Tag Archives: Toni Ingram

Every Life Matters – put a stop to murder!

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everylifematters

Every life matters.  Morgan’s life mattered.  Morgan was loved & she is missed.

No one had permission to end her life at the young age of 20. She had her whole life ahead of her and now the people that decided to do just that must be held accountable.  They must be investigated – Morgan deserves justice.  Morgan’s loved ones, friends and the community she lived in all deserve to see her receive justice.

2016 is the year for JUSTICE!

Arrest Made in the Ashley Olsen Case

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There has been an arrest made in the Ashley Olsen case.

Her beagle was found at the same time as her body in her apartment. Beagles, as most dog people know, are big barkers – which leads me to wonder if Ashley’s murderer attacked and subdued her dog, just as happened in an attack on someone I personally know who’s husky was thrown down the stairs, and locked out of her room, when the dog lunged towards the attacker while it was trying to protect her.

It is so very sad.  http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jan/14/ashley-olsen-man-held-suspicion-murder-florence

How Do Criminals Get Away With Crimes?

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handcuffsThere are many reasons criminals get away with crimes and one reason is the lack of shared information between law enforcement agencies.  This is an eye opener for most people – it was for me.  Did you know that the following 8 law enforcement districts are all within a 15 minute to an hour drive from each other, and some are just across the street from one another?  With this jurisdictional overlap I have been told that a criminal can get arrested in one jurisdiction (let’s suppose it is the City of Carbondale), but just one block over the jurisdictional line (let’s say in the County of Garfield where Morgan was murdered – our house was in Carbondale BUT it was not within the city limits, so it was patrolled by the sheriffs not the police) the records of those crimes are not shared with the other law enforcement agency.  So it is feasible that a woman that is being stalked, or has been raped, and is only within a 5 minute drive away (or less) from the same crime that has happened to another woman, the information and MO on that crime is not shared, so the other law enforcement agency would have no idea they are dealing with a serial offender.  I don’t know what you think, but for me this revelation was outrageous considering the technological age we now live in!  This makes it extremely easy for a criminal to believe he has a good chance of never being caught…and he would be right.
So people always ask me, “What could be changed in order to stop these types of serial crimes?”  And this is one of my suggestions…a database of crimes committed that the different jurisdictions can access I believe is imperative in order to identify and stop serial offenders.
Here is the list of police & sheriffs departments that are included in the list of agencies that are all very close to one another and overlap, but do not share this type of crime information with each other.  These are all in the valley that Morgan lived in and grew up in – a valley that we thought was so safe.  It is not the fault of law enforcement that they do not have this “tool” in order to share information.  It is up to the voters to insist on an allocation of funds to make this kind of a database and app available to these officers.
Aspen Police Department
Pitkin County Sheriff Department
Snowmass Village Police Department
Basalt Police Department
Eagle County Sheriff Department
Carbondale Police Department
Garfield County Sheriff Department
Glenwood Springs Police Department
Roaring_Fork_Valley_Map
Morgan was murdered on 12/2/2011. Just weeks after Morgan’s murder the main “suspect” in her stalking was arrested on a warrant. The Glenwood Springs police issued a warrant for him on 12/19/11 and then it was “suppressed from public access” (why?), but then on 12/27/11 they “unsealed” it and he was arrested. It was written up in the Post Independent newspaper, then I received a phone call to inform me about the article.  I immediately called the lead detective in charge of Morgan’s felony stalking case and he said he was not aware of the arrest, but would look into it.  He knew things were stolen from Morgan’s room the night of her murder, and I thought there was a possibility that something from her room may have been included in the jewelry that was sold to this cash for gold business.  But every time I asked the detective about it he said the police had not met with him yet to give him the details.  Finally I went Steve & I went in to the cash for gold shop and showed them the suspect’s picture and asked about the sale.  The person in the shop recognized the picture and said the “suspect” was a regular customer, she said the police had confiscated jewelry from the last sale he made and they could not show us records because they did not keep records.  We then returned home and told all of this to detective Glassmire.  We later found out that detective Glassmire then went to the cash for gold store only to show them our pictures to confirm that we had really been there asking questions and then he wrote in his report that he was going to site the store for not keeping records, and then later mentioned he would have the Glenwood police site them instead.  What was that all about?
So in summation it was a different case, in a different jurisdiction (even though it’s was just a 20 minute drive from our house).  There had been a warrant for the sale of stolen jewelry, and when they pulled him over they found drugs, and a scale, etc. in his vehicle, so they arrested him on felony distribution.  I think his friend later confessed to stealing the jewelry and giving it to him so that one particular charge was dropped and the other charges were plead down. So yes, those police officers in that jurisdiction knew nothing of Morgan’s jewelry being stolen, and when I went in to look at the police report the police records officer could not find it, so she sent me to the DA’s office.  I was then told in the DA’s office that they could not find it either, but suggested that maybe an investigator had it on his desk and would need to call me back.  Now at this point it had been over 3 months since the arrest and they told me it “should” be in the computer, but was not.  I was told by the police that it should have been public record at that time.  After filling out a bunch of paperwork an investigator from the DA’s office called me back to talk to me, and he was not very happy with me. He firmly (he actually sounded angry) told me if I wanted any information I should call the lead sheriff’s detective on our daughter’s case and not them – and again what was that all about?  So this is why it is crucial for the laws to change and for multiple jurisdictions to share information about crimes.
It was so hard for me to comprehend why we were continually getting the run-around back then, but I have learned a lot over the past 4 years.  I will continue to share the information that I have learned in the hopes that someday things can and will change for the better.  Take care and always remember each and every one of us can make big changes in this world.  Don’t just believe what you are told – get the facts, and do the research. That is my suggestion.

A Fairy Wedding…

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Morgan 006It was a beautiful fairy wedding, on a beautiful August day in the mountains.  Morgan’s older sister was getting married, the weather was gorgeous, the views were outstanding, the girls dresses, along with their “wings” were ethereal.  Everything was perfect and as I glanced at Morgan’s sweet face I couldn’t help thinking of what Morgan’s wedding would be like someday.

A few weeks later I asked Morgan if she ever thought about what her wedding might look like some day.  Well let me tell you…our very practical little Morgan looked me straight in the eyes and said, “After seeing all the hassle and money spent on my sister’s wedding I have decided I am not going to have a big wedding.  If I decide to get married I will just have a few good friends and you, dad, my sister and brother, and that’s it.”  She told me she would never let us give her a big wedding.  I tried to explain to her that it’s so nice to have memories that come with having a big wedding with lots of friends and relatives, but she held firm.  So I decided to drop it – thinking she would change her mind when the time came…that time never came for Morgan – her life was snuffed away long before she was to ever become a bride.  Morgan was right – we will never be able to give her a big wedding.  She will no longer graduate with a law degree like she planned, she will no longer have 3 children like she planned, she will no longer get to go on a trip to Europe and Lithuania like she planned.  She is no longer of this earth and is no longer making any plans for her future – her future was stolen from her the night she was murdered.  Now instead of planning a wedding for Morgan someday I look into the future and pray for an investigation, arrests and indictments with a trial in order for Morgan to receive justice one day. And I will NEVER stop believing – I know it will happen.

Morgan and Me :)

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April 04 014 copyLooking back on old photos and remembering all the fun times we had together.  I am trying so hard right now to focus on all the wonderful times instead of focusing on the fact that Morgan’s case is still not being investigated.

This Thanksgiving I gave thanks for all the magical years I was able to spend with Morgan.  I miss her more than I could ever explain – a piece of my heart will forever be gone with her, but I want to be able to look through pictures of her and smile because those were such wonderfully precious and fun times.

I am also so grateful to all the amazing people that have stood by our family throughout this whole ordeal.  Some people that we thought would always be there for us are no longer around, but others have been there for us the entire last 4 years, and I will never have words that are sufficient enough to describe what their support has meant to me.  I honestly don’t think I could have continued on without the love and kindness of so many wonderful souls.

ying yangThroughout history there have always been good people, and bad people…the dark and the light, the ying and the yang. One can not really exist without the other I have always been told.  After what happened to Morgan it was easy for me to sit up one morning and ask myself, “Why am I fighting for justice when it seems like the whole world is against it?  What is the point?  Bad things will just keep happening to others no matter how hard I try to stop it.”  But then it was almost as if Morgan poked me in my side with her finger – I really did feel a “poke.”  I looked around, no one was there.  But I knew Morgan wasn’t about to let me go down that path.  I snapped out of it, and with renewed determination decided I may be just one person, but I can make a difference, we all can…especially if we try hard enough.  I can’t give up because I have now seen so many wonderful, kind and strong people in the world that are making a difference on a daily basis, so I might as well join in.  We all have a choice in this life and I choose the light.  I have not lost hope in humanity, quite the contrary, I have a stronger renewed view of humanity now after these past 4 years, thanks to the strength and kindness of so many people.  I love them all so very much and I am grateful for each and every one of them.  Justice for Morgan!