Should victims of stalking in Colorado be in fear for their lives?

I will continue to post on this blog about things Morgan like to cook, things she loved to do, and activities that she enjoyed…all in an effort to continue to keep her alive in the minds and hearts of everyone she touched before a stalker took everything from Morgan.  I will not allow her memory to be stolen from us like her physical body was.

The last days of Morgan's bedroom windows with the blinds open...she loved light but didn't want someone peeking in at her.

The last days of Morgan’s bedroom windows with the blinds open…she loved light but didn’t want someone peeking in at her.

That being said, on this blog I would like to say something again about her stalking/murder, and subsequent misrepresentation of the facts of her case by not only law enforcement, but people out on the Internet, people that have no idea about the truth in this case.  What I would like them all to know is:

If the truth doesn’t come out in Morgan’s case then a predatory stalker/murderer (who in my opinion is a sexual sadist) will still be out there on the loose, and will most likely do this again.  We have pictures of the suspect at our house, Morgan identified him many times during the stalking, and the sheriffs knew exactly who the suspect was, and no the suspect was never “cleared”, in fact the following week after Morgan’s murder the “suspect’s” work hours were being collected to be compared to my timeline of the stalking events, Morgan was going to be giving her “official on tape” interview, and the felony stalking detective assured me that he was getting close to making an arrest.  Morgan was frightened, stressed, and exhausted from the stalking, and ultimately lost her life due to her stalker. I know the state of Colorado does not want this to happen to it’s citizens, but if they can not stop a law enforcement agency from lying about, and destroying evidence in a case so there can never be a case, then how can there ever be justice?  What does this say to other victims of stalking in Colorado – that they should be in fear for their lives?  Because so many who have reached out to me for help tell exactly that story – they fear for their lives.  A Garfield County Sheriffs Detective said, “There is no more Morgan, there is no more stalker,”, on the day she died.  Isn’t this sending a message to stalkers that if they kill their victim they won’t get arrested?  In the past Steve and I trusted law enforcement, but now we are far more skeptical.  And as for Garfield County, I have seen them at their worst, and it is not a pretty picture.  Many others have shared their personal experiences as well, and believe me it is not anything any “law abiding” department would be proud of.  And we truly hope when we are finally done with achieving the justice our daughter Morgan deserves, that all those involved in covering up this case will be held accountable.

 

Remembering Morgan in the kitchen… ♥︎

Throughout this blog I have tried to show others that never had the opportunity to meet Morgan just who Morgan was, how she chose to live her life, how she made a difference in the lives of others, and how her bright light is still shining to this day.  I don’t think I could ever explain Morgan with just words…but I have tried.  Morgan wasn’t just a victim of stalking…she wasn’t just a victim of foul play, her life meant so much more than how it ended.  Morgan was a real person, she lived life to it’s fullest, and lifted everyone up with her smile.  Morgan had hopes and dreams, she loved life.  So now I have decided to start to show everyone another part of Morgan – the Morgan that loved different types of food, and loved to share them with others.

Morgan enjoyed making special treats, and desserts for her family in friends.  Everyone was so happy to receive these wonderful gifts from the kitchen.  She would even go on Martha Stewart’s website and follow the directions to learn how to make special little gift boxes to enclose her home made food gifts – that was Morgan for you 🙂

In the last two years of Morgan’s life she also began to learn how to make some of her favorite entrees.  While flipping through some of the recipe books in my bakers rack the other day I came across some of the recipes she had marked in the book.  I started to cry, like I usually do when I miss her, but then I remembered how excited she was to go shopping for all the ingredients, and then cook the recipe for Steve and I, and then I started to smile.  At that very moment I decided I would share with all of you another passion of Morgan’s…cooking.

Morgan always chose organic, and locally grown over anything else, even for her puppies’ food she bought Crystal River Ranch free range beef to incorporate into her own home made dog food https://www.crystalrivermeats.com.  She always loved home made food over store bought food, and after doing some research she had also decided her puppy should eat healthy too.  I will try to find the recipe she used to cook for her puppy, but in the meantime I will start to share the recipes she used to cook for her grateful family.

Here is the first recipe I would like to share with you and in the future I will keep sharing as I come across all the different recipes that she used to make.

Shaping-Gluten-Free-Gnocchi-1Gnocchi with basil sauce.

♥︎ Ingredients to make the gnocchi

1 pound freshly boiled potatoes

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 egg, beaten

sea salt & ground black pepper

ground nutmeg

 

♥︎ Ingredients to make the pesto sauce

1 ounces of fresh basil leaves

1/4 cup of pine nuts

2 cloves of garlic

sea salt & ground black pepper

4 tablespoons of olive oil

the juice of 1/2 lemon

1/3 cup of grated parmesan cheese

☞ Preparation time is about 25 minutes and cooking time is 15 minutes.  This recipe serves 4.

Serve with 2 tablespoons of butter and some grated parmesan cheese…enjoy!

First make the pesto: chop the basil and pine nuts roughly and put into a mortar with the garlic, salt and pepper.  Pound together until reduced to a think paste.  Transfer to a bow, add the oil, a little bit at a time, stirring constantly until thick.  Stir in the lemon juice and parmesan cheese, cover and set aside.

Then make the gnocchi: drain the potatoes well and shake over the heat to dry them thoroughly.  Mash the potatoes very finely, so that there are no lumps.  Beat in the flour, egg, salt, pepper and nutmeg.  Mix till it forms a dough and turn out on to a floured board.  With floured hands, roll small pieces of the dough into small croquettes, about the thickness of your thumb and cut them into bite size pieces.  Press lightly with the prongs of a fork creating four indentations, this will help them to hold the pesto sauce so you will have both the gnocchi and basil sauce in every bite.  Bring some salted water to a boil in a large pan.  Drop the gnocchi, a few at a time, into the boiling water and cook for 3 – 5 minutes.  The gnocchi will rise to the surface and float when they are cooked.  Remove and drain.  Arrange the gnocchi in a buttered serving dish and dot with butter.  Sprinkle with parmesan cheese and pour the basil pesto sauce over the top.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sarah Afshar’s Exclusive Interview with Morgan’s brother Ryan

 

Ryan.Morgan.1999Morgan’s older sister and brother both adored her.  She was their baby sister.  She was 13 years younger than her sister, and 10 years younger than her brother, and she would have been 23 years old this past August 16th.  Her brother Ryan wanted to be able to speak out about what happened to his sister, he wanted to share his inner most feelings about the pain in his heart that he has had ever since Morgan was taken from this world.  There are people “others” on the Internet that want to attack victims and co-victims, and Morgan’s brother has also been attacked.  Up until now he has not come out and said anything, and these “others” have spent a lot of time making up whatever they want as if it came out of his mouth.

It’s very, very sad that people do this kind of thing.  I recently heard that an old friend of mine lost her boyfriend to a heart attack, and even she was attacked on the Internet by people saying very cruel things to her.  She was a person that lost a loved one to natural causes.  Yet they said things like, “He was never your boyfriend” along with really nasty lies…why?  Why do some people have the need to attack others that are grieving for absolutely no reason?  Have they lost their humanity or are they just a product of a very sad reality of their own?  Just like in the most recent tragedy of the loss of Robin Williams.  It has been reported all over the news that “others” attacked his daughter so viciously on social media that she took down all of her sights.  How could people be this cruel?  And the next question I have is why would good logical people ever begin to believe the lies and filth these people try to float?  Why would they even want to read any of the things these people write about?  And my last question on that subject is if any of the “others” really were knowledgable and were ever coming from truth then why are they always anonymous?  Why do they always use fake names, and fake accounts?

I have had people tell me that the “others” on the Internet have said stuff about Steve and I – they said we took out a life insurance policy on Morgan so we don’t want people to know she killed herself.  We never had a life insurance policy taken out on Morgan, or any of our children – why would we?  Our children are supposed to outlive us as parents.  If the mere thought of someone thinking this wasn’t so sick it would almost be laughable, but it’s not, it’s disgusting.  What kind of people think that way?  I wish the others would get a clue – Morgan never committed suicide – Morgan was murdered and there is still a murderer out there. There is ample proof that she was murder in a horrific way and If you knew your daughter had been murdered, if you had seen and heard the evidence that proves she was murdered would you just sit back and let her murder be swept under the rug?  Would you just allow false allegations to be tossed around without trying to bring the truth to light? I don’t think so.  Yes, it’s painful, but it is a reality and something we have to do, and there is no getting around that fact.

The loss of his sister has been extremely hard on Ryan.  He was so filled with anger for the first 2 years he couldn’t talk about it, but now he wants justice and has faith that Steve and I will be able to keep pushing forward until Morgan’s case gets opened, and those responsible for her murder are arrested.  He always gives me a little nudge over the phone at least once a week, “keep going Mom, what are you waiting for, hurry up.”

Morgan wrote this to her brother Ryan:

January 06, 2009
To the best brother a girl could ask for, when people tell me that the world is a cruel and horrible place all I can do is smile. I smile because I know them to be wrong. I know that the world is a beautiful place worth fighting for. I know this because of you. When I think of you I feel my heart, not the one that beats, rather the one that feels. Seventeen years here on earth, I have seen bad people and good people, but you Ryan, I know to be the best. For reasons I can ‘t quite explain, I see you more clearly than other people. I see your struggles and your triumphs, but mostly I see your heart. I am truly blessed to have a person like you in my life, a person who makes hope look so tangible, so real. ~Morgan

Please click on this link to read Ryan’s interview.  Thank you Sarah Afshar for giving Ryan a chance to use his voice. http://www.sarahafshar.com/2014/08/morgan-ingram-exclusive-interview-with.html

 

 

Is there something very wrong in #Garfield County, or is it just me?

garfieldcountyLong ago, right after the blog of Morgan’s stalking was just getting going I was contacted by a local author writing a piece about the great disparity between suicides, and homicides in Garfield County.  What was shared with me was fascinating, and troubling all at the same time.  But back then we were being told by Garfield County that Morgan’s death was from natural causes, while at the same time Morgan’s doctor believed her death was a homicide, and another forensic pathologist was telling me she did not die from natural causes, it was a suspicious death and should have been listed at the very least as undetermined until a full investigation had been done.  Along with all of this I was being threatened by the contracted forensic pathologist for Garfield County.  He said that Morgan’s manner of death could be revisited, and could possibly be changed from natural causes to an accidental overdose or suicide if I didn’t back off…I believe the grief, shock and stress I was feeling at the time was paralyzing me in so many ways, and I heard what I was being told by all these different parties, but at the same time my mind couldn’t properly grasp it all.  Writing on this blog about the things that happened to Morgan during her stalking helped keep me going, but looking back on it now I only thought I was pushing hard, truth be told I was only a fraction of myself.  Oh the things you learn as you come out of your grief bubble…
 I  honestly do not think Morgan’s case is the only one like this in Garfield County.  I have talked to other families and friends of missing, and dead loved ones, and I hear the same run-around that we received given to others, along with all the same non answers that we got.  These other families speak of the same unanswered phone calls, emails and letters.  They speak of evidence that the Sheriffs department or Coroner’s office had that has now gone “missing” or was “accidentally destroyed”, I even received a call from a mom that had spent her whole retirement account hiring a ballistic expert, private investigator, etc. and had solid evidence that her son did not shoot himself, but was shot with a completely different gun then the gun the police took into evidence (the gun that had been collected from the scene had never been shot and it was a different caliber than the gun that shot the bullet into her son’s body), and they still would not open that case or change his manner of death from suicide.  
In an article written by John Colson for the Post Independent newspaper about Morgan’s manner of death being changed from natural causes to suicide (and yes, this was after I was threatened by the pathologist to back off in trying to facilitate other doctors, and experts into explaining to him how his first conclusion was incorrect, that Morgan did not die from natural causes, and yes again, the Sheriff and Coroner had been notified about the threats, but would never respond) on August 31, 2012 Garfield County Sheriff Lou Vallario is quoted as saying that he would stick by the contracted forensic pathologist Dr. Kurtzman’s conclusion of suicide.  Sheriff Vallario wrote in an email to the reporter, “The results of the autopsy and pathology reports were that the manner of death was suicide.”  The sheriffs knew that her death was considered a suspicious death because of her stalking (that is why an autopsy was done, that was why crime scene tape was put up all around our house and we were asked to leave the scene), but they decided on the exact morning her body was found that it had nothing to do with her stalking.  Then right after the Post Independent article came out, Jeff Todd a reporter for CBS in Denver filmed Sheriff Lou Vallario right in the front of the courthouse in Glenwood Springs, CO stating that he would never open Morgan’s case.  Never?  I thought if evidence is brought forward in a capital crime that there is no statue of limitations, and a case can be opened at any time?  Am I mistaken here, or was Morgan’s case, like so many other suspicious cases in Garfield County closed, shut down, and buried for some sinister reason?  I really need to know the answer to that question – I feel that I deserve an answer to that question, wouldn’t you?  Please look at the following report from Garfield County and tell me what you think.  Is it just me or does something look wrong with these numbers?
 garco.suicide.homicide
garco.suicide.homicide2
Maybe it is just me, but when I look at this stat sheet for Garfield County it suggests to me a story about a county that does not want any murders on its books…natural causes, accidental, or suicide those are all okay, along with run aways, but not foul play, murder, kidnapping, or rape…they don’t want any of those on their stats. As you can see on the Garfield County stats that listed results of Colorado Death Dataset Query for suicides, and homicides- I have circled the 5 years ending in 2011 (the year Morgan was murdered) it shows 53 deaths (due to suicide or homicide), 50 were determined to be suicide and the other 3 are not listed under homicide, so they are either not accounted for, or undetermined…in my opinion this is why Garfield County has been said to have one of the highest suicide rates in the country, but I don’t believe they are all suicides, I think they have listed other types of deaths like Morgan’s as suicides that were really not suicides.  Anything to not have a homicide on their stats.  This type of protocol only causes to re-victimize the already traumatized families.  Not only re-victimizing families, but allowing a murder to never be investigated would seem to me to be dangerous to others in the community, unless of course Garfield County feels confident that a murderer will never murder again.  How confident do you feel about that?
Does anyone know when this type of thing started?  When did Garfield County start to go down this slippery road?  Is there any turning back?  I have to hope they can turn this all around, and start to uphold the law, protect their citizens, make the truth their number one priority.  It may take the citizens of the county to join their voices in protest and show the elected officials what they expect, and in an election year such as this one, it seems like a good time to make your vote count.  Speak out – write in to the local newspaper (like the Aspen Times, or the Post Independent).  Take a stand, make your voice heard.  No one wants this to ever happen to their family, so please make sure it can never happen to another family in Garfield County, or anywhere else.  Change is needed and change will come – hopefully sooner rather than later.  Thank you so much – each and every one of you have the power to move mountains!

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” 

 

A Spirit’s Birthday Wish To Her Mother Today

A beautiful birthday wish for me today from beyond the veil – I couldn’t have asked for anything better. I feel blessed!
A Spirit’s Birthday Wish To Her Mother Today from Jennifer ShafferI was running on the beach here in Ocean City, NJ this morning when I saw these beautiful three red roses and had to stop. I sat down in the warm sand next to them and put them in an upright position. Then as I sat there contemplating why they were there, I received an alert from “Facebook” via text that it was Toni’s birthday today.Toni is the mother of Morgan who passed away at the age of 20. She should still be with us right now in physical form even though she is in spirit.In the midst of heart ache thinking about Toni, her husband Steve and their daughter Morgan, I actually smiled because it couldn’t have happened at a more perfect time finding those 3 roses.

I wrote happy birthday to Toni and then Morgans name “popped” in my head and then my name Jennifer. My name happens to be Morgan’s middle name.

I then asked Morgan who I felt was giving me “spirit hugs” as I was covered in chills, if I could sign her name and of course I was given a yes.

Everything transpired in seconds but the thank you from Morgan and Toni are still happening, hours later. What a gift of love coming over from the other side.

I am humbled and honored to be doing this work. I am also grateful to work with such a beautiful spirit who is helping us solve her very own case.

Jennifer Shaffer's photo.
Jennifer Shaffer's photo.
Information about Jennifer can be found at http://www.jennifershaffer.com  She is a friend, she is family, and most of all she is someone that unselfishly gives of herself to help others.  We love Jennifer!