The news about Annie Le MED ’13 brought back terror for me. My daughter, a grad student at Yale, was mugged at knife-point by a masked man outside her apartment building at 8 p.m. on a November evening in 2004. She was less than 15 feet from the front door of her double security locked building. She was aware of her surroundings. She did not take risks. Her purse, cellphone and change were taken. The scars of the event are still with her.

She and we (her parents) immediately contacted New Haven Police, who did nothing. I called my daughter’s cell phone, talked to the man who mugged her and gave the police his name. Still they did nothing. My daughter has spent a lot of time in counseling to deal with the trauma associated with that event.

Each August, I think of the many parents who are taking their children to Yale to leave them in a strange city with high hopes of success and accomplishment. I have often hoped that Yale’s staff and faculty would invite parents or students who have been mugged or assaulted on the streets of New Haven to speak to the new students and parents. Despite our complaints to the police department, letters to the News and contact with Yale, we never received an acknowledgment of this event and the trauma it caused.

I am so sorry for the loss that Annie Le’s family has suffered and will suffer forever. The law enforcement community seems to have gotten on this situation quickly. But that has not always been the case. Something should be done about the lack of security or the lack of police follow-up when things happen. Please know that the Le family is in my thoughts and prayers.

Bernadetter Durkin

Leesburg, Va.

Sept. 14