Help Me Hank: After losing daughter, family fights for closure

SOUTHFIELD, Mich. – For almost 30 years, Bina Emery's family waited for an answer to her disappearance.

Bina was 14 years old when she vanished in 1988.

"She left with friends and she just never came back," said Bina's stepmother, Sheryl Emery. "You think, where is she? Is she cold? Is she hungry?"

Bina's case unfolded before Amber Alerts, Facebook or other methods on the Internet and social media that spread information.

In addition to dealing with the devastation of losing a child, the Emery family also faced a hurdle: Sheryl and her husband, Denorval, are deaf.

"A person who could hear could easily go into the police department report my child is missing. For a deaf person, it's not that easy," Sheryl Emery said.

New discovery, new challenge

In April, the family got news that a DNA match had been made between a previously unidentified body of a girl who was found in the Detroit River. The body had never been identified because it was so badly decomposed. But a new DNA program run by the Michigan State Police had cracked the case. The body was identified as Bina.

The family finally had their answer -- and began planning a memorial for their daughter. But again, they hit a roadblock.

The family was trying to collect death benefits from a policy that covered their daughter in 1988. The policy was through her father's then employer, Chrysler. Since 1988, Chrysler had changed insurance providers.

It took awhile to figure out which provider was responsible for the Emery's policy. But the search finally led to Aetna.

The family was required by Aetna to provide documentation.

"We provided them with his employment ID number, his Social Security number, Bina's Social Security number, proof of her death, birth certificate," Sheryl Emery said.

However, the information wasn't enough for the insurance company to locate the information to pay the death benefit. There were requests for more information from 27 years ago.

"We don't have pay stubs and deductions from 27 years ago," Sheryl Emery said.

Bina's father said Aetna kept promising to look into it, but he was getting frustrated as the months kept going by. 

"We'll check it out. Called again, the second month, called again the third month, called again the fourth month," Denorval Emery said.

Family reaches out to Help Me Hank

After almost five months, the Emerys made a call to Help Me Hank. The consumer unit reached out to Aetna and an investigation got underway. Within 48 hours. the insurance company was able to locate the records and overnighted a check to the Emerys.

"There was an express waiting for us at the front door with the benefits payment in it," said Sheryl Emery.

The money helped the family pay for Bina's memorial. There are still many questions about Bina's death that are still unanswered. Police said the medical examiner could not determine a cause of death. 

"I was glad that she was in heaven with Jesus Christ," Denorval Emery said.

Sheryl Emery is an advocate for the deaf community. She agreed to share her story with this hope in mind: "I'm hoping if anything comes out of this, organizations, insurance agencies, police departments think about deaf people and make sure deaf people have access as required by law." 

A spokesman for Aetna said the company overnighted the check because so much time had elapsed in the search for documentation. Aetna is also using this experience to review it's procedures and improve them in the future. 

 

One final note, Help Me Hank would like to thank Deaf CAN! for providing an interpreter to help with the interview with Bina Emery's parents. The Deaf Community Advocacy Network is a non-profit organization established in 1981 to provide services to the thousands of Deaf and Hard of Hearing people living in Metro-Detroit.