Morgan’s stalking began two years ago yesterday.  Back then it would be five days and four clear incidents of stalking before I would finally call the Sheriff’s and our family would receive the Garfield County Sheriff’s answer to the crime of stalking in progress – this was ignorance on my part as I had no real experience or information about stalking at that time, and really didn’t know what to do.  We were all worried, Morgan was nervous, and frightened, but we kept telling ourselves that this really couldn’t be happening – I now know this is one of the first reactions most stalking victims have.  The true seriousness of the crimes being committed we did not know two years ago.  The operator for the Sheriff’s department, my first contact, would wonder angrily why I had waited so long to call.

While in her mind, that may have been a fair way to treat me and Morgan’s stalking at that moment, it was far less than professional.  Two years later I believe we all would have been better off if I had never even made that call – that is only in our situation with our Sheriff’s department…stalking victims should always document every incident, and involve their local law enforcement agency, unfortunately many of the stalking victims that have contacted me have not had adequate help from law enforcement, and they are frantic to know where to turn.  There are so many wonderful, and heroic law enforcement agents in our country that know what to do, and do an excellent job – now I constantly wonder how to get that same education, and passion passed on to the ones that don’t.   If Steve and I had counted only on ourselves to protect our daughter – to discover the true nature of the threat we faced, and the best way to combat it instead of completely trusting the Sheriff’s department – Morgan might still be alive today.

While that is a sad, sad truth and a personal indictment of the Sheriff’s Department, and their protocol for stalkers, that is for many reasons, what I believe.  It can be fixed, and for the sake of the safety of young women across this county, it must be.  A model for the rest of the country for effective law enforcement could exist here, free of sexual discrimination, upholding not only the laws of the state, but the Constitutional guarantees of the State of Colorado.  And as long as I’m fervently wishing I’ll add in upholding the laws of this Country, along with the U.S. Constitutional guarantees as well.

I appreciate the current Sheriff has very strong beliefs about the Second Amendment, but there is not one Amendment to the U. S. Constitution, there are seven articles and twenty-seven amendments.  I know that many are not his concern, but between the U.S. Constitution, and the Colorado Constitution there are certainly some Amendments that go straight to the heart of Morgan’s stalking and murder and they were completely ignored.

I call this little piece – Morgan’s search for justice, because she is the one who most deserves justice.  Morgan was ignored, treated as if she were a second class citizen.  She did not deserve to have her Constitutional rights completely whipped away.  When Morgan risked her life to get out of her car and positively Identify Keenan as the driver who was following, harassing, and stalking her, there was no response from the Sheriffs.  When Morgan saw Keenan at Thunder River, perfectly timing his arrival to pass right in the middle of the intersection, one time, then two times, the third time, or maybe it was the fourth time, Morgan lost it and out of sheer frustration wanted to take the law into her own hands.  She did not, but the inaction and cascade of excuses flowing from the Sheriff’s Department made her feel only more discriminated against.

Why was she so ignored?  Why did they not care?  I just made a list of 48 individual occasions when Detective Glassmire promised some action that would end her stalking, a piece of evidence, an interview, an action that would bring her one step closer to safety.  All 48 were things that he never, “got around to doing,” or else had some reason it was no longer necessary.  Forty-eight times, makes me wonder what he really did do, I know he told James Harris that Morgan was going to have a formal interview in a few days (just 4 nights before Morgan was killed), did James Harris tell his daughter, or did she overhear? Did Brooke tell Keenan?  I believe that could have happened.

The Gnome that was taken from the porch of the house we moved to, after leaving the house our daughter was murdered in, became a Sheriff’s report, I never saw them move so fast – I was shocked – it was just a little gnome, what was the point of a report, but they insisted.  But the burglary that happened the night Morgan was killed – how is it that never became a report or a case?  Is that really the way to catch the criminals?  If all Keenan got for felony possession with intent to distribute, and theft by receiving was a hand slap – and it’s not the first time – what’s he going to get for gnome stealing?  Really?

But on to something I really want to share, two years, and one day after Morgan first heard those taps on her windows.  I want to raise awareness of a certain typology of stalker, and I want to show how a little knowledge could have gone a long way.

This typology is called a predatory stalker, they have unique characteristics, just like the name, they behave more as predators than stalkers.  And they do so many things that mirror what happened to Morgan that I cried when I read about this particular typology, and wished deeply I had known even a fraction of what I read, before it was too late for Morgan, but I did not know about this two years ago, and the next post will be about this typology, and what I have learned since.  There are many different types of stalkers and that is why education, and training are so important – the different topologies are not to be treated the same way if you are to save the victim, and catch the stalker. This is a critical step for law enforcement to know, and follow when dealing with a stalking case.

Morgan always like rocks – not one was alike…kind of like Morgan…no one was like her.

Since none of you have ever seen my timeline, I want to just share a few things.  First it has many personal thoughts in it, open questions to myself, long-held beliefs, even private thoughts about my Nana, and what she would do.  It always made it a challenge to send an update to the Detectives, it was hours of reading every word to take out the very personal stuff, and give them the facts I felt they needed.

Another big thing is question marks, lots and lots of question marks.  That was a far easier search and replace operation to remove question marks to myself.  Every question mark was information I had to fill in, like a phone number, or a time, or a full name, an address, sometimes even behind the scenes connections.  I wanted the Detectives to always be able to reach anyone important in Morgan’s Felony Stalking case.  As I remove the last of the remaining question marks now I am constantly reminded of one fact – the Felony Stalking Detectives never knew where Keenan lived.  Detective Glassmire admitted that to me long after Morgan’s death.  At one point in the case Detective Glassmire told me that he knew where Keenan’s father used to live, his father was not even a suspect, and it was a “used to live” answer.

But how in the world can that be?  How can they ask me for every address and phone number and never even know where their prime suspect lived?  What if an exigent situation presented itself?  Like Morgan missing, or signs pointing to an escalation that would possibly be quelled by a face to face at his home,  or what if she turned up dead? After they became certain Keenan was the stalker, and put Brooke behind him one notch on the probable guilt scale it would seem to me that to not even know where he lived at that point is inexcusable.  Was it because he was a man?  Really, because as I relive for the umpteenth time, with fresh eyes, I see instance after instance that with a man – instantly credible, even if criminal, and Morgan, woman – second class citizen, or worse.

I’m afraid I am still being way too generous as I reread my last sentence.  If Morgan was found dead of suspicious circumstances – three days after her stalking was, “if anything it’s going to escalate,” according to the lead Detective, and her body discovered on the morning after deputies patrolled the neighborhood numerous times, shining their searchlight up on our roof top, in a radical departure from previous patrols.  When a shocking array of facts would come to light long after the Sheriff’s investigating her death would complete their, “investigation,” of her death scene in a few hours, hop in their cars and ride away, after collecting nothing except her personal electronics, and an old journal.

Was she even treated as a second class citizen, or wasn’t the obvious, “elephant standing in the room,” called possible murder, being ignored completely?  Why would that happen?  There are really few reasons to ignore what is a possible murder, and because she was a woman has to top that very short list.

And as I remove those question marks, and replace the spot with facts I am revisiting there was another, all too obvious maneuver, that took place twice during Morgan’s stalking investigation:

First there was a Deputy that really investigated, showed Morgan, and Steve and I, a photo line up of suspects, this happened exactly once in the investigation.  It was as if he came from a different Law Enforcement Department.  It was before the case became a Felony Stalking case and he was not a Detective.  He easily came the closest to nabbing the stalker in the act, had flushed him out for all intents, and right after he almost nabbed the criminal, next time it was going to be for all the marbles, and suddenly, he was, “reassigned,” and we never saw him again.

Second, another officer, also above and beyond all others, her eyes spoke of her commitment in volumes – and in what I now can see as the darkest hours, before she was killed, Morgan told me that this officer was the only one she trusted or had any faith in anymore.  She was, “reassigned,” too.

Coincidence that the two officers most committed to Morgan’s case were both sent elsewhere, or was it part and parcel of the GarCo, “no foul play here,” two-step?

So now as I work on removing every last question mark, I relive the little details and feel like I have such a different perception.  My focus is getting much sharper.  I was told many times in many ways by so many great people who the first year or two certain things would be very hard to do, to be careful not to push so hard.  Steve and I had an almost tag team mentality of pushing until we crashed, then picking each other up to push some more.  At times their was not much really happening, but I can’t imagine any other way to deal with what happened to Morgan.

There is a Constitution for this country and a Constitution for this state.  Steve is researching those documents now, and keeps me updated on the transgressions he finds.  Which launches another round of research to really answer the question he has just raised, the bottom line is that Morgan’s Constitutional Rights were lost in her stalking and death.  They are there for a reason and the next victim will need her full complement of Constitutional Rights enforced diligently to have a different outcome.  I am certain of that.

The Morgan Ingram Foundation is very close to the beginning of that daunting task.  If it is within the capability of Steve and I, and with invaluable help from Morgan’s brother and sister, and the large dedicated band that stands with us in this cause, we will succeed in changing outcomes.  There is the cliché that if we only save one young woman we are a success, but I aim higher than that.  There is a gap that needs closing.  A gap between what so desperately needs to be available to victims of stalking, and what is currently available to victims.  That will be the focus and we will measure our collective success in the closing of that gap.

We obviously really wish we could have realized things sooner, but in Morgan’s honor to take our mistakes and turn them into something positive is what is left for us to do now.  That is the single best thing that can come from this, closing the gap.  And because I mentioned her, I’m going to thank my Nana, for always being there, and thank all of you, and I mean all of you for your kind thoughts, and sincere wishes.  To express how much that has meant to Steve and I is not possible…not even close.

To think now how the world can be a better place is so exciting for me, when there was a time not too long ago that excitement was a foreign thought, it is such a good feeling…