After her classes, Morgan came home, it was overcast and a storm was threatening, not quite snow yet, but a good electrical/ice storm. Morgan made plans to Skype late with her friends, and then she left for Carbondale. She had a date to cook with her dad tonight. She wanted to learn just how to make his marinara sauce, so that someday in the future she could cook it for him, and she wanted me to let her know what time to be home for that.
Later in the day after I had talked with Steve, I called Morgan and told her that it sounded like 7:00 pm they would be were cooking. She texted me at 6:30 pm and said, “On my way.”
Morgan and her father had a great time making dinner together, laughter and teasing, and after we all ate and cleaned up, Morgan went to her room. I was sleeping, but then I got a single bubble text on my phone from Morgan – a rock on her window. I wasn’t supposed to answer, I had promised I wouldn’t keep her awake for hours by running outside, calling the sheriff’s, etc. (she wanted to ignore it and get some sleep, but promised to send me a text bubble for my record keeping for the sheriffs), the problem was she had not done this for a while so I could not help myself and sent back three question marks. Morgan told me, “Go to sleep!” I sent her a smiley face, and said, “What about you Missy?” She answered, “I am.” I couldn’t help myself, and sent her “What made you think I was awake?” Morgan said “Stop texting me. I’m sleeping.” I knew it was time to stop, and said, “Sorry.” with a sad face.
I started to get up, but Steve stopped me and said we will check in the morning. I felt like it was something more that I should look at now, but stayed in bed anyway, staring at the ceiling. Eventually I fell asleep for a while, and then I woke up, not knowing what time it was and got up anyway. I think the rain woke us up, as Steve got up with me and we cuddled on the bench, both looking at replays of the camera, wondering who in the world would be out in rain like this.
We could not find anything at the time Morgan sent the bubble, and I had given up an went back to bed when Steve called me back. He had found something when reviewing the driveway camera from an hour later. Someone was crouched behind the LR3 and a car was coming up the street, we could just catch the headlights. The stalker was out of sight of the cameras, behind the car, no way to tell what he was doing, but the car coming up the street would expose him and caused a change in his plans, and he quickly stands up. Now he is caught on camera, and he quickly goes from a crouched position to upright and runs off the driveway, and goes in front of the garage, again off of camera, probably ducking behind the bushes. We talked with our neighbor who came home at that time and he did not see anyone in our driveway, he told us he really wasn’t looking, and the weather was very bad also. He had heard about the stalker, and had no idea he was just outside of our house at all hours, but he said he would watch far more closely in the future. Two very disturbing things to me about this video, first he is wearing the white shirt again, second it is freezing and raining out and he is not wearing a coat – what does that mean? Does his behavior seem to be escalating?
In this video he shows up right at the end, but you can see him stand up from his hiding spot, off camera, behind the car.
Stalker forced out from hiding spot by headlights coming up the street. It is near the end. from Morgan’s Stalking on Vimeo.
Stalker is coming up to standing posture, if he ducks between the truck and car he will set off alarm.
Stalker is up and moving across front of truck, wearing a white shirt
Stalker is leaving driveway toward garage. there is a tree right there to hide behind
We checked out the car the next morning, after wondering what he was doing back there. Was he putting something on, or taking something off? We never found out. We were cautioned that GPS tracking devices were small and inexpensive and easily attached to a car. There was a concern that this is how the stalker always knew where Morgan was. Steve had already been over the car and as far as he could tell there was nothing attached. We checked with Detective Glassmire and he was not sure about what a GPS device would look like, but he knew that it was illegal, so if we did find one it would be helpful, and be sure to let him know if that should happen. We wished Morgan’s stalker was one of those that left notes or flowers, something that the sheriffs were more familiar with, and they would know how to handle it – or would they? But it was becoming obvious to us that they were struggling with Morgan’s stalker.
Today its October 14, 2012 – It’s Sunday and the weekend has been pretty much constant reminders of how absolutely horrific this was to have lived through, and how people have a very understandably tough time grasping how it could have all happened. Some people over the Internet have even said they’re not sure if Morgan had a stalker and they think I am just doing this blog to create suspense and write a book – wrong again! I pray you never lose a child to a hateful frightening 4-month long stalking and then murder like this. And I pray that you never have the authorities tell you they will not open an investigation to look into your child’s murder. That is why I started this blog – yes, to get as much attention on this as possible and to try to get public pressure to make the authorities do the right thing. So far that hasn’t happened so we are now, in the upcoming weeks, going to go national with this.
Steve and I lived it, and now we explain it over and over again. We ask ourselves, how this could have ever happened, not just the stalking, and Morgan’s murder, but even everything since then? Just as in today’s blog the stalker is out in a freezing rain wearing a white shirt – AGAIN! Who wears a white shirt while trying to hide out at night? Morgan’s stalker does. And that is just for starters. What detective does not interview the person who heard the confession? Morgan’s did. What pathologist looks at an Amitriptyline level of 7909 ng/mL in a 115 pound woman and says it is insignificant? Morgan’s did.
I assure you I was not ignoring the requests about all of the reports, I know they will become an important part of the truth, I just did not have the time, and believe it or not, emotionally there is a limit to what I can do. Now I have some great help, and have been going through all of the reports. In a great twist of irony the video system that struggled mightily to help us capture the stalker is having a much easier time catching what really happened after Morgan was killed. It was left on for two days after her death, and what has been put in a signed report, they do have to sign them still, don’t they seems to differ from what the camera actually recorded. Well signed or not, when these reports are compared with what appears on video that will tell another story and I don’t think the camera is able to lie. Then there are the reports LE released and then the ones you have to specially request, and that so far is also telling another story. I will release them all once I have had a chance to comment, and corroborate my comments to the extent that is possible. The one thing Steve, and I have going for us is that the truth does not change, and it will still be there waiting when we get to it, and that we always count on.