Freeway gang rape victim writes of crime that stunned Detroit in 1976

 

February 12, 1976 was one of Melissa McCormick’s worst nightmares as a survivor of sexual abuse by a gang of 12 men.

Like many Windsorites, a 19-year-old McCormick and her friends would regularly visit the city Detroit to enjoy the night life, but unlike other visits, a trip in the winter of 1976 took McCormick through the most horrific night of her life.

After leaving her friends to head home, McCormick got a flat tire on the Lodge Freeway while returning to Windsor. By the time she was offered help by a man on the highway, she was robbed at gunpoint, kidnapped and gang raped repeatedly over a 12-hour period by a group of 12 men before being released.

“Me and (the man who stopped to help) were both held by gun point by a gang of men. They took him, they tied him and put him at the back of the car,” said McCormick, 62.

“I had one guy on each side of me dragging me to one of their cars, I was beaten and threatened for my life constantly, held for twelve hours and then the gang leader actually let me go.”

McCormick immediately reported the incident to the Detroit police who later helped her reach Windsor.

Her rape became the most publicized sexual assault in Detroit history. In Windsor, she was criticized for dressing in a flashy way the night of her rape. She was judged for moving from her parents’ home unmarried and at such a young age. People said she was asking for trouble by simply visiting Detroit.

“What got me through the lineups and the trial and the awful things people said about me was that if I didn’t come forward this could happen to someone else,” said McCormick.

McCormick said she forgave her attackers long ago. In fact, she wishes them well.

She turned to countless therapy sessions and a library of self-help books. She studied religion and reconnected with her Catholic roots and she began to live as normal a life as she knew how.

After 28 years, she wrote a book about her experience called “The Queen’s Daughter.” The story of the woman kidnapped from the Lodge Freeway and gang raped for 12 hours still continues to haunt generations of metro Detroiters and Windsorites. It is a simply told, painfully graphic account of an attack that disturbed then Gov. William Milliken, that in 1976 he ordered State Police to patrol Michigan’s freeways, which they still do.

McCormick said she started writing this book to help other sexual assault victims overcome mental depression and sexual trauma and to fight back.

“When the book The Queen’s Daughter came out, all of these victims started calling me, asking me questions how I handle certain things of sexual assault.”

Her courageous move didn’t stop with her book. She also started a non-profit organization to help other survivors by counseling and helping them overcome such trauma.

“I did this on my own dollars for many years. I live a minimal life and couldn’t afford to do it anymore,” said McCormick.

Now she conducts a dinner fundraiser every year in the Serbian Center in Windsor and this year was the fifth annual.

“Right now it’s so busy because of the MeToo movement, because women are fighting their courage and their strength to finally come forward and tell their story. I help them move through their trauma and I learned this not only through counseling but with my personal experiences,” said McCormick.

The fundraiser gives opportunity to survivors to open up and share their feelings and also overcome depression, McCormick said.

Maria Giorlando, Miss Canada 2018 and the vice president of Windsor’s Optimist Club says it’s in the spirit of optimism that makes an individual move forward and celebrate the victories just as McCormick has done.

“Keep being strong and sharing your stories, there is nothing more powerful than facing and having courage,” said Giorlando

McCormick said she has helped more than 5,000 victims. She believes the common thing that she shares with them is how and what ways she took to overcome the trauma

Gail Hosking, one of the thousands of victims who were counseled by McCormick says without McCormick she would be nothing

“She has brought me up from all the mental problems that I went through and now I feel strong and empowered,” said Gail Hosking.

Now McCormick also owns a business that sells artificial flowers and trees. She is a board member at a sexual assault crisis centre, and a twice-divorced mother of three.

McCormick said determination and will power is the main objective to be successful and to break any kind of depression in life.