2005 Journal Entries

January 1

I got an email from Sandy today. She gave me some great ideas. I am going to contact the billboard company's for Pampa and Amarillo and see what they cost. She suggested I do an radio interview with the local radio station which is a good idea. I need to get a 501c3 status for FindMonica. I think she is right it would be a good idea to get all the agencies involved to do a case review. We will see about that.

The kids were'nt home yet and it is 12:30. Connie called Marlons mom house and no one answered. We called her at work and she said that they should be at her house. She said she would make a call and call us back. She called a few minutes later and said that marlon was to pick the kids up from her house and bring them home. Yeah right. At around 1p they show up. I ask them where they stayed the night. They said their dads. I knew it! Lied to again! People wonder why their kids turn out the way they do. Parents teach them.

January 2

Today I woke up and went to check my email as I do every morning along with the forums and guestbook on the website. As I was checking my email I saw an email with the subject line “CRIME TIP re TEALER, IVORY LEE”. I noticed that it had also been sent to the Pampa PD investigator which was good.

I had this cool feeling come over me. I tried to open it but my email program (Incredimail) kept crashing for some reason. I became instantly angry. I tried it again and the same thing happened. This time it opened on the email and said “Incredimail did not shut down properly” So I decided to forward it over to my Outlook. This time it opened. The email was from a Mr. Augustine Papay Jr. Mr. Papay is a private investigator in New York . The email was 49 pages long. He provided some information that I had not seen about Tealer and some avenues in which to take and look at in the case. I got emotional after reading through the email. He even suggested that I take legal action for negligence in this case. Hmmm something to think about and discuss with the rest of the family. I emailed Mr. Papay back thanking him for his information. He emailed me again within a few minutes with even more information. He is a great person.

I got another email from “Watchers For Missing”. They are dedicating their “Keep this case Going” ( http://www.watchersformissing.com/id15.html ) page to Monica for the Month of January. It was so nice of them to do this. They picked one of my favorite pictures of her.

I got another email from Sandy. She had personally spoke to Texas Ranger Bart Bivens and he has committed to looking at the Case. This is some great news. He is an excellent investigator.

We got another tip today and it was forwarded to the investigator.

January 3

I didn't go to work today. I am afraid to leave Lex here at home alone. I am afraid thet he might get into trouble.

I finished up some of the entries in the journal.

I got an email from Sandy. She is going to make a few calls today and help get some things rolling locally.

I found a couple more news paper articles that I had saved from 1999 and 2000. I am going to get them on the website today.

I am going to contact an attorney to look things over. I need to make sure my family and I are safe.

Man i really need to get some benefits and fundraisers going. It is just a bad time of year.

Sandy called me today. She had some great news. She talked with Moe Myers of Lamar Billboards of Amarillo and they are going to let us have a billboard in Pampa and Amarillo for $220.00 a month. This is great news. They have cut the price way down for us. This will surely help in producing some leads. Now to decide what to put on them.

Tonight I emailed Mr. Cooke and the Kristen Foundation for their help and ideas.

The family got together in chat tonight and talked about upcoming events and projects. We all miss her. We want her home.

Monica I made a promise that I would not stop until we brought you home. I am sticking to it. I tell you things all the time I just do not know if you are hearing me. We love you and miss you so very much.

Well time for bed. I hope tomorrow brings more good news.

January 4

Today was a good day for the most part.

I get home from work and find that I have an email from Unsolved Mysteries. They are no longer airing shows. The only shows that are being done are reruns and they have no plans for any new ones in the future. At least I tried. Still no word from the others. Maybe soon.

I visited with representatives with Tralee Crisis Center and they have agreed to pay for the billboards. Thank god for Sandy. I would not have known what to do with this. Sandy did a couple of designs and I liked them both. this is going to be nice. She picked my favorite picture.

I talked with the chief today and I am very pleased as to what is being done with the case.

I have an interview on January 27th at 8:00 a.m. with the local radio station (KGRO/KOMX). I am looking forward to it.

I was watching the news tonight and saw a story of a missing woman that has been missing for 5 days and the Amarillo Police Department is investigating it. Why didn't they do this when I tried to report Monica?

Monica I promised you I would bring you home. I am going to. I love you sis.

January 5

It was cold and icy most of the day. Crazy Texas Panhandle weather. 15 degrees this morning and tomorrow it will be 50.

I made up some business cards with Monica's information on them. I thought it to be a good idea after someone was asking me for her web site information.

Today Mom went into the hospital with what looks like pneumonia. She sure seems to get this alot lately. She asked me if I had anything new. I told her no, not yet.

January 6

Last night as I was lying in bed something came back to me that has haunted me since Monica's disappearance. I really began to think this back in August 2000 when the mysterious call came in to my mom. I have often wondered if my profession had something to do with the manner in which Monica disappeared. I have always tried to dispell this from my mind but it is always in there someway and shows itself ocassionally. People must understand my position on all of this is I am a brother first. A husband and father figure second and my profession comes last in this situation. i try very hard to leave my work at work. When I walk into the door of my home I shut the door on work. There came a time when this wasn't the case. I put my job before anything and everything. Times have changed and so have I in that aspect.

I understand that some want to protect me and my career. I love them for that. But, i don't care to be protected in such a way that it shuts me out of the very thing that is most important to me. That is to bring my sister home. I love her just like she was my own child. I helped raise her. I just want to know what has happened to her.

I have also come to realize that it takes three things if any missing person is going to be brought back to their family. The family must stand strong and keep their loved ones face out into the public eye. They should never give up or expect that someone else is going to do things for them. I have found that if you don't ask for help you won't get it. Next is law enforcement must keep the family informed of all aspects of the investigation. The family and law enforcement must cooperate and work together. Third and final is the community must get involved with the family and law enforcement by showing their support. The community should take an active part in searching for the missing loved one and help in making sure that the loved one is brought home to the family. If any part of this traingle is missing the success is sure to fail. It takes everyone working together to make for a timely closure.

I have also come to realize, whether I like it or not, that we may never locate her. Even then i will not be done with my goal. I don't want anyone else to endure the pain, anquish and suffering that my family and I have done. I will continue to educate the community to prevent this from happening to them. I would like to work with all law enforcement agencies to set a policy on missing person complaints. This is a dream and a goal of mine that I hope will be reality in the near future. I have now sat on both sides of this arena. I think I can say that it does not make it any easier. In fact it makes it much more difficult to deal with. I would not wish this on anyone.

Tomorrow is the first of many case updates that I will be attending. My plans are to enter it with an open mind and positive attitude.

Mom is doing better today. *laughs* She wants a candy bar.

January 7

Today was a slow day.

The updates meeting has been re-scheduled until further notice.

Last night before going to bed I noticed that Pampa has a Team Amber Alert organization right here in Pampa. When i found this out I was upset that they had never made any attempt to contact us in regards to Monica's case. I don't understand this. If such an organization is on the up and up why not contact a family that has a missing loved one in the same community in which they are doing business? I makes me very suspicious of this organization. It is the Team Amber Alert. . We have not seen any of what he porports to be offering.

Today I found out that Monica's case is being forwarded to the San Antonio, Texas Cold Case Investigators for review. Once reviewed they will determine the next steps that need to be taken. Thank you Ranger Bart Bivens, Detective Connie Lockridge and Chief Trevlyn Pitner. Amarillo PD has also decided to also take a more active role in the case. This is some great news.

Monica...everyone is working hard to bring you home sis.

January 8

Today I decided to announce the FindMonica.org site and it's purpose to some friends and family. I think this is going to be a good thing. I will talk more on this later.

January 9

Today I worked on the FindMonica.org website. It is looking pretty good. More about it later.

I have more to say about the Team Amber Alert program but that will come later also.

January 10

Allot happened today. I attended a Salvation Army meeting and hadded out cards with Monica's information on them. Later on in the evening I got a call from a Mrs. Hupp who stated that on December 18, 2004 she and her husband were visiting family in Houston when they saw this young lady sitting on the curb at their motel. They had several different conversations with her throughout the evening hours. In one of the conversations the Hupps asked if the female wanted to come back to Pampa with them and the female stated something like "I do not want to go back there. I am from there". The Hupps stated that the picture on the card resembled the person they talked with. I sent them a picture that was taken not too long before Monica became missing and they still believe the resemblance is close. The female had supposedly been kicked out of her residence by a boyfriend or husband, she had short hair and was afraid that her dog would be harmed by the male. I am looking into this and will update later.

I got a letter in the mail from the Sund Foundation stating that they are unable to offer a grant at this time due to this case not fitting their criteria.

Sandy emailed me stating that the Miami (Texas) Area Youth Organization has a benefit basketball tournament every year to benefit various things. The board has voted to donate $1,000.00 to FindMonica. They are also going to donate to have printed and distribute 1000 fliers to area businesses and at the tournament also. WOW. Thank you god.

Still no word from the rest of the Television networks or talk shows I sent the letters to. No news is good news I guess in that aspect.

January 11

Today I stayed home from work so I could work on FindMonica.org. It is over half way complete and I went ahead and went live with it. I am going to spend this week getting the rest up on the site.

January 12

Today I attended a meeting in Shamrock Texas. I handed out business cards with Monica's information on them to other law enforcement officers from around the area.

I am going to work on FindMonica.org some more before I go to bed.

January 13

After work I worked on FindMonica.org some more. As I was doing it I reflected back on the last few days and just broke down crying. Mom's in the hospital quarantined with a bad lung infection. I have heard a few things that I will not post here for fear of jeapordizing the case. It just rips a person's heart out even though you already know what the truth is. I am more dedicated than ever to see all of this through. FindMonica.org is for her and all the other families who have walked in our shoes. I pray that someday soon we can at least bring her home before something else happens. I at least want to give my mom that before anything happens to her.

I still haven't heard anything new on the Houston tip. It may have been a case of mistaken identity as has happened so often.

I guess the hardest part is the roller coaster ride you take with something like this. One minute you have hope and the next thing you know there is something to take that hope away. All we can do is keep the faith and remember what we set out to do and that is bring her home. No matter what.

I want to thank all of you have been monitoring this site and sending the kind emails and writing in the guestbook. It is you who keeps us going.

January 14

Nothing much happened today it was pretty quiet. The web sites were down for over 7 hours. No one seems to know really why.

January 15

No much today. I spent a little time on FindMonica Foundation Site and added some more resource links. We have over 90 now. Just relaxed most of the day. Tonight I had my first contact with someone else who has a missing loved one. I gave them information as to what they can do and how to get the help they needed. It felt good to help someone who is going through the same horrific nightmare.

January 16

I worked on Monica's site and FindMonica Foundation site a little. I just have a few odds and ends to do to them both. I am going to make some updates to the about page next week to express my gratitude for the work that has been done with Monica's case up to this point.

Mom is still in the hospital and doing much better. Hopefully she gets to come home soon.

January 17 - 19

I attended a Conference in Abilene Tx. I handed out Monica's information cards and spoke to a couple of the groups in some of the sessions. It was nice to get away and I have a new outlook on things after visiting with a few of the attendees.

I updated Monica's web site after getting back. I cleaned it up some. It needed it.

Mom got to come home today. She is doing much better.

January 20

Not much going on today. We are starting to prepare for a rummage sale to help raise funds. I posted more information on the forums. A few more things are in the planning stages as well. We will be announcing those soon.

January 21 - 23

No much to report the last few days. Been quiet. Just keeping up with the missing person cases, getting ready for the radio interview and going over to watch them put up the billboards on Tuesday.

January 24

We had our case update meeting today. It went well. It felt good to finally be able discuss and learn a few things abot the case.

January 25

Mom, Connie and I went to Amarillo to the location where the first billboard was being put up at Madison and Amarillo Blvd. We got there just befoe they had started putting it up. The Channel 4 (KAMR) news crew was already there setting up their camera. A short time later Channel 7 (KVII) and Channel 10 (KFDA) arrived. We got pictures of them as they were setting up the billboard and when it was done. Mom and I were interviewed by the news crews. Mom was crying and asking for information from anyone. I started crying also. A representative of the Attorney General's Office and some other people that I did not know was also there. I believe they were from a family services group. They never talked to any of us so I am not sure. Later I recorded all three channels after getting home. All three stations did a good job of airing the whole thing.

January 26

Not much happened today.

January 27

This morning the investigator and I did a live interview for KGRO/KOMX Radio of Pampa. It turned out good. Hopefully with the last few days media attention something will come up.

January 28

Today I got some information of supposed live sighting of Monica in Amarillo.

January 29

Connie and I went to Amarillo and looked around at all the places where she was suppose to be and all the people we talked to had not seen her before. We handed out a few more flyers. After about six hours we came home.

January 30

Took the day to relax before going back to work tomorrow.

January 31

I added the pictures of the Billboard to the News Articles Section of the web site. I am making plans to host an event(s) on National Missing Childrens Day on May 25th. I will know more soon.