A Tree for Morgan…Remember Me Loving You

Version 2

Because of the love & kindness of the Rodden family Morgan has her own tree in Carbondale, CO.  It overlooks a wonderful dog park where her puppy Wylah used to play.  This tree was chosen and planted by this wonderful family as a beautiful reminder of Morgan and I know Morgan would be very grateful.

As it grows and produces more shade to all those who stand under it, along with their fur babies, I hope they take a moment and read the plaque that is attached to the tree.  It says, “Remember Me Loving You.”  Morgan Ingram 8.16.1991 – 12.2.2011.  This is a saying that Morgan loved.  Morgan never missed an opportunity to express her feelings – she was very open and honest with everyone.  A day never went by without her verbalizing her love.  You never know when it will be too late to tell someone you love exactly how you feel, but I know that is not something Morgan would have ever needed to worry about – she always said I love you early and often.

I felt it was time to finally post this picture of the Morgan tree.  I am so very grateful to have such loving, caring people in our lives.  Some of which I had never even met until after Morgan’s murder.  Sometimes I feel people like these should be called earth angels. They appear to us when we feel we can no longer go on.  They lift us up with their light and joy and they give us a glimpse of happiness one more time, if only for a moment.  Because of people like this you know you must go on, because with every new day the sun still rises and the leaves on the trees glisten with the fresh morning dew.  Nothing stops.  My whole world will never be the same without Morgan, but the world still goes on.  And every day is a new day in which you can make a difference in this world.  A day that I can honor my child with my love and through my actions.

This coming Sunday, August 16th will be Morgan’s birthday…she would have been 24 years old.  At the beginning of August 2011 her life had changed forever – she had a stalker.  She had no idea at that time who it was, and she was so very frightened.  Because of her stalker(s) that birthday, 4 years ago this coming Sunday, ended up being Morgan’s very last birthday on this earth – she just turned 20.  We talked about where she wanted to spend her next birthday – the big 21.  She said Las Vegas wasn’t really her thing and she was thinking that maybe we could all take a trip to Santa Fe, New Mexico to celebrate.  She loved the art galleries and the people there.  I told her she had a whole year to think about it and whatever she decided would be great.  How could I have ever known we would never have a chance to see her turn 21?

Every day this week as I count down to this coming Sunday I get a little sadder, a little weepier, and my heart aches.  Yet at the same time I feel Morgan’s spirit very, very close.  When I feel Morgan close by it always brings a smile to my face…I love her so much!  This Sunday we will burn a candle for Morgan, our family will cry and laugh and remember all the wonderful moments we were grateful for.  Because of Morgan I promise to never ever take a single day for granted.

Keep the ones you love close, tell them you love them early and often.  Make lots of memories with them and always make them your number one priority in life…because they are.

If you get a chance this coming Sunday, August 16th please burn a candle for Morgan and pray that her investigation is opened and justice is served.   Pray that state officials in Colorado care enough to do the right thing for Morgan, as well as all the other victims of stalking, murder and missing persons.   Your actions, thoughts and prayers really do matter.  Much love to you all.

Another murder case in Colorado…called a suicide…covered up…now opened as a murder investigation

Reporter Justin Joseph of Fox31 News Denver helped the family of Ashley Fallis to uncover the facts and evidence about her murder, like in Morgan’s case Ashley’s death was being called a suicide.  A new investigation is now being opened!  I applaud this reporter and Fox31 News Denver for helping this family in their time of need to illuminate the truth!

Evans detective accused of covering up evidence to hide murder as suicide
kdvr.com
EVANS, Colo. – The Evans Police Department has reopened an investigation into the death of a 28-year-old woman after FOX31 Denver found evidence an Evans police detective misstated or…

Evans police reopen murder investigation after FOX31 finds new evidence
kdvr.com
DENVER — The Evans Police Department has reopened an investigation into the shooting death of Ashley Fallis after a year-long investigation uncovered new evidence in the case. The…

Coming out of a long lull…Stalker / Murderer please beware – we are stronger than ever now ! ! !

Morgan 570

Looking through the so many photographs Morgan took this picture Morgan shot of the sun breaking out through the branches of the tree just reminded me of the strength and determination within Steve and I that has been quite for perhaps a little too long.   So after a long lull without writing on this blog I have decided to burst forward again now.  No more silence.

John Edward had posted that the greatest pleasure in life is doing something people say you can not do, and we WILL do this Morgan – that I promise you. It is taking a long time, but we won’t give up, and we will make sure the truth comes out no matter how hard people try to stop us – remember we NEVER GIVE UP!

I have been extremely hesitant up until now to share all the evidence we have that Morgan was murdered, and who murdered her.  I was hesitant, but at the same time I was releasing what I thought was enough information to help officials understand that this was an investigation that should be opened.  This is not really “my” evidence, but rather the professional opinions shared with us based on the facts of Morgan’s case.  As if a law enforcement agency had conducted an investigation into how – a young woman in excellent health and the victim of a felony stalking case was suddenly dead. Days after her stalking was thought to escalate by the lead investigator. When she was killed, the story slowly changed and grieving parents were far too trusting of those officials.

Since then, many tens of thousands of people have written in to us to tell us that they feel the same way we do and could not for the life of them figure out why the investigation had not been opened.  I felt that only a law enforcement agency should have all the evidence to be on the safe side, in order to get a conviction someday, but now I am not so sure it has to wait for that time to come.

So Steve and I have discussed this and decided that I should change this blog very soon – to change the story line to be all about sharing all the evidence of the excruciating story of Morgan’s murder, not just limit it to the title of Morgan’s Stalking and what has been told so far about her stalking.  However I can’t stress enough  how the story of Morgan’s stalking has opened many eyes around the world and I have been very blessed to have been able to share real life information with other stalking victims through this blog, information that ultimately was able to help so many victims of not only stalking but of vicious crimes against victims screaming for help.  Helping others will always be my path now, but it is time to come out fighting for Morgan once again…and trust me – we will be fierce and unyielding to those who were involved in her death. Our path will be the truth,  scientific, forensic, and undeniable.  Because when you come from the truth, it makes it extremely difficult for the wrongdoers and those who would protect them to hide behind their pat, but so far less-than-true answers.

I have recently had people send me emails about things that are being said on the Internet about me, Morgan, my family, supporters, and on and on.  The funny thing about what I am hearing is number one, none of these people knew anything about Morgan or our family.  None of these people knew anything about Morgan’s life…they didn’t know her as a free spirit, a lover of life, and most importantly, a devout helper of others.  They certainly weren’t able to even begin to see how horrific her stalking was, and how she tried her best to continue her life loving and helping others so as not to let someone else have control over her.  Morgan was always first and foremost a fighter. Morgan fought for herself and others so many times over the years…she fought with wit, dignity and perseverance.  If only she had been returned the love she gave in her death, instead of weak attempts to pretend it never happened at all.

I can try to tell you that the morning we found Morgan’s lifeless body was the worse day a parent could ever imagine, but no parent could ever give that instant the justice it deserves. Now, March 4, 2014, over 2 years removed from that unimaginable day and with so many experts weighing in on all the evidence, we not only know Morgan was murdered, but we also know it was a horrific murder, and Morgan did suffer.  Morgan even managed to leave a conclusive sign as to who the murderer was – we did not find this out until one year and 11 months after her murder.  The reason it has taken so long for us to learn what really happened to our youngest daughter Morgan is a story within itself.

To all of you who have supported Morgan (Team Morgan), and our fight for justice over these past two years, Steve and I are eternally grateful – we love you all, and we want you all to know that you have helped so many others besides just us.  You have given us strength, made comments with stories that have helped other victims feel empowered and not so alone in their own fight.  Your voices are being heard, and so is Morgan’s voice. I have always tried to keep this blog available as a tool for education, and comfort, and at the same time telling Morgan’s story for all to learn from.

But now it is time for me to start to reveal the darker and more insidious things that happened in order to show how really pathetic and ridiculous this is for Colorado to put up with this type of thing going on.  This is no longer the wild west where people get away with whatever they want to get away with.  Criminals should not be allowed to kill and kill again, over and over until someday maybe they are caught.  How many victims should there be?  What if one of the victims were your loved one, your child?  If the criminal had been caught right away (and yes there usually is some evidence and/or people who always know, but are afraid to tell) then how many innocent lives would have been saved?

This is our reasoning for changing the direction of my writing in the months to come.  The Aspen Daily News says on its front page, “If you don’t want it printed, don’t let it happen.” and emphatically, that is not only profound but it is what I believe, having learned the hardest way possible.  To those who have killed our child, stolen a precious soul from our world, and then lied about our family and threatened anyone that stands with us in truth or even the search for it – watch out…if you did it will now be printed.

 

 

 

 

 

An article from the Journal of Criminal Justice – how would you react if your daughter was stalked & murdered?

Let’s say for a moment (and I pray this will never be true in your case) that your daughter has a stalker – you want to keep your daughter safe so you call law enforcement, but at the same time you don’t just sit back and hope they protect her (you realize they can’t be everywhere all the time), you also do everything you can think of to keep her safe, while at the same time trusting in law enforcement to do their job.  You have no experience when it comes to stalking situations, you have only heard about celebrity stalkers, and you have no idea what to do or not to do.

Everyone you confide in has different suggestions – you decide to do as many as possible. Motion alarms, motions lights, cameras, pepper spray, mace with a staining solution that glows in the dark, water and rake the ground in order to get better footprints, observe what lights are on in neighboring houses or what cars are in driveways in the middle of the night when the stalker was just at your house, do your own stake-out, keep a timeline, borrow a watch dog, (we did that for a week, we love our dog, but just as a few of our readers have said that have the same breed as our dog, our dog is not a watch dog, never barked when the code on the front door was pushed, never barked when tapping happened on the windows), she only barks when she hears the doorbell ring (Morgan’s stalker did not ring the doorbell), or when she hears a loud knocking on the front door (Morgan’s stalker did not do that either), or if she sees someone through a window that she does not trust (that happened once when the stalker came up our driveway at night and she saw him through the front door window, read about that one here, October 18, 2011), but she did bark 3 times because of the stalker that I remember during that 4 month period, once which I mentioned above, once when I was in my office in the very front of the house, I had not gone to bed yet – I was waiting up to meet Morgan in the driveway, and Morgan called to say she would not be home until morning because she was sleeping at a friend’s house – she was exhausted and wanted to get a full nights sleep.  As soon as I hung up the phone something hard, and loud hit my window – I was startled and jumped, as did our dog, who was lying on the floor next to where I was standing, and she started to bark.  That was my first time to feel the absolute skin crawling fright that Morgan had been experiencing almost every day – and that was the first, and one of the 3 times our dog barked because of the stalker.  Suggestions like a bear trap, fish hooks on invisible fishing line hanging from the trees, things like that I couldn’t do – I love animals just like Morgan did, and injuring or killing an animal while trying to catch or stop a stalker did not sound like the right thing to do at the time.

Then your daughter’s stalking case becomes a FELONY STALKING case, and a detective is assigned to the case. You breathe a sigh of relief (because you trust law enforcement, you, like me, have seen some amazing heroes over the years), but you still keep trying to come up with ways to catch the stalker, as well as ways to protect your daughter, because you are a parent, and that is what parents are supposed to do…protect your child. With all the things we had tried we were still trying to add more things – wouldn’t you?  I told Morgan I would purchase a taser gun for her, she said she wouldn’t be able to use it.  Why?  She said, “Mom picture this, I am walking from the car to the house, holding car keys in one hand, along with pepper spray and my puppies leash in the other hand, how am I supposed to hold a taser and use it?”  So much for that idea…so I kept meeting her every time she drove home, in the driveway with pepper spray in my hand as well.  She would always send me a text to tell me she was on her way home, and I would wait for her and meet her outside – no matter what the weather was like, I’m sure you would do the same to protect your daughter.  Were her text messages being monitored?  I asked the detective, but he said he didn’t know of any software that could do that. Relatives said to carry a gun – we had one – and if we had to use it in the house we would have, but we lived in a neighborhood with houses fairly close together so if we saw the stalker running outside of our house and shot at him and missed the bullet could have gone right into a neighbor’s house and wounded, or even worse, killed an innocent person – that to me was not a valid option either.

Then after four months of being terrorized, the unthinkable happens…you find your daughter’s lifeless body.  You call 911 – you do CPR until the EMT’s rush into your home to take over, with so much hope and determination in their eyes, definitely heroes trying to save our 20-year-old with so much life still ahead of her, only to bow their heads in defeat. Your mind swirls thinking you must be having a nightmare.  This can’t be happening!  Please take me not her…then your mind starts up with all the questions – what happened, how did this happen, how could this happen to her?

This is now the worst pain you have ever felt in your entire life and it doesn’t end there.  That same morning you are told there are no signs of forced entry, no signs of a sexual assault, no signs of a struggle, no signs of suicide, and at this time law enforcement tells you her death is a mystery.  Your mind screams – mystery?  She is a healthy 20-year-old that has a felony stalker that has been terrorizing her for 4 months, and you were just told by the lead detective (only 2 days earlier) that in his opinion the stalker would not stop, if anything he would escalate – you start to ask question after question, hoping for some answers that make sense, but don’t get any, and all you can do now is still trust that law enforcement is really investigating, and will give you some answers.  Unfortunately you are wrong… it has now been one year, and nine months and you still have not received the information that you have requested, and deserve to have.

What would you think?  Would you think this is a cover-up?  Would you think this is just CYA because of mistakes law enforcement made, mistakes they can’t afford to admit now that your daughter is dead?  Would you think that maybe your law enforcement department was just lazy?  Would you think this is just because you live in a small town and small towns don’t have enough resources like big cities, so this is what happens – they just close the investigation?

For me none of the above reasons work, because EVERY human life is precious and deserves respect, dignity and honesty.  Families deserve answers.  Morgan’s felony stalking case was closed after she was murdered – 2 days before her murder I was told by the lead detective he was close to making an arrest then after she was gone no more follow-up, case closed.  This is after bringing the sheriff’s information, evidence to follow-up on and so much more, but only to see that they would not follow-up on anything or spend anymore time on her investigation.  What would you do when the suspects family tells you he was either working or not in state when Morgan’s stalking incidents occurred?  Number one how would they know when those incidents actually occurred considering the sheriff’s reports did not show all the reports?  And even more important than that is the fact that the sheriff’s did receive the work schedule for the suspect after Morgan’s murder and if they had actually looked at it and compared it to my timeline, like they were planning on doing before her murder, they would have seen what I saw…yes he was in the state (except when there was an intentional alibi being made or when there were no stalking incidents on my timeline).  I was shocked when I started looking over his hours – of course I was infuriated, wouldn’t you be?  And this is why the article mentioned below is so important…law enforcement doesn’t have to be super heroes they just need to be honest and do their job, most do, but not all and that is where change needs to be made.  Someone shouldn’t get away with murder, because it gets swept under the rug, or because a contracted forensic pathologist is allowed to say its natural causes for 8 months while being told that it can’t be by so many experts, and then he changes it to suicide when that is not true either and there is conclusive proof to the contrary.  When that is allowed to happen then other families will lose loved ones over and over, (because someone got away with murder), and the next time it can be anyone’s daughter.

I know that law enforcement can’t be everywhere at all times, I know law enforcement officers are just human like the rest of us and make mistakes too, but I also know that in my job (probably in yours too) I have to be honest, and accountable for the mistakes I make, correct them and do my best to make sure it does not happen again.  The only person responsible for Morgan’s murder is Morgan’s murderer, along with anyone that tried to cover up the crime – there are others who might be tried as an “accomplice” or an “accessory”, and remember there is no statute of limitations on murder.

This article (see link below) from the Journal of Criminal Justice explains very succinctly why there needs to be transparency, and honesty when law enforcement, and the judicial system deals with the family of victims of crime.

Journal of Criminal Justice 38 (2010) 880–888 click here http://www.leg.state.co.us/clics/clics2012a/commsumm.nsf/b4a3962433b52fa787256e5f00670a71/4edad3b79d32555b872579ac007e1eba/$FILE/SenJud0222AttachG.pdf to read the full publication.  I am so happy there are so many scholarly people in this world that can explain things that I think and have come to know, but can not properly articulate to others.

September 30, 2011 – Day 60 of Morgan’s stalking – How is he doing this? All of this?

Before any of us leave the house this morning a friend in the neighborhood is walking her dog at 5:15 am and sees Keenan drive into the cul-de-sac, and pull into Brooke’s dad’s driveway, where he is living with Brooke & her father James Harris. Based on a feeling, our friend stops and watches him sitting in his car. Keenan is aware he is being watched by our neighbor and a standoff of sorts ensues with neither of them willing to make a move for a long while. Finally Keenan gets out of his car, and goes directly to the rear door of his car and opens it. He pulls out what is described to me as a “range bag” and goes directly into the house with it. Our friend explains to us that the bag is used to transport pistols, ammunition and related gear to a shooting range, hence the name range bag. There is concern, and this information is passed on to me, and I agree that it should go right to the detectives.

I felt that if there were ever a confrontation, knowledge of the existence of this bag could be important. The next day I told Detective Rob and he agrees completely and is very thankful this information has been passed on. He says that in any situation the knowledge of the existence of firearms is very important in order to respond correctly and safely. He encourages me to pass along any additional information, and wonders if I have an accurate description for the bag. I do not and I give him the neighbors phone number who has a willingness and desire to speak with him about this, and other incidents that have been whiteness Detective Rob thanks me for the number and says he will call soon as he can. But as one thing led to another, he never did call to speak with this individual.

Just before 5:55 am, it is still dark out, and Morgan is awakened by a loud scraping noise on her windows. Morgan alerts us with the panic button and Steve is immediately running down the hall to her room, and once he found out what had happened, he goes outside with a mag light in hand and goes directly around to her windows. Steve does not see anything there and continues through the back and over the berm, checking in both directions for any movement. But he does not see anything.

I go out the front door also, locking the door behind me, and out into the street. I check the neighborhood in all directions and the only light on in any of the houses is the front room at Brookes’s dad’s house. We were still not sure what that room might be, but that the light was on and that Keenan’s car was in the driveway was recorded in our book. It would be much later in the day before we learned of the incident in Brooke’s dad’s driveway at 5:15 am.

Steve has circled all around the neighborhood and returned to the house and we were standing in the kitchen, certain we had just missed him by inches. I tell Steve that while he was gone Morgan came out to tell me that her lights outside her window went on and off when he passed by on his way out to the berm, and then a while after that it happened again and at first she thought it was her father coming back by her room, but then heard me talking to him on the phone so she knew it was not him.

This sent Steve back out the front door and out into the street to see exactly what I had – Keenan’s car in the driveway, the light on in the front room, and the rest of the neighborhood still sleeping. He came back in and joined me in the kitchen again. It was not a minute before Morgan came out of her room to tell us that it had just happened again with the lights outside.

Steve and I poured mugs of coffee and sat in front of the monitor replaying the cameras for Morgan’s window over and over. No animals, just the light going on, then off, then Steve running by, and the light detecting his motion, going off, then coming on again for apparently nothing. No animals, was written in our notes for the morning by Steve three times, darker each time, and underlined the third time.

We all had busy days ahead and that was the end of a busy morning. Morgan was babysitting in Aspen until late and my meeting that evening was over before expected and at 7:20 pm I texted her “Got out early. I’m comin’ home now”. A half minute later Morgan answered, “OK”.

Steve was already home looking at the video when I arrived, searching for an answer he had yet to find. He told me that he had decided he would move the cameras, not to a different place, just rotated a little. Every day he would go outside and go to each camera and maybe move that one or maybe not. That way no matter if someone was watching or not a spot that was safe for the stalker the day before would not be safe anymore.

Morgan was finished babysitting before expected and was home just before 8:30 pm. She was in her room and winding down when there was a loud noise at 10:41 pm. She didn’t know what it was. It was not her windows, it could have been in the garage and Steve went to check. Nothing. Trying to explain the noise the best Morgan could do was call it the house, but it was too loud to be the house.

Steve and I sat out on the couch and watched our favorite series at the time with the volume tuned all the way off. Two episodes before we were feeling like whatever it was it was over. I checked in on Morgan and she was sleeping. Her puppy Wylah, lifted an ear without moving, and looked at me.

Today it is September 28, 2012 Today the lawyers are in as much indecision and disbelief at what has happened as we were a year ago – especially on that day. Our notes speak loudly, not by the words, but by the darkness and underlining therein. Back then we could not for the life of us figure out what was going on. Today we now know someone was on the roof, and it makes perfect sense. We had no idea during the stalking how the stalker could be tripping the motion lights, but not getting caught on camera – after Morgan’s murder we knew…he was on our roof!  How else could someone have done what they did that day – lying, sitting, hiding, and watching from up on the roof, simple. The noise at 10:41 pm, could that have been someone jumping from high up on the ridge of the roof to a lower spot with the resounding boom that would cause perhaps? And ask me again if “law enforcement,” was ever up there after, to like search for clues, you know they were not before you ask. Just as surely as you know that Morgan was murdered, by a date rape cocktail, her body moved into a different position and “staged,” and that her jewelry stolen – – and now all Steve and I have to do is prove it, piece of cake. . .right?

Click here to read about the 61st day of Morgan’s stalking https://morgansstalking.com/?p=1501