Morgan's
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Morgan
was a daddy’s girl, always including
him in her life. He did the absolute best
he could to protect his daughter - installing
motion detecting lights around their house,
then motion detecting alarms, a wildlife camera,
video surveillance cameras around their house
that recorded 24/7, more detectors, more lights,
and so much more, always one step behind.
Her mother felt like she was calling
the Sheriff’s constantly, and kept a
very detailed timeline of the events, documenting
every incident. |
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Morgan
preferred, to a fault, minimizing her problems
and any need for concern. As her stalking
grew worse she fought back any way she could,
vowing he would not control her life, refusing
any attempt to move her away for her own safety. |
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But
she also grew increasing frustrated with the dichotomy
that her stalking grew into. Law enforcement
wanted her to report any incident. Yet every report
became more frustrating for Morgan. Through
nobody's fault - just a matter of best tools available
- every report of stalking became nearly the same
bad rerun with different Patrol Officers. A call
would go out to the Sheriffs, Deputies would respond,
we would recap the same details of the ongoing stalking,
one, two sometimes three or four officers would
arrive over the next hour to search the yard, the
bushes, our vehicles, sometimes the neighborhood,
and patrol surrounding neighborhoods, find nothing,
everyone wide awake and on edge for hours.
They would file out and leave only to have her stalker
return taunting Morgan just as soon as they were
gone. There simply and mercilessly was no winning
at this deadly game for Morgan. |
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The
distinct, unfortunate, and overwhelming advantage a stalker
has is that while you must remain vigilant 24/7, he can
pick whatever time he wants to drop in and terrorize his
victim. Most likely, by the time the local authorities
get there, the stalker will be long gone - leaving his
victims always on guard for that next dose of terror.
The victims know it is coming and end up living
in constant fear. |
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From
August of 2011 until December Morgan lived with
ever increasing stress, and fear. She was
being monitored, followed and terrorized by her
stalker. She feared it would never stop. She felt
that she couldn't move away from it – that
if he followed her, it would only become worse.
So she chose to stay in hopes the Sheriff’s
would be able to catch him. Her anxiety
and stress took an ever growing toll.
This
is a picture taken of Morgan 2 weeks before she
died. Her mother took her to get her hair
cut to try to cheer her up – Morgan was
happy to have her make up on and her hair all
done, but as you can see she looks gaunt, her
eyes look sunken with dark circles under them,
and she appears exhausted. Her hairdresser
was very upset when she saw her and commented
that she thought “this __ __ __ stalker
is literally sucking the life out of her.”
Morgan
started to lose her appetite and in what became
her last week of life, she was so exhausted, and
weak that she even missed a few of her ballet
classes that she loved so much because she did
not feel well enough to go.
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Morgan
did not want this stalker to be able to control
or change her life and would never admit he was.
Her friends all had little idea of the
true magnitude of her stalking. The last
thing Morgan posted on her Facebook was, “I
love life”, and she did - with passion.
She didn't want to leave this world, she
wanted to live, and love, and experience as much
life as she could, always sharing it with everyone
she could.
But
the brutal truth is that stalking goes hand in
hand with terrorizing, breaking and entering,
property damage, theft and homicide. You
should be warned to expect one or all from your
stalker, we never were, and we got them, all of
them. Morgan’s parents have no doubt that
their daughter - Morgan Jennifer Ingram
would be alive today except for the actions of
her stalker.
Only
truth will allow for closure, and only the truth.
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There
are a lot of misconceptions about stalkers.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice most
stalkers are late teens to middle-aged. You
are most likely to be stalked by offenders of similar
age. Nearly half of victims age 21 –
29 were stalked by offenders perceived to also be
in their twenties. There are stalkers that
use other people to help them terrorize, cover up
for them, lie for them, spread untruths as if facts
in horribly misguided efforts to deflect attention
from the stalker. The laws do little to protect
the victim. Current laws give the stalker
the advantage, as well as protection. Morgan’s
case started as a misdemeanor trespassing and after
seven constant weeks, "moved up", to a
felony stalking case. Critical evidence was
never collected. Her parents believe this
stalker has done this to others, knew what to expect,
and he is most likely doing it again. |
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The
detective suggested a book by Mike Procter, “How
To Stop A Stalker”, in the many"typologies"
of stalkers, Morgan's seemed to fit the profile to become
a serial stalker, rapist and murderer.
Morgan was the victim of an unspeakable
crime, we are left with far more questions than answers:
- Where
were Morgan’s rights?
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Where was Morgan’s protection?
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How can the local law enforcement try to protect you
and do an effective job with limited resources without
knowing just how dangerous the stalker that is stalking
you is?
Stalkers
and stalking are all lumped together, no deference to
typology. Your stalker needs to be investigated
to a thorough degree as soon as possible and under the
current circumstances they never are. Consider
that if you are subject to a “routine traffic
stop” say for suspected speeding:
•
You will be investigated to verify you have the proper
insurance.
• You will be investigated to verify you have
a license.
• You will be investigated to verify your registration
is current.
• Your car was investigated as you were pulled
over for the proper operation of your lights.
• Before approaching, your license plate number
will be investigated by computer for any “red
flags”.
• As the officer approaches, a visual investigation
will be conducted on the condition of your tires, windows
for breakages or cracks.
• During your stop you will be investigated for
“wants and warrants.”
• And you could be arrested right there, possibly
cuffed and led away, go directly to jail, for something
that all this investigation has yielded the officer.
How
is it possible that all this happens in an everyday
traffic stop while the initial attempt to catch your
stalker will be to show up 15 minutes or a half hour
after your call to make the report and hope he is still
standing by waiting to be caught. Then hoping
you can discover his identity, beyond a reasonable doubt
of course. Not because this is what law enforcement
wants, by any means, they cared so much, but this is
the system they are given to work in. We watched
the current protocol not work, over and over again.
Ask yourself sometime, how can no investigation
go on into your stalker? When by strict percentages
he could well end up being your murderer - if you wonder
just how bad it really is, watch
this video. |
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Morgan
was in a “living hell” as she was trying
to go about her life. Her parents always met
her in the driveway with pepper spray whenever she
came home after dark. Her dad, as well as
some friends of hers, would park somewhere off the
main road to follow her at night when she was on
her way home to see if anyone was following her.
They tried everything they could think of
to try to keep Morgan safe and catch this stalker,
but ultimately none of it worked. The Sheriff’s
did a stake out one night, and some interviews and
evidence gathering, but without enough time or resources
to dedicate, some witnesses moved away, and a lot
of evidence is now gone forever. |
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Videos
about stalking produced by Lifetime for Women |
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Evil
can only exist when good people stand by and allow
it to exist. Speak out - we can come together
as a nation and decide to protect our neighbors,
our neighbor’s children, and anyone that
needs protection. If we see someone that
shouldn’t be there, or looks suspicious,
go up to them and ask who they are, why they are
there, or contact the person they are watching,
and let that person, or their parents become aware
of any suspicious activity. This may save
someone’s life. Make sure people know
you are watching out for them. Don’t
keep suspicious thoughts to yourself…your
intuition is a powerful tool, use it, check into
your suspicions, and don’t wait until it’s
too late. Speak up – don’t think
you are “ratting out” a friend or
acquaintance if they say something about an incident
that you know is wrong or dangerous to themselves
or another human being. We all need courage
and strength to stand up for what is right.
Morgan’s parents know there are people that
know who the stalker is and what he has done,
but they have so far choosen to not come forward
to help.
When
all good people pull together, and don’t
allow others to get away with evil there will
be less harm done to others. The local law
enforcement agencies do not have the time or resources
to help us out all the time. We need to
be vigilant, we need to help each other, and can
not turn a blind eye to what is happening around
us. |
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“Knowledge is the antidote to fear.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson |
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The
laws can be changed to protect the victims. Stalkers
come in all different types and make no mistake they are
dangerous, very dangerous, psychologically, physically
and emotionally. |
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