fixture in my life.
The story Dionne was about to tell me shocked me to the core. Her brother Maurice, an off-duty Federal agent, had been ambushed and killed in New York City. He died in his father's arms. At that moment, Dionne lost her best friend. A few days later, unable to handle the stress of witnessing his son's murder -- Maurice's father died of a heart attack. A group of perpetrators had snuffed out Maurice's life -- and inadvertently his father's too. Now, Dionne was without her brother and her father.
But these killers took much more than a brother and a father. They tried to take Dionne's spirit. And, they failed. For the past 3 years, Dionne Gordon has called me weekly. Many times it is to check on if I have gotten any leads in her brother's case. Many times, it's simply to say hello and tell her she is thinking of me. We got her brother's murder featured on "America's Most Wanted". Now, we are featuring it on AOL in my new "Searching For Justice" series. The reason is simple: Dionne and her family need justice.
Tens of thousands of families are living with the same pain Dionne and her family endure on a daily basis. It's the pain of losing a loved one to murder. Since the Newtown shootings, Dionne has appeared on CNN, has stood behind Mayor Michael Bloomberg at a press conference on gun violence and has traveled to Washington DC to lobby for gun reform.
But long before Newtown -- Dionne clamored for a voice. She begged and pleaded for help. We listened. And, she -- and the NYPD -- still need your help. Please watch this segment for all of the details and come forward with any information you may have. Do it for Dionne.