New Pointe shoes, ready for a workout!
Morgan’s friend Nathan slept over last night and she slept out on the couch as well. They watched movies till late in the night and it was a quiet night for us all. In the morning Nathan and Steve left for work and Morgan got dressed to go to ballet and dance classes, but then she was a little too squeamish and decided to go to her first class, and see how it went, and then she came home, and skipped her second class. She was thinking maybe a new flu was coming on and she didn’t want to infect her friends. She also wanted to be back on her feet for the weekend, as she would be taking care of young children for the returning military families, so I encouraged her to take it easy and rest, and she did.
Steve came by at 3:00 and was all caught up with his work. He was ready to start the move of his shop and could not wait for the whole move of shop and house to be complete. Of course we had not really started yet so that sounded very optimistic. He dropped Nate off in Carbondale and went to his now old shop to pack his office. Morgan went to Carbondale with Wylah and I waited at home for Detective Glassmire. I thought it was just going to be another regular meeting with nothing much to report, but I was in for a pleasant surprise.
At 3:51 pm I sent a text to Detective Glassmire, “Rob do you know about when you might be here? Morgan is about 10 minutes from our house and I just want to let her know to come home in time. Thanks.” He replied back, “I am in Carbondale now working on my laptop, I can get there anytime, let me know.” He also told me he was just coming to check the cameras and Morgan could just stay in Carbondale, so I relayed that message to her.
Detective Glassmire came over and I helped him get the ladder from the garage. He went out and checked his cameras and saw nothing. I explained to him about the motion detectors that had been taken from their “perches” and moved to the ground and he shook his head. I went on to tell him that Steve had been up really early researching the event because it really bothered him, how it had been done with such apparent ease.
I told him how our motion equipment had been detecting something in the front corner of the house and Steve had come up with yet another plan to paint two detectors to match the surroundings and then placed them both aimed at the corner of the house. Then he made sure that two of the video cameras were aimed right at them and was so certain he would catch something. He wore clothes to bed that night he was so sure.
But I told Detective Glassmire that it wasn’t even fifteen minutes later that they were both on the ground and nothing was caught on the cameras. So what was really bothering Steve was that this morning until he saw a “Myth Busters Youtube” that showed how easy it was to defeat a motion detector and he later found how a person with a laser light, something he had seen off in the distance months ago, could mess with our video cameras easily and Steve ended up leaving for work completely distraught that it might be that the stalker was slowing down for winter and it might well be that he had figured ways around all of the deterrents we had and that was why we weren’t seeing anything anymore. But then I told him how Morgan was still getting startled awake at all hours.
I asked the detective if it was possible we were so over-vigilant that we had begun hearing things or was the stalker right here more than ever? I told him how we were coming to wits end with all of this. Glassmire looked at me for a second and then bent down picked up a dirt clod from the ground and flung it at our house. I jumped and it struck the house with a loud “BANG”. He looked at me and said, “You are not crazy Toni, there is your stalker, he is still here.”
I agreed with the detective and told him that Steve does not know what to do. Rob told me that he thought if anything he was going to escalate now. That really scared me and I asked what we should do? He told me not to worry, but be careful. He was going to pick up Keenan’s hours the following Tuesday and he thought that would be a big step, maybe even the final breakthrough in an arrest.
This was shocking to me. I had not expected to hear that. A long time ago, we were told an arrest would come only after catching him at the house. I asked him if he really thought that, and he said that he did. He also said the formal interview with Morgan would help too, and that was scheduled for the following Tuesday. It was exciting to think that all of a sudden it had come so far. This morning Steve was thinking it was all a lost cause and now it was on the verge of ending – in arrest.
We said our goodbyes around 5:00 pm and Detective Glassmire put the ladder away and left. I called Steve and had a quick talk with him about all of the positive developments and he was cheered up. He left to come home, and just as I began to peel potatoes for dinner, there was a loud “BANG” again on the front of the house that was sharper and louder than Detective Glassmire’s dirt clod. It was far more like a gunshot against the garage, and I ran out front to see what it was. The dogs were startled, as was I, but my first thought was a sonic boom (which I had never heard in Colorado before – only as a child in California) or maybe something large, like the ladder in the garage falling over and hitting something.
Only like everything else there was nothing, by the time I got to the front of the house there was no car just leaving the street, no people closing the front door behind them – nothing. I just stood and watched the empty street, tree branches slowly waving in a light breeze and giving up their last leaves. I opened the garage and searched its corners – nothing was out of place. It was so maddening!
I closed up and went back in the house. Then I texted Morgan when dinner was going to be and asked when could she be home. She told me that Nate had just left for the bar and she was waiting for him, but thought it wouldn’t be more than fifteen minutes.
Steve drove up and I heard his truck, he came in and we talked about my afternoon meeting with Detective Glassmire. Steve was calmed so much by all the good news and went to clean up before dinner.
Morgan came home, ate with us and was very excited by everything the detective had told me. She went to sleep around 10:00 pm, and as I got in bed I saw flashlights in back of house. Steve told me it was Patrol Officers looking for something, and as I was falling asleep, I told Steve they were increasing the patrols by the house too. It was all such good news and I was only too content to not argue with any of it.
Today is November 24, 2012 – And as I look back that night was so positive. I really felt that they really, really wanted to catch this stalker and protect Morgan – it just hasn’t happened yet. I know it all went horribly wrong but I am still not sure why. Parts of the truth are still hidden in the shadows. But as Steve and I have found out bit by bit this year, so much happened over the next few days that was stacked against Morgan, only there was also the component of so much that did not happen to help protect her. For others we must change not just one but both of those factors.
I missed Morgan so very much this week, and I knew it would be hard. I want to thank all of you for your emails and words of encouragement. I agree with so many of you that after I make it through this week I will get stronger and stronger. I can’t wait to get back home and put it all together now, even the parts I have been putting off. This year has been such a blur when I think about it, but for some reason I can’t really explain, it has all become more in focus now. Thank you all for sharing Morgan’s story with me, it has been such an honor to be able to share it.
Click here to read about the 121st day of Morgan’s stalking https://morgansstalking.com/?p=2425
Yes you can – It was just the other day I was talking about my ever increasing flow of screen captures (an image of what someone saw on their computer screen, sometimes however far it scrolled is captured too!) and this morning came one about Steve and I. The person writing it used a screen name in place of their real name so that may put their honesty somewhat into question, why purport your honesty under a fake name and all that, but it appeared not to cause anyone to question as this supposition based on a guess and wrapped up in incomplete information was gobbled up as gospel truth as far as I could see.
So just before I give you the simple answer I will remind everyone who reads about Morgan’s Stalking that I answer thousands, and thousands of questions. If you accuse me of a lie, then accuse the victim – my daughter – of a crime, and then demand an answer finishing up with a dare to post your question. Most of you who have tried this tack, mostly in clusters of four questions at a time, you already know the answer to what happens, I delete it. But then all of the calm sensible questions, they get answers.
So when we moved from 62 Corral Drive it was in foreclosure, not our foreclosure, the owners of record’s foreclosure. But then for the simple truth you have to back up a few years. The summer of 2008 the current owners, our landlords were going through a rough time and in danger of losing the house back to the bank. As holders of a lease option to buy at a favorable price, we were very concerned. They assured us that there was no real danger and as soon as we paid the next month they would have it all squared away.
So we paid, and they didn’t square it away, a real bummer for us. We tried to get a hold of the bank directly, numerous ways, and were unsuccessful. It was a bank in Nevada that had gone under, and was swallowed up by another bank, who it turn transferred that asset to a holding division. We were making plans at that time to move as it seemed prudent when out of the blue a man showed up at the door. He had a pile of paper that Steve went over with him and in that pile was a recorded document the owner’s had signed forfeiting the rights to lease payments in the event the house was leased, which in fact it was to us, and had fallen into default, which in fact it had. We by-passed the owners, dealt straight with the bank and just like that problem solved.
The house will remain in foreclosure to protect the banks interest, and as long as we live up to our end, which we in fact did, everyone is happy and we can stay and even negotiate another lease option. We emailed the owners about this document, and funny thing, never heard a peep from them again.
With the economic crash in fall 2008, and in case you have forgotten, the bottom fell out, so to speak. Brokerage houses were closing, banks were going bankrupt, car manufacturers were right behind them, and bailing out became a household term that had nothing to do with a sinking boat. I bring this unpleasant memory up because the value of the house we lived in was plummeting faster that we could renegotiate a “fair” price for the lease option. So as months are ticking by and another house down the street was put up for sale, and we would base our “fair price” on the sale of that house, sounded simple enough. I remember Steve eagerly watching the price of that house plummet, and I kept telling him it will never sell and it did not.
So we abandoned the lease option attempt, and lived there under a simple rental agreement. Another oddity is that suddenly everyone, and I mean everyone wanted to know who the bank was we were dealing with. While we would not have thought that they would have minded, turns out they were adamant that we never disclose that – really never figured that part of it out. But as you know from the blog we started with plans to move in November and then came the horrific tragedy of 12/2/2011 and everything changed for us.
After a week of shock and indecision, I decided I could no longer live in a house in which I would look at the front door, and think that Morgan was going to walk in at any minute. It was for too much to bear for me.
We made concrete plans to move out, notified the bank’s representative that we would like to not remain through our lease and move as soon as we could. They offered a relocation package for our early termination and in actuality we were completely moved before they could complete all of the paperwork on their end.
Steve tells me the recorded lease assignment should be available for a small fee on the Internet for you to really get to the bottom of it, investigators out there also remind me that we would not have, but had we chosen to, we could have invoked the law Obama passed to protect people living in houses that went into foreclosure, a little bit of protection in a crazy time that would have forced the bank to honor a lease that we held for up to a year in the event they ever went through with the foreclosure, and that bit of information should be available on the internet for free.
But we never needed to do that, our exit was discussed and completed on amicable terms, as was our stay there. Now do I get an apology? Probably not – the people that go off on the other Internet sites (with no evidence or reason) just want to be right.
What does all this have to do with Morgan’s Stalking? Nothing. I did this for one reason, and it is not because I feel that I have to explain myself or my actions. I did it because there are those out there who would love nothing more than for me to defend myself with every waking moment. Attack Morgan with every lie that they can muster – it is called… attacking the victim. Who would do this? Perhaps the people who would like to see me talk about anything except the TRUTH about what happened to Morgan. And it seems they will stop at nothing to have that happen.
I just wish one of them would decide to put all this energy into solutions about how to stop stalking. It is a real crime, with real victims, that takes a real toll on countless lives, it is under reported, currently overtaxes law enforcement’s ability to combat it, and must end! The numbers of victims will grow, if the solutions do not will grow. I believe we all must decide where we stand on this issue, because it is not going away, and always remember – one day we were not victims of stalking and the next day – we were. That fast, that complete. Don’t live in fear, rather live empowered.
Cracked gutter above Morgan’s bedroom window
Today is Saturday and we are looking forward to our niece, Morgan’s cousin coming over on her way back to college, now that the Thanksgiving holiday week is winding down. It’s starting to get really cold now in the mountains – I keep hoping that since we will be going into December soon, the snow will come. stick to the ground, and this stalking will end (footprints show up really well in the snow), we can move, and everything will go back to normal.
This morning at 9:45 am Morgan’s friend B. sends her a text asking what she is up to this evening. He says he gets off work at 5:00 pm and might want to hang out. He tells her their friend T. is in town for Thanksgiving and he will be checking in with him to see what’s up too. Morgan is excited and she asks that he let her know, since everyone may be getting together tonight for a mini reunion. So far it’s been a quiet day – we all just hang out at the house, do laundry and clean up a bit. The dogs crash out on the floor next to the couch while Morgan watches a movie. Then Morgan gets a text from D @ 2:10 pm, “Let’s meet tomorrow then? Call me when u wake up and let’s do this! I so wanna spend time with u girlie!” Morgan texted him back, “I would love that! Will do :)” D texted back, “xoxo! I’m very excited. 🙂 So overdue” Morgan texts, “I agree completely.” Later in the afternoon Morgan leaves to go pick up a friend, and Steve and I head out to the grocery store.
At 6:40 pm I send Morgan a text telling her that her cousin is on the way over to our house, and dad and I are on our way home. I tell her if you’re not home with your friend yet please head home. Morgan sends me back a text saying she knows her cousin is on her way, and that she is already home – she has started to bake a cake. When Steve and I arrive home the music is playing, Morgan and her cousin are in the kitchen waiting for the cake to come out of the oven, and talking as fast as two girls can talk; trying to get in all the updates as fast as they can. It’s so nice to feel the energy in the house. Then Morgan stops to tell me that right after her cousin came in her friend Nathan thought he saw someone through the front door window – he walked outside and looked around, but didn’t see anyone. This was before we got home so we checked the cameras and could see Nathan walk slowly down the driveway, look up and down the street and then go back in the house, but that is all we saw. When our niece was ready to leave we walked her to her car, to make sure she was safe – everyone hugged, and kissed and said goodbye, never realizing that this was the last time the two girls would ever see each other.
Morgan turned to tell us her and Nathan were going out for a little while, and then they would be back at the house together later this evening – she would not be coming home alone so we could go to sleep whenever we wanted, and didn’t have to wait up for her.
Tonight at 10:57 pm (on my timeline, looking back now 11:00 pm seems to be a very popular time for the stalker) there is a loud bang – Morgan had already gotten home, but wasn’t asleep yet. At this time we never realized the stalker was getting on the roof of our house, so of course we checked the cameras on her side of the house, but again, did not see anything. Why didn’t we ever think he was on the roof? I did hear sounds up in the ceiling, but there was a crawl space up there – Steve had been up there when he was installing the cameras, so he said he thought I was hearing a mouse or a bird. The evening started out so nice and now another fitful night…
Click here to read about the 118th day of Morgan’s stalking https://morgansstalking.com/?p=2385
