Columbine: Chapter 18 Summary & Analysis

As busloads of students arrive at the rendezvous point at the nearby Leawood Elementary, parents are both joyful and discouraged. Brian Rohrbough, father of Danny Rohrbough, abandons hope, but Misty Bernall—who has been reunited with her son, Chris, but still has no sign of her daughter Cassie—holds out hope. Parents are told that one more busload of students will be arriving soon, but the bus never comes—the parents whose children have not yet arrived are brought to a separate room and asked to retrieve their children’s dental records for investigators. The Evangelical parents react differently than the “other” parents, responding with songs, prayer, and hope, “at peace” with the fact that their children have gone on to a better place. Of all the Evangelicals, only Misty Bernall is “defiant,” believing that Cassie is still alive.

Mr. D stays with the families, consoling them, even as he fears the rumors he hears about Dave Sanders’ death.

Agent Fuselier, exhausted, returns home and hugs his son. Columbine, for him, has been even more “unbearable” than Waco. He holds his son and his wife as he watches the news, grieving for parents whose children have died.