Evelyn Park Shame is Not Her Middle Name BY KENDRA CARPENTER Evelyn Park is a walking miracle. Over the course of 16 hours, Evelyn was sexually assaulted and nearly beaten to death. Not by a stranger, but by her husband — a man she had known for 30 years who had never shown one sign of violence. Evelyn first met her assailant while attending high school with his younger sisters. They both went on to lead their own lives: getting married, having kids, and getting divorced. They later reconnected in their adult years and began dating. Eventually, he moved into Evelyn’s Pickaway County home; they later married. Shortly thereafter, her husband lost his job and his behavior changed — depressed, as Evelyn describes it. He was gone a lot — according to him, he was spending time with his mother in Southern Ohio — and when he was home, he mostly slept. Evelyn says that they would make plans, but he would later want to break them so he could stay home and sleep. She had yet to discover that he was using illicit drugs. Her husband’s “depression” caused other problems in the marriage - gaslighting, as Evelyn recalls. “He was attempting to make me doubt myself,” Evelyn says, “I’m a very organized person, and when I put something away, I know where it should or shouldn’t be. But things just started missing or were moved someplace else — I just couldn’t find things.” She describes one time where she left her phone charger on the counter, and later when she returned for it, it was gone. “He said to me, ‘I don’t know where it is, you must have done something with it.’ Yet, I know that wasn’t the case,” Evelyn says. Evelyn says that her husband never showed any signs of violence. Although, she is aware that her father-in-law, Orvel, physical abused his wife, but they never divorced. Upon his death, there were those who worried about what her mother-in-law would do without Orvel. As any strong woman would, Evelyn told them that “she can do any damn thing she wants to do,” because after what the women endured, she deserved to. In January 2018, about a year after their own wedding, the couple were preparing to attend his son’s wedding in Chillicothe. The night before, her husband left home and did not return until about 4 a.m. Evelyn says that they did not discuss his whereabouts, because they were in a rush to get ready and meet up friends with whom they were driving. Evelyn reports that the wedding went off without a hitch, but when the reception started, her husband disappeared again. He came and went about three times without any explanation. After the third disappearing act, Evelyn was done. She drew him to a private corner and asked him what was going on. She says that her husband pulled her into a bear hug, declared, “I’m Orvel” and pushed her to the ground. Recalling her violent father-in-law Orvel, she called 911, because she knew immediately that she was in danger. Law enforcement arrived. No arrest was made, but her husband was told not to return to the residence; he left with his sister to an unknown destination. Evelyn sent a text to him stating ENVISIONPROVENSUCCESS.COM | 15 PHOTOS COURTESY OF EVELYN PARK
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