CRANE, Josephine Emilia

[josie emilia crane]

JOSIE EMILIA CRANE

FULL NAME: Josephine Emilia Crane.
NICKNAMES: Josie, Jos.
AGE: Thirty-one.
GENDER: Female.
SEXUALITY: Straight..
STATUS: Single.
GROUP: Citizen.
GRADE: N/A.
MAJOR: N/A.
JOB OCCUPATION: Cold Case Detective

HAIR: Blonde, kept in a choppy bob for ease and neatness.
EYES: Green.
SCARS/BIRTHMARKS: There are faint ones on her back and legs from childhood. The ones on her legs are almost faded, but her back can still look rough in places.
TATTOOS: None.
PIERCINGS: None.
PLAY-BY: Jodie Whittaker!

LIKES: Greek yoghurt, closing a case, chips and gravy, hazelnut lattes, caramel waffles, Ovid, musicals, walking in the rain, birds, knitwear, feeling the cold air in her lungs, sleeping on the couch, lavender, museums, unlocked doors, windows open, swimming, that freshly washed hair feeling, extra strong mints, menthol sprays.
DISLIKES: Nightmares, having to shelve a case unsolved, giving up, carrots, flying, bread, social media, being watched, skipping meals (but she still does it), crying, missing a spinning class, cowboy hats, greasy chicken, hand cream, bullies, waiting rooms, crowded subway carts, feeling unclean, being dismissed so easily.
FEARS: Failure, sleeping for too long, locked rooms.
SECRETS: She was kidnapped as part of a child trafficking ring when she was just nine. They held her for four years before the ring was crushed by Interpol and she was rescued.
PERSONALITY: Josie is quiet, but determined. She can be a force to be reckoned with, and it’s all because of the past she doesn’t talk about. She survived it and the demons that were left behind are hers to battle with now. She’s strong and independent which means she sometimes pushes people away just so she doesn’t have to let them in. Josie is intelligent, but the type to think outside the box. Her mysterious ways are not something she’s keen to explain to people, especially to strangers. It’s not easy for Josie to trust people, and that can make her come across as unfriendly or cold. This isn’t the case. When it comes to the cases she works and the families desperate for answers she can be a best friend, a kind voice and the promise no one offered them the first time around. She’s easily frustrated but often bottles it up, again because of her past. She isn’t one to often snap and become physically aggressive, but Josie has a mouth on her that has been known to draw confessions from some of the hardest of men. Beyond her work, which is what she lives for, Josie is rather lonely. There’s no family, no love in her life. She finds it difficult to make any kind of magical connection with anyone, and she’s not comfortable taking someone home with her for just one night because she knows strangers will be bound to ask questions about the scars on her back. She would need someone patient, someone who is understanding.

MOTHER: Sylvie Bernice Crane, 58.
FATHER: Gordon Jacob Crane, 61.
SIBLINGS: N/A
OTHERS: Ben Henry Worthington, 37, partner.
PETS: None!
HOMETOWN: Graham, North Carolina.
HISTORY: Sylvie and Gordon married young after falling in love when they were just kids. They dreamt of a family of their own, but it was starting to seem like it might stay a dream. Sylvie lost three children before the first scan, and then when she was pregnant with Josie there were a lot of strict orders from the doctors for bedrest, and concerns about mother and baby’s health. Both were fine. Josie was a healthy size and weight when she was born and there were no health problems. Sylvie and Gordon considered her their little miracle. They fussed and spoilt her from the moment she was born and they finally thought that their dreams had come true.

They lived a happy life together right up until Josie was nine. A birthday trip to a travelling fair saw her snatched from a ride before anyone could tell. In the few minutes it took her parents to react and panic, the little blonde girl was already in the back of a van, being driven away at top speed. Her kidnappers were part of a gang who held her outside of the state for a few days before moving her further afield and eventually flying her abroad with three other children who were younger than her. The trafficking ring moved about a lot, taking the children with them. Mostly they crossed Europe, splitting up and regrouping when necessary. The leader chose not to pass Josie on, but instead kept her when he saw how she could calm and help the other children they snatched. They coerced her into being a big sister to their victims, and Josie knew she would do anything to keep some of the very young ones safe from harm. She even tried to fight back when they came to take them away to sell them onto new families and strange people. That was what bought her the scars on her legs and back.

It took Interpol four years after Josie’s kidnapping to hunt down and crush the trafficking ring. Josie will never forget the day they were saved. They were all in a tiny basement somewhere in central Europe, and suddenly there was so much light and shouting and then warm, strong arms were wrapped around her skinny frame, checking her over making sure she was okay. They always gave her different names, but she never forgot who she was. It took time to get her back to America, but there was no happy reunion waiting for the nervous teenager.

Sylvie and Gordon hadn’t been given the greatest support in the months and years that followed Josie’s disappearance. They were told to expect the worst and after two years it was suggested that their miracle child was most likely dead and unlikely to be found. They hadn’t wanted to give up, but with nowhere to turn, ultimately, for the sake of Sylvie’s health, it was deemed unfortunately necessary for them to move away. No one knew where. It was like they just upped and left one night. There was no trace of them, and one neighbour suggested that they may have left the country altogether, pursuing retirement plans far earlier than they ever planned. With no family to take her back in, Josie was raised in specialty care with her education coming from tutors, and her days and evenings spent in the company of doctors, law enforcement and carers who fussed and worried over her. They kept reaching out for her parents, but all they got was an anonymous message, mailed in from Vermont that said no one wanted the heartache of looking at a ghost of their own child. It seemed like they didn’t want to be found, so Josie became a ward of the state.

When she was twenty-one she joined the NYPD. She was free of the doctors, out of her education, and ready to claim back the independence she had longed for. New York was where she wanted to be. Her ambition was kept close to her chest, but she quickly made an impression within the force and at twenty-eight had her detective’s badge. It was then that she put in a strange request. She wanted Cold Cases. No one asked for it, but Josie was determined. She had always wanted it. She didn’t want people to be given up on like she felt she had been by her parents. She wanted to bring hope back to the hopeless and close those cases that had gone stale on their shelves. She was partnered with Ben Worthington, a man who made her laugh with tales of his recent marriage and newborn baby boy. He became her best friend, and slowly he discovered her story along with the quirks that made her a good detective. He knew when she needed carrying, but never said anything to anyone else. His family was happy to take her in from time to time, and Josie quickly felt a place in her heart fill with his existence. He was her rock, but their feelings were platonic and nothing more. She adored his wife, and he was a brother to her.

There is still a part of her working on finding her parents. She has to know why they gave up hope, and why they couldn’t take her back when she came home. Of all the rescued children only three weren’t reunited with their parents. The other two had lost theirs, but Josie struggles to know that hers are out there and that once they had the best times together. She came from a home filled with love and she needs to know what happened to that.

YOUR ALIAS: Kim.
RULE WORDS: kidnappedbykim.
WHERE YOU FOUND US: I’M CLEARLY A PSYCHIC QUEEN.
SAMPLE:

This was such a happy coincidence that I’m laughing out loud and getting weird looks!

[kim]