NORTH BLOOMFIELD — Five years ago, the county breathed a collective sigh of relief when a toddler last seen wearing a purple shirt with snowflake sequins was found alive in a field with a wet diaper, but without injury.

But no one was more relieved than Dora Mae and Richard Peterson, Rainn Peterson’s great-grandparents, who would be made the legal guardians of the then 2-year-old and her siblings shortly after a volunteer searcher noticed a tuft of purple in an area that already had been searched.

Though Rainn, 7, and her brothers, Legion, 9, and Lucian, 8, now live normal lives in the Petersons’ farmhouse on state Route 45 in North Bloomfield — or at least as normal as the coronavirus pandemic will allow — Dora Mae and Richard still have questions about what happened to Rainn during the two days she was gone. And so does the former sheriff who led the search and investigation.

AFTER

No one will ever know what really happened that weekend, said former Trumbull County Sheriff Thomas Altiere.

“I always believed there was foul play, but we never could prove anything,” he said.

And the Petersons concur. The couple has their suspicions, but there was never enough evidence to pursue a case, they said.

Richard Peterson said little clues make him believe she wasn’t outside the whole time, such as her diaper was only wet, but not dirty. And, there are coyotes in the area, often close enough to the house to hear, Richard said.

If someone did take the girl, but brought her back to be found in their field, Richard and Dora Mae said they can’t fathom the mindset of the person who would have left her there, not knowing if she would be found before a coyote came by or night set in.

Polygraphs were given and computers were searched, but no leads turned up anything.

OCT. 2, 2015

Rainn and her brothers were playing around 6 p.m. Oct. 2, 2015, in the basement, a colorfully decorated playroom with neatly organized toy boxes and craft supplies, and, now, learning stations that serve as a classroom for the kids’ first-, second-, and fourth-grade instruction as their great-grandparents guide them through their lessons. While the kids played in the basement, Dora Mae made dinner while Richard used a computer. When dinner was ready, Rainn was nowhere to be found. Only one door in the house was unlocked, and it was a difficult door to open, and Rainn’s family didn’t think it was possible for her to open it on her own.

By 6:15 p.m., Dora Mae and Richard were searching the house frantically. They began to look around the house, and neighbors joined. By 7:25 p.m. that night, the Trumbull County Sheriff’s Office was called, and shortly thereafter the FBI, the Ohio Bureau of

Criminal Investigation, U.S. Marshal and other local departments were called for assistance. Officers and volunteers searched throughout the night Friday and all day Saturday, as the temperature dropped and cold rain fell. Nearly an inch fell while Rainn was missing and temperatures were as low as 42 degrees. Rainn had on a long sleeve shirt and leggings.

Officials used search dogs, infrared heat equipment, helicopters, foot patrols, all-terrain vehicles and other tools to help, but found nothing. Police turned the Petersons’ house and out buildings inside out, making sure she wasn’t inside — even checking between the mattress and a box spring in the bedroom, Dora Mae said.

A command center was set up in the Bristol Town Hall just south of the Petersons’ home. The Red Cross came and 17 public safety agencies like police departments and fire departments sent in searchers.

“We had a huge map set up. I remember crossing off the places that were already covered in the search,” former Sheriff Thomas Altiere said.

If the search had happened today, he thinks the use of drones would have helped find Rainn sooner.

“With the way they are set up today, I wish we had those drones to use,” he said.

More people volunteered than the command officials could use. At one point, 300 people filled the Bristol Fire Department, hoping to help.

News of the disappearance spread and national and regional media flocked to cover the story alongside local news outlets. Seven psychics called to describe their “visions” and offer tips. Officials followed through on the tips, checking tractor ruts filled with water. Other callers thought they saw Rainn in restaurants, gas stations and stores, and one hospital called to see if a girl they were treating was the missing toddler.

RECOVERED

“I couldn’t sleep. You get so attached to the case, it was like looking for your own child,” Altiere said.

The lowest point came around 4 p.m. Oct. 4, about two hours before Rainn was found, when the FBI experts called a meeting to say the search would soon turn from a rescue effort into a recovery of a body, Altiere said.

“I just got chills,” he said.

When Victor Sutton spotted that bit of purple in the field from his ATV, Rainn was on the verge of spending a third night outside, if that is where she was the whole time she was gone. Dora Mae, Richard and Altiere have their doubts.

In an interview with the Tribune Chronicle shortly after the rescue, Sutton described finding Rainn.

She was about three-fourths of a mile from the Petersons’ house, near Peck Leach Road.

He noticed a home nearby and almost didn’t go that way, figuring the owners might have checked their property already. But, he said he followed his instincts when he saw the grass there hadn’t been disturbed.

“There is a lot of purple out there this time of year. A lot of purple flowers. But I just happened to see solid purple, it was out of place. And then I saw the hair, her blonde hair and I thought, it has to be her.”

He rode a little closer, near the bed of a mostly dry creek. He said he was certain what he saw was a child.

“Of course I thought she passed, she was lying still, in a pile. My heart was broken. There was a flood of emotions, in a matter of seconds. But then I yelled out her name, in a sharp and abrupt manner, a voice I use to startle my own kids instantly.”

“Her body shook … she lifted her head … turned her face to me … and then she opened her eyes.”

Flies were swarming around her, and her hair was matted. But he called it in, picked her up and waited as first responders raced through the field toward them.

Altiere said he can still feel elation when thinking about catching a glimpse of the wet toddler who was found just before dusk that Sunday.

RAINN

“Rainn has grown up normal. She can be ornery with the boys. She goes between mothering them and bossing them. If they get hurt, she is first there to tend to them with an ice pack, but is the first to put her fists up, too. She is a tough little girl,” Dora Mae said.

Rainn is a Girl Scout, her brothers are Boy Scouts, and she loves to dance. The family, like others across the country, has had to adapt to the strains the pandemic places on education. The kids are doing online learning, which fourth-grader Legion referred to as a “nightmare.”

It hasn’t been easy, Dora Mae said. Books required for assignments weren’t issued, and there have been other hiccups. The family set up computers and desks for the kids in the basement and Dora Mae helps them practice their spelling, reading, math and other subjects.

“I learn something new sometimes, too,” she said. The kids say the Pledge of Allegiance each morning with a quilted flag Dora Mae sewed, and mark each school day on the calendar together. The three siblings share a rotating list of chores and have to put their toys away before getting new ones out.

The Petersons lost three sons, all young when they died.

“We were left with no children. You never expect to outlive your children. But the Lord sent us these great-grandchildren to take care of,” Dora Mae said.

“To keep us busy in our old age,” Richard said.

The couple gave up their square dancing and participation in other shared activities to focus on the kids after getting custody of the three.

“If we can’t take the kids, we don’t go,” she said.

TODAY

Rainn has no memory of the ordeal that led to her picture being plastered on television screens and the front page of newspapers. Though she was admitted to the hospital after she was found, she had no serious injuries and no lasting effects from the mysterious incident, Dora Mae and Richard said.

“It was a nightmare. And still, to this day, if she is out of sight for a second, I have to know where she is immediately,” Dora Mae said.

“It panics her,” Richard said.

In addition to that worry, Dora Mae said her greatest fear now is what will happen to the three kids if she and Richard die before they are adults. Richard just turned 80 and Dora Mae is close to 80 herself.

“I wish I could take years off my age, so I could know that I will be around to see their graduations and watch them go off to college and know they are on their way to becoming responsible adults,” she said. “But you can’t do that, you can’t subtract time from your age… What would happen to them if we aren’t here? We are their stability. We are mom and dad. I just want to know they are headed in the right direction before we go.”

The children refer to Dora Mae and Richard as mom and dad. The kids’ grandfather was their son, but he died young in a motorcycle crash when their mother was just a baby.

Like other grandparents and great-grandparents, the Petersons became the guardians of the kids because of the instability substance-use disorders can cause in the lives of the people who suffer from them.

“There are many grandparents doing the job of parents today. It used to be that once you reach our age, great-grandparents don’t have a large role in raising the kids. But now, if a parent is out of the picture and the grandparents can’t do it, it falls on the next generation,” Dora Mae said.

Reporter Guy Vogrin contributed to this report.

rfox@tribtoday.com