Rachelle, Mancuso's biological daughter, says she shares a painful bond with Masha. She grew up in the same house with the same secret shame. She says she painfully remembers how her father began molesting her when she, too, was just 5 years old.
After years of abuse, Rachelle's parents divorced when she was 10 years old. But she says the sexual abuse intensified during weekend visitations with her father. After six years of torment, Rachelle claims Mancuso stopped when she reached puberty. No longer interested in Rachelle, the two lost nearly all contact.
Rachelle never revealed the terrible secret about her father to anyone, until the FBI contacted her during their investigation. She now feels that if she had told someone, Masha might have been spared. "It goes through my mind every day and I feel so much guilt," says Rachelle. "And I feel partly responsible for what happened to her, and I beat myself up about it all the time because I feel that it was my fault that I did not say anything."
