Her Story of Grief and Recovery, Husband Died in a Motorcycle Accident. Years Later, Her Son Was Murdered.
West Palm Beach, Fl - The former paramedic, firefighter, and corrections officer shares the story behind her book, “13 Days of Silence,” and the difficult work of rebuilding a life after devastating loss.
Teri Busse spent more than 25 years helping people through emergencies. Then she became the mother waiting for a phone call that would change her life.
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Her son, Rylee James, was missing.
Investigators had discovered a burned vehicle near Leavenworth, Kansas. Human remains were found inside its trunk. Questions about a car were followed by a request for dental records.
For thirteen days after her last contact with Rylee, Busse waited for official confirmation.
She knew how emergencies unfolded. She understood the responsibilities of public safety professionals. But none of that experience could prepare her to hear that her own son had been murdered.
Years earlier, her husband had died in a motorcycle accident. She had struggled with alcohol afterward, entered sober recovery, and spent years rebuilding.
Now, she faced another devastating loss.
On the Law Enforcement Talk Radio Show and Podcast, Busse shares what happened to Rylee, the criminal proceedings that followed, and her continuing life in recovery. Her story also forms the foundation of her book, 13 Days of Silence: A Mother’s Voice from the Ashes.
From Helping Families to Waiting for Answers
As a paramedic, firefighter, and corrections officer, Busse worked in situations that demanded clear thinking under pressure.
There were people to help, conditions to assess, and decisions to make. Even during a frightening event, her professional responsibilities gave her a next step.
Being the mother of a missing son was different.
She could understand why investigators needed time without finding the waiting any less painful. She could recognize the importance of confirming an identification while desperately needing an answer herself.
Her experience brings a deeply personal perspective to the relationship between public safety professionals and the families they serve.
For a responder, an inquiry or update may be one part of an ongoing investigation. For a family, that conversation can become the moment they remember for the rest of their lives.
Busse had seen emergencies from the professional side. Rylee’s disappearance placed her on the other side of the call.
The Thirteen Days Behind “13 Days of Silence”
In February 2022, the discovery of the burned vehicle began a period of uncertainty that Busse would later describe in her book.
The initial inquiries concerned a car. Rylee was missing, and the questions offered no reassuring explanation.
Then investigators requested dental records.
For Busse, the possibility she feared became increasingly difficult to escape. Yet she still had to wait for authorities to confirm the identity of the remains.
The thirteen days ended with the news that Rylee was dead.
That confirmation answered one terrible question. It opened many others about his death, the investigation, and what would happen next.
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13 Days of Silence: A Mother’s Voice from the Ashes follows that experience from a mother’s perspective. It explores the waiting, the loss, and the aftermath that continued long after an identification was made.
The book’s title refers to a specific period. Its story reaches into the years beyond it.
Rylee James’s Murder and the Criminal Case
The investigation into Rylee’s murder became connected to a broader Kansas state-level RICO prosecution involving allegations of a criminal enterprise.
What began for Busse as the search for answers about her son became part of a larger case involving multiple defendants and legal proceedings.
According to her account, two people charged in connection with Rylee’s killing accepted plea deals. Another was acquitted.
For families, courtroom outcomes can carry enormous significance while leaving deeply personal questions unresolved. A proceeding determines legal responsibility under the evidence and the law. It cannot restore the life that was lost.
Busse’s account keeps that loss in view.
Rylee was a son before he became the subject of an investigation. The proceedings became part of his story, but his relationship with his mother remained at its center.
Her book gives readers access to the experience of someone who lived through the uncertainty and then had to continue living after the court appearances and public attention.
Her Husband’s Death and the Path to Sober Recovery
Busse’s experience with grief began years before Rylee’s murder.
After her husband died in a motorcycle accident, she struggled with alcohol. A few years later, she entered sober recovery and has maintained her sobriety for many years.
By the time she lost her son, recovery was already an established part of her life.
That history matters because grief does not arrive separately from everything a person is already carrying. Busse faced Rylee’s death as a mother, a former public safety professional, and someone who had spent years working to remain sober.
Her story makes space for the continuing demands of recovery during a devastating loss. It also shows why conversations about grief need room for complicated histories.
A person can have years of progress behind them and still face an event that makes everyday life extraordinarily difficult.
Busse speaks openly about both her losses and her recovery, bringing those experiences together in her writing and interviews.
Finding a Voice Through Writing and Speaking
“These days, I write and speak about grief, trauma, recovery, resilience, true crime, and what happens when life doesn’t go remotely according to plan,” Busse says.
Her work now includes writing, screenwriting, speaking, and podcasting. She is also a psychology graduate student.
In addition to 13 Days of Silence: A Mother’s Voice from the Ashes, her projects include the screenplay When Silence Never Ends and the podcast 13 Days of Silence: Living in the After
That phrase, “living in the after”, captures an essential part of her experience.
The waiting ended when Rylee was identified. The consequences of his death continued.
There were still responsibilities to meet, relationships to maintain, and decisions about the future. His absence became part of that everyday life.
Through her work, Busse speaks about the ongoing experience of grief. She gives attention to the years that follow a tragedy, when the headlines have faded but the family’s loss remains.
Why Rylee’s Life Must Remain Part of the Story
True crime coverage often follows the investigation toward a courtroom outcome. The discovery, the charges, the plea agreements, and the verdict become the main points audiences remember.
Busse’s writing brings readers back to Rylee.
His life mattered before the crime. His name matters after the proceedings.
A mother’s account adds something that an investigative summary cannot provide: the perspective of a person whose relationship with the victim began long before the case and continues through memory after his death.
By telling her story, Busse helps shape how Rylee is remembered. She also opens a conversation about what families experience when their most painful loss becomes a matter of public interest.
For readers who have faced bereavement or struggled to sustain sober recovery, that honesty may offer a sense of recognition. Someone else is speaking about the difficult work of continuing.
Hear Teri Busse on the Law Enforcement Talk Radio Show and Podcast
Teri Busse’s interview on the Law Enforcement Talk Radio Show and Podcast, explores her son’s murder, the criminal case, her husband’s earlier death, and her long journey in sober recovery.
Her public safety background gives the conversation an additional perspective. She understands the work of people responding to a crisis, and she understands the experience of a family waiting for answers.
At the heart of the interview is Rylee James and the mother who continues to tell his story.
Listen to the free podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or the show’s website. Readers can also explore Busse’s account in her book, 13 Days of Silence: A Mother’s Voice from the Ashes.
Please share the interview on Facebook or Instagram so others facing grief or working to maintain sober recovery can hear the conversation.
For thirteen days, Teri Busse waited to learn what had happened to her son.
Today, she speaks so that Rylee’s name, and the life behind it, will be remembered.
Attributions
Teri Busse
Amazon
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