November 30, 2011 Day 121 of Morgan’s Stalking (PM) – Was something planned for this evening?

As Morgan, Steve, and I are driving to Grand Junction for doctor’s appointments, Morgan received a text from Lorraine at 1:48 PM wondering if she could babysit this afternoon.  Steve dropped Morgan and I off at our doctor’s office at 2:15 PM and went on to his appointment.  Once we were in the waiting area Morgan answered Lorraine that she was sorry, but she was in Grand Junction for the afternoon.

I sat talking with Morgan until 2:50 PM when I went in for my appointment.  We were there for our annual check ups and it was such a long drive (almost 2 hours) that we always combined our appointments.  She had been also texting with her friends and when I came out after my appt. Morgan had already gone in, so I waited for her to come out.  I had talked to her doctor (who was also my doctor) about the stalking before she saw Morgan, and wanted to be sure she knew about what was going on.

Morgan came out just before 4:00 PM and I asked about her appointment.  Morgan told me she had a conversation with her doctor about the stalking and how she felt.  Her doctor had wondered if she felt like she needed sleep aids or anti-stress pills, because it sounded like a bad situation.  Morgan told me she had told her doctor that she would rather not take pills, and she was getting through it.

We both sat by the front door and waited for Steve to come back after his appointment.  Morgan texted her friend Calder and at exactly 4:00 PM Nathan called Morgan, using Calder’s phone, with some news that upset Morgan.  Earlier that day a friend of Calder’s had met Keenan, and heard he was going to Grand Junction and wanted to go with him.  He had told her that he was going with his girlfriend Morgan, and she didn’t want anyone else to go along.  All of them wondered what was going on, and I called Detective Glassmire to fill him in on this story.

Detective Glassmire wanted this friend’s number so he could check out the story.  Morgan set about trying to get the number.  Steve picked us up and had a few errands to run before we went to the mall.   Morgan was texting with friends and suddenly asked Steve if it would be OK if she had a knife to keep under her pillow – just in case.  Steve wondered if anything had happened and we told him about the call about Keenan having a girlfriend named Morgan.  Then Morgan heard that Morgan was his girlfriend for the last four years only he was living with Brooke all summer, and many were insisting they were still together, even though they announced their breakup on Facebook in October. Something was not adding up, and Morgan did not like it at all.

At Steve’s first stop Morgan and I waited in the truck, while Steve went inside.  As part of his purchases he bought a folding knife and drew a happy face on the box and gave it too Morgan when he came back to the truck.  I watched her open the box and smile.  She told her Daddy how he was the best, he told her to be careful with it, and we stopped to have dinner together. Here is a picture Morgan took tonight of the box the knife was in – this is the happy face Steve drew on the box…we found the box, with the knife still in it in her bed the morning we found her body…she never had a chance to take it out of the box in time…

At 5:01 PM Morgan texted Calder that Detective Glassmire wanted to talk with his friend, and could he get her the number.

Back at the house at 6:12 PM a car came up our street and turned into Elliott’s driveway.

After dinner we decided to skip the mall, and Christmas shopping, because everyone was so tired, so we headed home instead.

We did not know the following until 2012 – At  6:40 PM on Facebook, Hannah Hurlocker (Brooke’s friend who is staying at her house now) posts on her wall.  Brooke “I CAN”T STOP THINKING…I JUST CAN”T DO IT”

I sent Detective Glassmire a text to tell him we have not gotten the phone number yet, but there is another person you can talk to that knows all of the parties involved.  He does not call.

We arrived home from Grand Junction at 7:49 PM, unload all of our stuff from the day and at 8:06 PM Steve walks Morgan and Wylah out to the car, and they leave.  Morgan visits, texts, and calls her friends.

We did not know the following until 2012 – At 11:39 PM Brooke answers Hannah on facebook – “me either girl”

And at 11:49 PM Nathan and Morgan drive up.  She has a beautiful new French manicure to show me.  Nathan walks around to her window and checks that side of the house, then grabs his backpack from inside the car and goes inside.  We have a large U shape couch in front of the TV.  Nathan was going to go to sleep on the couch in the office, but instead they watch a movie out on the couch.

Today it is November 30, 2012 – After Morgan’s death I spoke with her doctor at length about that day and anything she might have said during her appointment that would be helpful.  Her doctor remembered the visit well.  She thought Morgan was “very positive” and “upbeat” and shared with her that the detectives thought they were close to an arrest of her stalker and she was very excited about that.  Morgan did tell her that it was stressful and she did feel tired more often now because of the stalking.  Her doctor agreed with her self assessment and found her to be in excellent health.  I asked the forensic pathologist if he wanted to speak with one of her doctors that had seen her last and just a day and a half before her death.  He said yes, but then never called her.  Morgan’s doctor called him herself long after the first Postmortem Examination Report was released.  They did not agree on a lot of things, but that is how it has been.  No doctor we have ever spoken with has agreed with the pathologist, Dr. Kurtzman’s conclusions, no other Medical Examiner, and no other Forensic Pathologist – no one, except the sheriffs.

But there is much more to tell about the next two days of Morgan’s life and her death that will shed light on that.   I admit it has been much harder than I imagined it would be to write these last few days, and I have had to walk away many times.

Tessi tired after a long trip to GJ and Wylah as if to say, “It’s OK big girl”

A letter I received today from one of Morgan’s dance class friends – they miss her too…and she told them all about the stalking as well

Dear Toni,

November 28,2012

The Morgan that I knew for the two years we took ballet classes together at CMC with our teacher Kari Sea, was very intelligent and happy about her life. She had hopes about going to law school and also wanted to continue in a dance program when she went away to school. She adored her teacher, Kari, and was the one who spoke up for having ballet classes offered on a daily basis. Morgan took good care of her body and seemed to have recovered from some illness that she had battled when she was younger. Kari always encouraged attendance at class. A student could sit and watch if they weren’t feeling well. Morgan almost always was dancing because she loved it. She was the best at remembering the routines and steps that Kari demonstrated. Morgan usually stood where others could be helped if they forgot the moves. During the beginning of the 2011 fall semester our class on one of the days of the week, I forgot which day, started earlier than other days. I usually rode my bicycle, 10 miles, from Glenwood Springs after my morning school bus route to class. A couple of times I met Morgan at the bottom of the 3 mile climb to the CMC Spring Valley Campus where our class was held. She gave me a ride when I was having trouble getting to class on time. I remember her telling me sometime early in the semester that someone had been throwing things or hitting her window at night and they had to call the police. Sandra, my wife, texted Morgan to arrange for my ride and mentioned that we would be praying for her if I remember correctly. At first Morgan did not seem all that freaked out about it maybe because she thought whoever was doing this would be caught or stop.

As time went on it became freakier for all of us when we continued to hear that the noises at Morgan’s bedroom window were continuing. The police would show up and then shortly after they left the noises would begin again. After awhile Morgan seemed to be getting a little exasperated with the police who seemed unable to do anything to help. She said that if she took matters into her own hands she would be the one who got blamed. She was getting frustrated but she always kept her cool. Morgan always seemed to have her life together. She was almost always early to class. She would usually already be there sipping tea and relaxing by the time I arrived. She liked to knit. She made beautiful sweaters and things. I told her that my wife liked to knit but I tried to stay away from stuff that ended up in knots. Usually Sam and Nicole were already there also. They talked about how things were going. Our teacher was often late because she had a difficult schedule with classes in Vail, Aspen, Carbondale, Glenwood Springs, and Spring Valley Campus. Once Morgan was there 30 minutes early because Kari said we were going to start class early to try to make up for the times she was late. I only got there 15 minutes early because I didn’t think Kari would really show up 30 minutes early. Morgan was frustrated with Kari so I said, “Hey, let’s tell Kari she has to do pushups for every minute she is late!” Kari used to make us do weight lifting if we acted lame in our dancing. So when Kari showed up we all said she had to do pushups but she laughed and ignored us. We were all like a family and so when Morgan was missing one week near the end of the semester someone asked,” where’s Morgan?” Someone had a text from her but we missed her.

The next week I opened up the newspaper and was shocked and began to cry when I saw Morgan’s picture in an obituary. I could not believe the report that she died a natural death. And for

the next year I never heard anything more about this terrible loss. I wished I could know what really happened or what happened to her family that I had never met. On the last day of class we all presented a solo dance of our own creation. I danced in memory of Morgan. Everyone cried. Our teacher cried so hard she had to leave the room. I will go on doing what I can in memory of Morgan and hope that I can be a friend to her parents. I have never met them but to have a daughter like Morgan they can be very proud and they must be wonderful people.

Sincerely

Thomas

 

November 30, 2011 – Day 121 of Morgan’s stalking – busy morning until 12:19 PM


 Morgan’s phone is busy just past midnight this morning. Not the first time in her life, she is a twenty-year-old, young woman, but this is out of character considering the past few months.  At 2 seconds past 12 a person she does not know texts her, it turns out to be quite innocent.  Her friend Nathan, who is just back from Australia, does not have a phone yet, and asked Morgan if he could give another friend her number until he got his own phone, and this friend might be texting, it was just that neither Nathan nor Morgan thought it would be at midnight!

Morgan calls him back and tries to put him in touch with Nathan, but gives up and goes back to sleep.  Another friend of Morgan’s texts at 12:14 AM and teases her about not lending him her sweater earlier.  Morgan answers him and he keeps going on with his texting, but she stops conversing and goes back to sleep.  Unfortunately the stalker must have been outside, and because it seemed he had seen her light on and heard conversation he is now angry.  Morgan thinks this because there is very loud banging at random intervals.  Once it starts up Morgan covers her head with a pillow, and hopes he stops.

As we will find out next year, at 12:25 AM status updates are happening on facebook accounts.  Hannah Hurlocker (?’s friend) happens to be staying with ? just up the street and her wall updates with “ugh I already called you and told you member?”  a minute later Stephen says, “Oh yeah my bad sorry”  Hannah answers, “its osay”  Stephen expands on his answer “Oh yeah my bad sorry But u didn’t tell me what was going on u just asked me to Drop everything and come get you that’s it”  at 12:27 AM Hannah tells him, “enough said”

Also at 12:27 Morgan’s phone rings she answers and hangs up from under her pillow.  It was yet another friend “drunk dialing” her.  He will call to apologize later in the day.

Morgan gives up on sleep, and she gives up on her stalker outside giving up for the night so in a very strange move for Morgan, she gathers up clothes and comes into our bathroom with her puppy to dress.  I hear her and come in to see what is wrong.  Morgan can’t explain it, but feels like something is really wrong.  Her crazy stalker has been banging some wretched beat on her window and she is afraid he will be at it all night so she slipped out of the room and came in to our bathroom to change.  And now she wants to go to a friend’s grandmother’s house for the rest of the night.  She has had a standing invitation, and has only used it a few times, but Morgan knows she is home and her couch is not only warm and safe, but most importantly quiet.  A place to dream happy dreams.

For some reason I think she is making the right choice and I tell her I think it is a good idea.  I walk out onto the porch and watch her and her puppy drive off at 12:47 PM.  I wake up Steve and tell him what has happened – he wants to get up and make sure she makes it OK.  I tell him I have been watching cars in driveways for the last five minutes and nothing has moved, and she promised to text me as soon as she is safely locked up in her friend’s grandmother’s house.

It’s 12:52 AM when I call dispatch.  I tell them what has happened.  She has done this a few times when the stalker is being extra persistent, so this might be a good night to nab him, but before I can explain all that, dispatch tells me the officers just left the neighborhood one hour before because they were investigating our next door neighbor Ken’s house where a robbery occurred early in the evening, but they will come back.  Might not even be an hour.

You would think with a Sheriff’s presence constantly coming and going from our house nobody in the right mind would be breaking in to our neighbor’s house – but I don’t think we have been dealing with people that are in their right mind.

The next morning Steve is watching the cameras and can see the Deputy walk up to Morgan’s window, get down on his knees and inspect something on the ground.  He wonders what he found and wants me to make a note to ask Detective Rob next time I talk with him.  Steve also see’s him on the other side of the house and comments to me that he never even went in the backyard!

At 8:00 AM another of Morgan’s friends had a text message conversation with her about Bluegrass, he can’t believe she won’t go to a performance with him and tattoos, which he believes you have to have before you can express certain opinions.  It is all good natured and fun loving.

Steve meets a crew in the driveway at 8:55 AM and lines out the day for them.  He invites them in the house for coffee, and tells them about the night before.  They are incensed and just want to go take care of this.  Steve tells them that we hear it will be over soon.  None to soon for our liking.

Morgan comes home at 10:07 AM and looks well rested. Steve leaves at 10:10 AM in his truck to run an errand. 10:27 her “drunk dial” friend from this morning texts to tell Morgan he is sorry.  Morgan does not answer him, and works on her room before our doctor’s appointments this afternoon in Grand Junction.

There was a mini van that pulled up the driveway at 10:55 AM and a man came to the front door with a sheet of paper looking for someone in the neighborhood that I had never heard of before.  He seemed to expect that and left, not circling the neighborhood or asking anyone else, just left.

Right after he left Morgan got a text she found uproariously funny.  She is getting very frustrated trying to get her point across to her long ago ex-boyfriend, that she does not want to date him again, she just wants to be friends.  She changed her facebook profile as a joke to say she was in a relationship with a girlfriend of hers at school.  Her girlfriend had just been approached by an instructor who thought it was about time.  It was so funny to Morgan that she was going to leave it for a few more days before changing it back.

Steve loaded the truck with the dogs and our stuff and at 12:19 PM and Morgan was in one of her all time favorite places, crashed out in the back of the truck, and off on a road trip.  A short one, but a road trip all the same. Below you can see a Facebook Post she responded to today.

Today is November 26, 2012 – That day last year seemed so normal.  I mean as normal as having a stalker that hasn’t been caught yet can be.  I have to admit the day this past September when our Garfield County Sheriff went on TV and announced he would NEVER reopen this investigation I was devastated.  And I believed then that Morgan, who had been nothing but a kind giving soul her entire life, was being so unfairly treated.  I am not alone, in private emails, from others in law enforcement, it is a constant question – how could he have said that?  I have replayed the clip many times and there can be no doubt as to what was said and since repeated.  How in the world can you say that?  What if you were presented with an airtight case, with all kinds of evidence to show there was murder…would you still have to say NEVER?

But if he is the Sheriff and he is entitled to make that call – then he has made it.  This just compels us to go up higher to a different law enforcement agency to open this case – we won’t give up,

Now for other victims of stalking, and others who may become victims there is this other unbelievable interpretation.  We were out to your house X times and never saw a stalker, so there isn’t one?  Are you kidding?  Do you think a stalker is just going to sit and wait for you to get there and see him?  I kind of doubt it.  And what about footprints, pictures, videos, eye witness accounts…do they not count for anything?

November 30, 2011 is a perfect example of how that just can not fly.  Morgan gave up on sleeping in her own bed during the early moments of that day.  Terrorized from her room.  The same Sheriff’s department that now claims there was never a stalker, dispatched an Officer that had left an hour ago, and returned 34 minutes later.  Morgan was gone for 39 minutes.  By now we know the stalker most likely was on the roof 45 minutes ago, but where do you think he is now? Honestly?  The deputy searched the ground for five minutes on Morgan’s side of the house, then the other side of he house, never circled the house – if the stalker had wanted to sit on out back porch, the Officer would never have seen him.  No problem, won’t even have to duck.  The Officer then sat in his truck for six minutes before leaving.  End of story – no stalker.

Make no mistake, I am not blaming that Officer at all.  I am pointing out how this is not working.  How this is the plan they have to stop the stalker, and it is not working.  Over 3,500,000 views of Morgan’s Stalking have taken place.  One person – one page – one view.  Do any of those 3.5 million views think that today’s performance almost nabbed the perp, stopped the stalker – I don’t.  Lots of times now, I cry for Morgan, Steve too.  But we have both talked about this so many times, and we cry just as much for other victims of stalking that will call this same Sheriffs department and will get exactly the same as Morgan got – and we wonder, Steve and I, how can anyone involved in Morgan’s stalking not sit back and wonder – is this the best we can do?

 

Just wanted to share a birthday card Steve and I gave to Morgan on her 10th birthday – the inside said, “Angels dwell in the hearts of a very special daughters like you.” We always felt like Morgan was an angel from Heaven ever since the day she was born…and now she is an angel in Heaven

November 29, 2011 – Day 120 of Morgan’s Stalking – Detective Glassmire seems full of hope!

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.