This morning I woke up and called the Carbondale Police Department – they told me because of the location of our address (we live in Garfield County, not the city of Carbondale), this is a case for the Garfield Sheriff’s Department. I now call the Sheriff’s dispatch line and explain what has happened. They send out an officer – Sheriff’s Officer E. V. arrives and speaks with us – he writes on his business card, case # 11-18615 and hands it to me when he arrives. He looks around the outside of the house and points out footprints under the windows, under the office bathroom window (where Morgan showered) & right up against the outside wall, where Morgan’s bedroom and bathroom windows are! It was very upsetting to see those prints pushed right up against the house, putting the stalkers face as close as possible to her bedroom window, as though his/her nose was pushed against the glass. How long had he been standing there watching her?
The officer explains to me, after he called his office, that he is not allowed to take castings of the footprints at this point, or gather any evidence, as it is not yet a felony stalking case, only a misdemeanor trespassing case (according to Colorado law), so Morgan’s dad takes pictures of the prints himself. The officer tells us about a case the previous summer on Ponderosa Drive (right down the road from us in the Blue Creek Subdivision, right off County Road 100 – we are in the Aspen Equestrian Estates subdivision right behind the Aspen Equestrian Ranch, which faces County Road 100) where there were approximately 4 or 5 separate incident reports of someone tapping on windows last summer. The last incident was of a girl/woman that heard noises and then heard a trash can fall over, so she ran out of the front door (thinking she might see a bear), but instead saw a white male in a hoodie staring at her, she ran back into the house and called 911. The officers (canine unit) were close by, and had their tracking dog with them. They tracked the suspect all the way back to the Carbondale Mini Storage parking lot on County Road 100, where the dog lost the scent…the perp probably went through the irrigation ditch or the river to elude the dog. The sheriff said they did get a good description from the girl/woman. Morgan went on her computer minutes after the officer left. Her computer shows she pulled up a map of the area of the Blue Creek Subdivision that the officer was talking about. Morgan always researched everything – it was so painful after her death for Steve to see what she screen-captured on the different days of her stalking. She was a strong, intelligent and determined young woman. At this time we thought the officer would write up a report, as the Colorado law states law enforcement should do, but years later this was one of most incidents of stalking that were called in, but there was no report, other than he was at our house and it was listed as a suspicious event…no details, no notes…why? So please remember, if you are ever in a situation of stalking, always ask to be provided with a copy of each report, of each and every incident that the officers respond to, along with getting their cards.
* We would love to hear a first hand account of what happened in the Blue Creek Subdivision the summer of 2010 – if any of you know anything about those incidents please contact us using our tip line on this website, or email or call us…this would be extremely helpful as we feel that Morgan’s stalker could very well be a serial stalker.
When this case eventually became a felony stalking case, many, many weeks later, and a detective was assigned to Morgan’s case, we asked him – can you find out if the description of the stalker they had in Blue Creek fits the M.O. of what is happening here? We were told by two of the first sheriff’s patrol officers that the tapping on windows (the summer of 2010) stopped after the dog tracking incident at the end of last summer, at the same time it also became cold out – we were told that maybe this is a seasonal stalker? So later on, after we asked the detective if he could find out if any of our suspects were living around the Blue Creek subdivision last summer, or maybe the person drove past this area (maybe for work or for some other reason), but the detective said he checked and so no reports about those incidents!!!
Morgan goes to stay at a friends house, while her dad and I go to Eagle later that afternoon. At 4:48 pm I sent Morgan a text message, “How’s it going? Still in Eagle” 5:03 pm Morgan texts back, “Just chillin‘ will you call when your’e coming through?” I text back at 5:45 pm, “will do” At this point we need to keep in touch with Morgan to make sure she is never home alone without one of us there with her. She is scared, so she is very cooperative for a 19-year-old girl, who is usually never afraid of anything. She texts me back again at 7:10 pm, “Thanks!” At 7:53 pm I text Morgan, “On our way from Glenwood to pick you up – I’ll text you when we get there. Should we go where we dropped you off?” Morgan texted back, “text me when you’re out front?” I wrote back, “OK” and and couple of minutes later I said, “Come out.”
Morgan’s dad installed the outdoor motion alarm after we got home. That evening it was quiet, Morgan was still sleeping in her my closet and showering in our master bathroom – she heard no tapping – Steve and I walked around our house before going to bed, to look for anything suspicious, and I noticed the folding red chair that had been behind our next door neighbors house (the one I had pointed out to the officer earlier in the day), was gone. This chair had looked strangely out of place earlier in the day, when I noticed it. It was now sitting on their deck (it was in the grass just off the deck), I had never seen that chair there before, and it was facing our house, and hidden behind a big pine tree. The chair had been there earlier today when the sheriff’s officer was here. We told the officer our neighbors had not been at their house this month. Could the stalker have been sitting in the chair and listening to us through our open bedroom windows, while we discussed what we should do about this situation? You could definitely hear our voices, through our bedroom windows, especially since my voice carries, and we had the windows, in the rooms we were in, open in the evenings and closing them before we went to sleep, due to the hot temperatures during the day…we wanted to cool down the house in the evenings. Tomorrow night Morgan’s dad really does believe the stalker has been listening to us through our open bedroom windows that were on either side of our bed – but we realized we could no longer lie in bed with our windows open and talk…we no longer had privacy…we were now all targets. On tomorrow’s blog you will see why.
Click here to read about the 9th day of Morgan’s stalking https://morgansstalking.com/?p=503
Hello, saw your story on Dr. Phil today. Definitely odd goings on. I am so sorry for your incredible loss and wish you much strength and courage to keep going. How long have you lived at your current address? Why I ask: if it has only been a few years, could someone have mounted cameras INSIDE your home before you moved in? attic? vents? I know its sick to even have to wonder such a thing, but… the stalker seems to SEE too much from just an outside window. Stay strong. You are doing the right thing.
Awesome idea, Teresa. If there had been repeated stalkings in the past with other neighbors, it could very well be. The father of one of the accused was the head of the association and had the key code to everyone’s houses. Morgan’s mom said she heard someone trying to type in the code (could hear the beeping of the numbers.) It could very well be that there were cameras installed, they said it was a house that was in foreclosure for a long time. Plus, the cops in this area have been known to not thoroughly investigate murders, they call them suicides first. More people die in that town from suicides than auto accidents according to a Denver newsite.
To Morgan’s parents- I am SO sorry for all you have been through. I believe you. I do believe that the police need to re-open this case. I would suggest starting a petition on change.org. You will have a LOT of supporters, me included.
Thanks Maya we do have a petition with change.org you can see the link to the right top side of the blog. Thanks for asking!