Homicide Update

For those who read my previous post regarding the murder of a 14 year old girl in Red Bluff, CA., the police have arrested a man in connection with her murder. It's the guy from the surveillance camera tape. I really hope they have concrete evidence that he is their guy. Click here for more information.

Cheerleader Friend Update

Here's a quick update about Katie's cheerleader friend that was in a horrible car accident. C.F., cheerleader friend, was put into a medically induced coma and then had some brain tissue removed, her broken femur repaired and a plate put into her head. There were other repairs that I won't get into. It is now a month since the accident and C.F. is still at Cooks Children's Hospital in Fort Worth. She is out of the coma and is in rehab. She has to wear a helmet 24/7 because she lost the front, top and sides of the forward half of her skull. The damage to the frontal lobe to her skull has also severely affected her short term memory. She can be introduced to someone, turn away and not remember you when she turns back. She cannot remember anything for more than a few seconds and this includes how to use utensils, etc. There is no estimate on how long she will be in rehab, but six months is a conservative estimate. She also has language difficulties in that she can talk, but regularly veers off into babble. She is in a wheelchair because of the repair to her femur--they added a steel rod--and it takes a while to heal. The journey through rehab and beyond will be a monumental task for C.F. and her mom, but if there is one woman who I know that could carry her daughter through this it is C.F.'s mom. That is how much her faith has impressed me even before the horrible accident.  After the rehab reaches its apex, who C.F. will be and what she can do is a big question mark at this time. Prayers, as always, are appreciated and needed. 

Baby Girl Gone

Hello again. It seems that I take to this blog when the unfathomable or tragic enters our life. Today's post is no exception.

Rick's best friend is Brad who lives in Northern California. Brad was the Best Man at our wedding. Last Tuesday Brad's 14 year-old niece Marysa, who also lives in Northern California, went missing from school. Thursday her body was found 1/2 mile from school. Brad's brother's family lives in a small town of 14,000. The niece was walking from one end of the campus to another and used the town's sidewalks rather than cutting across campus. The school's surveillance cameras have video of her walking down the sidewalk at 11:00 am. She never showed up for lunch with her friends. The numerous agencies investigating are not sharing a lot of information even to the parents, which is typical in a homicide investigation. The autopsy will be performed today.

Rick has been in contact with Brad and needless to say this has ripped the heart out of Marysa's family and the small town. As a parent, I cannot fathom the grief and pain the parents are feeling. How vast and deep it must be. I honestly don't know how one could ever recover. I try to put myself in their place, but some protective mechanism won't even let me go there. My mind just literally just cuts out and won't allow the pictures to form in my mind.

The police do have a person of interest from the video surveillance camera tape. Before Marysa appears on tape a man comes down the same sidewalk, turns around briefly and then turns into a student parking lot. He may be the person who killed her or may have witnessed something. He sure hasn't come forward which has me thinking the first. The authorities are not releasing how Marysa was clothed when found and their only comment was that she was obviously deceased when her body was found.

I pray for those investigating this case. I pray they have wisdom, patience, grace, compassion and dedication to find the person that killed Marysa.

Broken Little Cheerleader

I haven't posted in a long time, which seems to be the norm. It is not because nothing is going on, but because too much is. However, this post is not meant for endless ramblings about our doings since mid-December. This post is about one of Katie's fellow cheerleaders.

Tuesday night, the little cheerleader and her dad were returning from Abilene when they were in a horrid car accident. The father was pronounced dead at the scene and Katie's friend is at Cooks Children's Hospital in Fort Worth in critical condition.

This heart wrenching event has rocked our little town and our household. Through cheerleading Rick and I got to know the mom and at the football games I sat with the mom and dad. This past Tuesday, Rick had stopped by the mom's office to chat and to invite her daughter to a play date with Katie. That night the mom's life was ripped apart.

I cannot get the image out of my head of the little girl's smiling face as she cheered her heart out. From what we have been told of her head injuries, wemay never see her do that again. My heart bleeds for the mom/wife. She has lost her husband and now stands by as her only child lays in ICU, broken and far removed from reality.

The place that the accident occurred is an area north of Abilene on US 277, an area that I continually complain about because of the amount of accidents that I narrowly avoid. The situation that caused Tuesday night's accident I have experienced myself on enough occasions. A road from the dump has direct access to US 277. Tuesday night a semi came off of that road and crossed the north bound lanes and then stopped at the median for traffic in the southbound lanes. Well, an 18-wheeler is not going to fit in the median, so the back end of the semi took up the entire left northbound lane. Add the dark of night, high wind, blowing dust, 75 mph speed limit and a curve just navigated and the vehicle with the father and daughter rammed into the back of the semi.

Tomorrow night there is a prayer service at the high school auditorium in Anson for the family. Katie and I will be going and the cheerleaders will be wearing their uniforms.

Why did I want to share such a sad story? Because I want everyone that reads my blog to pray for this broken family and broken little cheerleader.