Update - 03.22.06

So it's been awhile since the incident took place - there are a lot of sections to update you on - I'm going to try to categorize them in a way that makes sense...

My Vehicle:
The cops apprehended two suspects in my vehicle (which for those of you that don't know was a 2002 Eddie Bauer Ford Explorer that I had JUST gotten in January - it was NICE NICE NICE and I loved it. Obviously the bastards kept it...) on Monday night, March 6th. It was involved in some sort of chase once the police realized that it was a stolen vehicle involved with an open investigation. They knocked off the drivers side mirror, and there are some pretty major scrapes on the bottom side panels. For now it is at the DART lot (HPD). They are combing it for fingerprints and DNA. I should get it back in the next week or so, but as I'm sure you can imagine, it's going straight to trade in. There are a few too many memories attached to that vehicle now. I am back to driving Big Red at the moment - my parents had plans to sell it the Saturday afternoon that everything happened - obviously their plans were a little derailed. I'll be getting something different once insurance settles everything out and we make arrangements. Not sure what the new ride will be though...

The Suspects:
The two guys that were apprehended were not the guys that committed the crime against me. I had to go in early on Tuesday morning (the 7th) to do a photo lineup. I was not able to ID anyone. The cops told me that it was not likely that I would as the vehicle had probably changed hands a few times by that point. They did interogate the guys they had in custody though, and got some good leads to go down the rabbit trail of hunting the guys that attacked me down. One thing to note is that both of the guys that were apprehended in my vehicle were gang-affiliated. Therefore there is a strong possibility that what happened to me was gang-related, and more than likely an induction.

There was surveillence video of the guy that walked me to the Chase ATM, so they have a couple of profile shots of him. And they've gotten a little bit more surveillence video as well from the first bank they went to, and from Sam's Club - where they went to get gas after they had dumped me. I'm not allowed to see any of it though, because that takes away my credibility as a witness.

I did meet with a sketch artist, Lois Gibson, to do a sketch of the passenger/guy that put the knife to my throat because there is nothing of him on video. She was a really neat lady, and has quite the story. She did an incredible sketch off of what little I could remember. Keep in mind that I only saw one suspects eyes because his nose and mouth was covered by a bandana. And the other guy I never got a good look at that I know of.

From what the cops have told me though - they have really strong leads. I have done a couple more photo lineups to no avail. Which disappoints me, but it's one of those things where I have to be sure, or I can't give them a positive ID. The cops do know where the driver/mastermind went after the incident though - they have the house and know that he was muddy and in a blue SUV, so it's a pretty good assumption that it was him. I will more than likely have to do a live lineup in the next week or so, and will probably do a voice ID as well. Which they talked a lot, so that helps. Maybe I can get them that way...

Anyways - I hope to have really good news for y'all on this front in the next week or so. The cops seem pretty confident that they are going to be able to wrap this up. If you're wondering about a DNA match, well that will take 6 months to get back AT A MINIMUM (yes, I was disappointed they don't work at CSI pace as well). The cops expect to already be in trial, if not done with the trial by that point. And if that's the case, I won't be upset at all, because hopefully this means it will all be wrapped up quickly.

Pancheaux:
My baby is currently being taken care of by my cousin Sarah - living at her mom's house along with my cousin Matthew. She's the one that almost always takes care of him when I go out of town, etc. She's gotten used to him hogging too much of the bed and to the perpetual dog hair that seems to end up everywhere. I can't thank them all enough for taking him in and making it one less thing for me to worry about. I know he is in great hands, is being loved on constantly, and even has another dog to play with - their husky Cas.

Living Arrangements:
Well as you can imagine, I moved out of my apartment within a week of everything happening. Some fabulous friends came and helped me pack everything up on Friday, and then on Saturday more fabulous friends came and helped me move everything into a storage unit out by my parents house. My home base right now is my parents house out in Champions Forest, but I've been staying with friends during the week just to make the commute to work and rodeo that much easier. Thank you to Meredith and Elaine for last week, and thank you to Lorena and Ashton for this week! I think next week it might be Melissa, Mason and Olsen's turn! I am working on ironing out some details on some semi-permanent living arrangements in the near future. I'll keep y'all updated on those as well...

Me:
And probably what y'all wonder about the most. I'm really doing ok. The only way I know to deal with this is to just keep going. I've told a lot of my friends that they took two hours of my life, and I have and I'm going to spend a lot more time dealing with all of the hassles of all of this. That's all they get. They cannot have any of the time that I have control over - don't they know that I'm much too busy for all of this?!?! Jeesh! I continued to work all of my rodeo shifts throughout the two weeks that were remaining - it was the one thing I could count on that would get me away and keep me sane. Rodeo is now over now though, and so I press on to getting my normal schedule back. I went to my first counseling session last week - I'm going through a service provided by my church. I plan on going regularly for the next few months at the very least to keep on ironing out the wrinkles that are going to come along with this. I still have my smile, and I find myself smiling more and more each day. There are a few more tears these days, but I guess that's just normal. I do most of the time feel like I am telling someone else's story - like it really didn't happen to me. I mean this happens on Law & Order - it doesn't happen in real life. Not to people you know, and definitely not to you. I will get through this though - I'm a little scared and a little apprehensive in certain situations, and I know a lot of you are too. It sucks that there are people out there in the world that make it such an ugly reality to live in. But don't let that get your spirits down - I know it hasn't mine. One more day tackled leads to one more week tackled leads to one more month tackled, and before we know it 2007 will be knocking on the door. And I don't know about any of you, but I wish it were already here.

What can you do?
Just pray. That's really all anyone can do. Pray for strength, wisdom and clarity and I continue on this path of healing and recovery. Pray for the cops working this case. Pray for justice. Pray for my family and friends that are obviously struggling with this as well. And say a prayer of thanksgiving - things could have ended much worse than they actually did...

May God Bless You All...