In Tucson, Arizona, three 17-year-old girls are headed home after a day of hanging out during summer vacation. Its approximately10:00 p.m. and they are waiting to take their bus home. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a man with a bandana covering his face and a machete in hand proceeds to slash one of the girls' faces. One of her friends attempts to intervene, but she was also attacked. The alleged perpetrator, Rickey Russell, flees the scene, but his alleged crimes do not end with these girls. He allegedly goes out again later that night and attempts to rob and carjack two other people at two different locations.

It should come as no surprise that Russell has a criminal history that includes disorderly conduct, criminal damage, assault, marijuana possession and possession of drug paraphernalia.

As a mom and a true crime blogger, these are the types of cases that hit me hardest -- the ones involving kids just innocently doing the things that kids do. I imagine my own daughter at that age, just innocently hanging out with friends, waiting for the bus to take them home and then being confronted by a criminal who wants to harm her without reason or provocation. Truthfully, it makes you never want to let your children out of your sight.

Whenever I read about these cases on the net, I almost always browse the reader comments so I can get an idea of where most people stand on cases like this. In this particular case, which I originally found at Tucsoncitizen.com, I agreed with the majority of the comments, as most were sympathetic toward the victims, but as usual there were also a select few that blamed both the victims and their parents. None of those posters mentioned the heinous nature of the crime or the criminal. While the people who comment never come right out and say, "It's their own fault for being out so late," the message is implied. So for all intent and purposes, they are blaming the victims.

It seems like no matter what the case, or who the victims are, there are always a handful of people who blame them.

Another great example is the Jessica Lunsford case. When 9-year-old Jessica went missing from her bed in February 2005, a great number of people focused on Mark Lunsford and his family. They were convinced that the Lunsford's had something to do with Jessica's disappearance. After all, who would be brazen enough to pull a child from their own home and kidnap them? Yet, even after Jessica's body was found and John Evander Couey was named a suspect, some people still focused on the Lunsford's, questioning their lifestyle, and essentially blaming Mark Lunsford for not being home when his daughter disappeared.

We seem to live in a world where picking apart the victim or their family has become the norm. It seems as though there are people who never accept the victims at face value for what they truly are -- victims. Instead, we live in a world where people criticize victims and their families. Their typical phrases are "I would never," "I could never," or "It won't happen to me because...."

I suspect there will always be people who misplace blame. There will always be people who scrutinize every little detail of the victim and their family's lives, instead of focusing on the criminal. My hope is that one person will read this and say, "Yeah, this could happen to me."

We all have the potential to become victims and we all have the potential to be blamed for that victimization.

Rickey Russell's Photo Courtesy of Tucson Police Department

Please note that Investigation Discovery does not necessarily endorse any of the views expressed by guest bloggers and Investigation Discovery is not responsible for the information contained in guest posts.

Police in southeast London, England, have made an arrest in the case of a serial predator who has allegedly been sexually assaulting sheep in Chislehurst.

Metropolitan Police raided a Dulwich home yesterday morning and arrested a 27-year-old man, after his DNA was matched to a pair of jogging shorts that was found at the scene of a sexual assault that took place last month at Tong's Farm in Botany Bay Lane. During the raid, police also found drugs and a large amount of cash. The suspect, who has not been identified, was taken into custody on suspicion of bestiality and suspicion of drug possession with intent to supply.

According to News.bbc.co.uk, police are also investigating reports that the suspect took photographs of the sheep before he sexually assaulted them.

Investigators are aware of at least six separate sexual assaults that have occurred over the last three months.

The most recent incident, the one which led to the suspect’s arrest, occurred on the evening of June 16, when two joggers witnessed a tall black man sexually assaulting a sheep in a pasture near Tongs Farm on Botany Bay Lane. The man ran off when he saw the two joggers, but in his frenzy, he forgot to put his jogging shorts back on and left them behind at the scene. The two joggers notified police, who went to the scene and took the discarded shorts as evidence.

One month prior, on May 16, a stable girl was witness to another sexual assault on a sheep.

"I saw him in broad daylight. I was in the yard and only looked over because all the sheep were running," Chloe Williams, 18, told Bromleytimes.com. "He was trying to grab a sheep, and when I confronted him, he said he was trying to find his wallet. I was appalled. Then he ran off, after hurdling some fences. He's very athletic."

Similar to the June incident, the perpetrator left articles of clothing at the scene.

In addition to the eyewitness accounts, police were recently notified that two sheep were found dead in a field. During the investigation, police found a discarded item of clothing nearby, leading to speculation that the deaths are connected to the other cases.

If convicted on the bestiality charges, the suspect faces a maximum sentence of two years in prison.

Bromley Police are asking anyone with information about the crimes to contact them at 01689 891212 or Crimestoppers at 0800 555 111.

Photo Credit: iStock

Earlier this week, Investigation Discovery spoke with Mesa County Sheriff's spokeswoman Heather Benjamin, who said that Birgfeld's disappearance remains an "active investigation" with three full-time detectives dedicated to the case.

Last year, investigators named 56-year-old Lester Ralph Jones, a man who was allegedly a client of Paige's escort service, as a person of interest in the case. Jones lives approximately 12 miles from Birgfeld's estate and he is employed at an RV repair shop across the street from where the victim's burned car was discovered on July 1, 2007.

According to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, Jones has a previous criminal record that includes a five-year prison sentence for first-degree assault and second-degree attempted kidnapping convictions.

Mesa County Sheriff's investigators have conducted two searches of Jones's home. However, the warrants remain sealed and whether anything was found is unknown to the public.

Last month, CBS covered the Birgfeld case on its primetime show, 48 Hours. During the episode, it was reported that there is evidence tying Jones to Birgfeld the night that she disappeared. A source close to the investigation allegedly told the producers that the last conversation Birgfeld had was with someone who was using a throwaway phone. That same source told the producers that investigators have surveillance footage from a store that shows Jones purchasing the phone.

Benjamin would not confirm or deny the information released by 48 Hours.

"We have not publicly talked about [Jones's] or anyone's cell phone records," Benjamin said. "[48 Hours] mentioned that he had a prepaid phone from Wal-Mart and I believe that may have been mentioned by our district attorney, but it has not been talked about by our sheriff."

Regarding Jones, Benjamin would only say, "He remains our sole person of interest."

For the last several months, the Jennifer and Abby Recovery Foundation has been searching the hills of Grand Valley for Birgfeld's body. The organization spends several hours a week scouring the countryside. The searches are vital to the investigation since each one helps eliminate potential disposal locations.

During a recent interview with Gjsentinel.com, Mesa County District Attorney Pete Hautzinger said that he does not need Birgfeld's body to file charges. However, he admitted that without a body, it would be difficult to get a conviction.

"The lack of a body or any ability to prove cause of death is a major, major problem in a homicide prosecution," he said.

Hautzinger declined to comment on rumors that his office will present the case to a grand jury.

For now, the mystery of Paige Birgfeld's disappearance remains unsolved.

Paige Birgfeld was last seen in a blue tube top and blue jeans, driving her 2005 Ford Focus. She is described as 5 feet 4 inches tall and weighs 110 pounds. She has sandy blond hair and hazel eyes. Anyone with information about her disappearance should call the Mesa County Sheriff's Office at 970-244-3500.

Photo courtesy of Mesa County Sheriff's Office