Hartford, Wisconsin. An ordinary July morning, nothing seemed out of place until that call came in. Oh my god. Oh my god. Hartford 911, what’s the location of your emergency? My daughter is blue. I went to wake her up and I just got home from lunch and she won’t wake up. Okay, so is she breathing? I don’t think so. No.
Jessie, she’s cold. She’s cold? She’s cold. Oh my god. She can’t breathe or anything. She’s gone. It looks like strangulation marks. Are there strangulation marks? That’s what it looks like. I don’t know what’s going on. I don’t know what’s going on. Honey. What do I? What do I Oh my No. No. Honey, no.
No. Hi everyone. Welcome to the Rosa Cotrone channel. Today, we’re diving into a case that truly breaks your heart, not only because of its brutality, but because of a kind of strength that’s hard to comprehend. This is a story about evil hiding in plain sight and about a love that proved stronger than hate.
Before we begin, make sure to subscribe and leave a like if you enjoy this kind of content. And let me know in the comments, do you think something like this can truly be forgiven? Sophomore Jessie Marietta Blodgett, a 19-year-old student at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, was pursuing a degree in theater.
Her exceptional skills in musical education had even earned her a talent-based scholarship. From acting and musical theater to mastering instruments and songwriting, Jessie’s entire life revolved around the arts, a passion that had been burning since her early childhood. While talent came naturally to her, Jessie was never one to rest on her laurels.
She was her own toughest critic and hardest worker. Back in the first grade, her teacher actually had to design a custom curriculum just for her because she was so far beyond her peers. Her father, Book, recalled that while the other kids were learning basic words like and or the, Jessie was already mastering the spelling of metamorphosis.
She envisioned a future as a choir director, fueled by the conviction that music possessed the power to transform the world. While pursuing this goal, she successfully launched her own business teaching piano, voice, and violin in Hartford, attracting nearly 30 students in only a few months.
On top of her heavy course load, she spent every summer volunteering at the Central Middle School Orchestra Camp. Jessie was also a passionate advocate, frequently speaking out about environmental sustainability and the protection of women against violence. To support herself, she picked up as many work hours as possible.
The weekend of July 14th, 2013, was a particularly thrilling time for the 19-year-old. It was the premiere of Fiddler on the Roof, where she was performing as the fiddler. Every performance was a sellout, the crowd was absolutely captivated, and by Sunday, the entire cast was buzzing with excitement. To celebrate their success, the group headed to a pool party at a residence featuring a large llama enclosure.
Footage from that night shows Jessie by the pool, smiling and posing for pictures with the llamas, appearing to be in high spirits. However, the mood shifted when she returned home alone at 1:00 a.m. Her mother, Joy, noted that Jessie seemed visibly distressed. Though Jessie didn’t go into full detail, she shared with her mother that, “Oh, the guys, they’re always making passes and I don’t know why they always have to turn it there.
” Jessie explained that two men from the production, both in their 40s, were involved and one had even attempted to pull her onto his lap. The situation left her feeling so unsettled that she turned to her diary to process it. In her entry, she wrote about feeling corrupted and noted that certain men seemed to be twisting what ought to be platonic affection into a strange kind of competition.
She concluded her thoughts with a resolve to face her problems head-on and without cowardice, asking for God’s presence before finally closing the journal and going to sleep. By 8:00 a.m. the following morning, Jessie’s mother, Joy, quietly entered the bedroom to drop off some laundry.
Seeing Jessie still deep in sleep, Joy decided not to wake her, assuming she was simply exhausted from a grueling summer of theater, teaching, and work. Joy left for her shift, allowing her daughter the extra rest. When she returned home just after midday, the entire house was eerily quiet. Jessie had a piano lesson scheduled for 12:30 p.m.
and when a student arrived and knocked on the door, Joy called out for her daughter. Getting no reply, she headed upstairs to Jessie’s room. She found her daughter perfectly still. Despite her bedroom usually being a bit cluttered, the bed was strangely tidy and Jessie was neatly tucked under the blankets.
Joy called her name once more, but there was still no movement. Sensing that something was terribly wrong, she walked around to the other side of the bed. It was only when she tried to gently nudge her that Joy made the horrifying discovery. Her daughter’s skin had turned blue. Oh my god. Oh my god. Hartford 911, what’s the location of your emergency? My daughter is blue.
I went to wake her up and I just got home from the lunch and she won’t wake up. Okay, so is she Is she breathing? I don’t think so. No. Jessie, she’s cold. She’s cold? She’s cold. Oh my god. She can’t breathe or anything. She’s gone. It looks like strangulation marks. There are strangulation marks? That’s what it looks like.
I don’t know what’s going on. I don’t know what’s going on. Honey. What do I What do I Oh my No. No. Honey, no. No. Beyond the ligature bruising around her neck, deep scrapes were visible on her wrists and ankles, suggesting she had been bound or restrained. It was evident that Jessie had been strangled, after which her body was carefully arranged to mimic the appearance of someone peacefully asleep.
Even after several hours, her hair and clothing remained drenched, indicating that her killer had meticulously washed her after she was murdered. Strangely, there were no indications of a break-in. Both the doors and windows remained perfectly intact. Investigators discovered a roll of tape hidden beneath the bed, which perfectly aligned with the impressions left on her skin.
Since that tape didn’t belong in the Blodgett household, the perpetrator must have brought it with them. The estimated time of death was placed around 9:00 a.m., pointing toward a killer who was intimately familiar with the home’s layout and the family’s daily routine, knowing exactly when Jessie would be alone and asleep.
The sheer amount of time the killer spent cleaning her and staging the scene strongly suggested this wasn’t a random act by a stranger. One detective noted that prior to this tragedy, the quiet town of Hartford, Wisconsin, hadn’t recorded a homicide in nearly three decades. Jessie’s father, Book, remarked that he had always considered the area as safe as anywhere could be, noting that only two murders had occurred in Hartford in the century before they arrived.
Jessie became the third. Despite the wave of fear hitting the town, law enforcement maintained that the general public was not in immediate danger and that there was no broader threat to the community. 12 News Christina Paladino is live in Hartford tonight and Christina, police gave an update on the investigation, but it’s providing little comfort.
Yeah, the latest from the Hartford Police Department here tonight is an email that we got on our phones earlier today. They had no updates on the investigation, but they did want to stress the community there is no threat here in the Hartford area. Now, I spoke with several of Jessie Blodgett’s friends tonight. They tell me she had no enemies and they are trying to understand how this could have happened to her.
Showing off her piano playing skills with her close pals was something Jessie Blodgett and this group of friends used to always do, but the last week and a half has been devastating to get through. They’re in disbelief of Jessie’s murder and they’re sticking close together.
She definitely made whoever she was talking to feel like they were the only person in the room. Jacqueline was one of Jessie’s best friends growing up together in Hartford. In fact, Jessie’s parents asked her to paint this portrait of Jessie for her funeral. Jacqueline tells me she stayed up all night to do it. I wanted to paint her.
I’ve always wanted to paint her, so it was uh it was definitely a work of love. Jacqueline and her friends say learning of Jessie’s murder was shocking. The 19-year-old was found dead in her bed by her mother more than a week ago with strangulation marks to her neck. She had come home from a cast party for the local production of Fiddler on the Roof hours before.
Police have only said they’re in the process of an active investigation and that the public is not in danger. Jeremy Zelman is another friend from Hartford and studied music with Jessie at UW-Milwaukee. I was just sort of in denial, I think. I mean, just cuz I can’t imagine anybody who would wish anything ill against Jessie.
And according to court documents, police have interviewed at least one person of interest. Several search warrants were returned yesterday, but they have now been sealed. An autopsy on Jessie was completed, but it’s not being released at this time. We’re live at the Hartford Police Department.
Christina Paladino, WISN 12 News. Detectives followed up on the leads Jessie had provided her mother, bringing in the men from the theater production for questioning. The 46-year-old individual accused of pulling her onto his lap that night having anything to do with the crime, even expressing concern that his girlfriend would be furious if she discovered his inappropriate conduct.
While authorities moved forward with warrants to analyze Jessie’s Facebook data and mobile records alongside the men’s cell phones, the digital evidence ultimately cleared them. Their GPS data placed both men far from the crime scene at the time of the murder. The search for a suspect continued at Jessie’s workplace, but every lead there also turned into a dead end.
However, while Hartford police were searching for answers, a chilling parallel was unfolding in the neighboring town of Richfield. Just days before Jessie’s body was discovered, a woman named Melissa had been targeted in a park. While she was out walking her dog, a man armed with a knife ambushed her from behind.
Melissa managed to fight for her life, grabbing the blade with her bare hands and forcing the assailant to flee in his van. The struggle left her requiring 15 stitches, but she was determined to see justice served. As soon as she was released from the hospital, she provided investigators with an incredibly detailed profile. She was able to describe the attacker’s physical build, his facial features, and the specific vehicle he drove.
She even walked officers through the scene of the struggle, pointing out exactly where he had been lying in wait. White male, 18 to 20 years of age, 6’2″, 210 lbs. Yep. He had light blonde hair with very fair skin. Yes. Okay. And you said he had checkered shorts? Blue plaid shorts. Dark blue minivan, Dodge Caravan. I don’t know what year. An older model, though.
The investigator later remarked that she was the most impressive witness he had ever encountered, noting the remarkable clarity and precision of her testimony. The description of the suspect’s vehicle struck a chord with an officer who frequented that park on patrol. He recalled noticing the same van in the lot several weeks earlier.
At the time, his intuition had signaled that something was off, leading him to run the plates. Though the search returned no red flags, causing him to let it go. Now, convinced that his original suspicion was justified, he set out to locate the vehicle. The van was registered to a couple in their 40s who didn’t match the description Melissa had provided, but their 19-year-old son, Daniel Bartelt, proved to be a perfect match.
When the police reached out to him, he agreed to head to the station without a single question about the nature of their inquiry. At the moment he received that call, where was he? He was actually at Jessie’s family home attending a memorial, weeping alongside her friends and offering comfort to her parents as they recounted memories of the 19-year-old.
As it turned out, Daniel Bartelt was Jessie’s former boyfriend. Throughout the day, he had been exceptionally vocal, with one friend named Jackie noting that Daniel had done the vast majority of the talking. Jessie’s father, Book, recalled that Daniel had always been a constant presence in their lives.
The two had been deskmates throughout high school and dated for several months, a pairing that seemed natural to everyone around them given their shared interests. They were both deeply embedded in the theater community, shared a love for playing instruments, and frequently collaborated on songwriting, even recording a track together just 2 months before her death, which she had proudly uploaded to her YouTube channel.
While Daniel had been the one to call off their romance, the two teenagers had maintained a friendship. According to his parents, Daniel’s life had taken a turn after he dropped out of university following his first semester. Upon moving back home, the previously lighthearted, social, and energetic young man had become noticeably withdrawn and appeared to be struggling with depression.
Jessie was genuinely worried when she found out he had left school. It was out of character for Daniel, who had always been a top-tier student with a clear drive for academic success. She couldn’t understand what had triggered such a change. Since he was back in town, he rejoined their old social circle, leading to more frequent interactions between the two.
It soon became obvious to everyone that Daniel was having second thoughts about the breakup and was eager to get back together. Jessie, however, was content with her independence and preferred to keep things strictly platonic. As investigators brought Daniel in to question him regarding the assault on Melissa, they were still unaware of his history with Jessie.
During the interrogation, Daniel was largely unresponsive, drifting into long silences and offering very little information. When Detective Joel Clausing pressed him for a detailed account of his movements on the Friday Melissa was targeted, Daniel claimed he simply couldn’t recall any of the details.
You were at the park, right? Yes. Which happened at the park. And do you have any knowledge about what happened to Jessie Blodgett? Yes. What kind of vehicle do you have? I I drive my parents’ Caravan. He had visible injuries on his arms and hands, which he initially brushed off as minor mishaps from a work shift.
However, when investigators pushed for more honesty, Daniel eventually confessed that he had actually been fired quite some time ago. This immediately invalidated his previous excuse. The marks couldn’t have come from a job he didn’t have. Once again, Daniel retreated into a long silence. He was becoming increasingly tangled in his own web of contradictions, and eventually, he was forced to come clean about what the detectives had already figured out.
And you were in your mom’s or your mom’s van, right? Went after that girl, right? Yes. He confessed to the assault on Melissa, offering a chillingly strange explanation for his actions. He claimed he wanted to instill fear in someone else because he couldn’t comprehend how everyone around him seemed so self-assured.
He expressed a twisted desire for another person to feel as broken as he did. Detective Clausing noted that while Daniel was obviously bright and perceptive, he had an unsettling presence that made his skin crawl. He was officially taken into custody for the attack on Melissa, but the interrogation was just getting started.
This was the moment the pieces of Jessie’s case began to fit together. When investigators asked where he had spent the previous day, he casually mentioned he had been at the Blanck residence. The detectives were stunned. They offered their condolences and asked if he had been close to her. Daniel lowered his head, stating he was in shock that someone could have raped and murdered her.
At that specific time, Jessie’s autopsy was still ongoing. Not even the lead investigators knew for certain that she had been raped. That detail would later be confirmed as a fact. She had indeed been sexually assaulted. Daniel Bartelt had just inadvertently confessed by revealing information only the killer could know.
When he was originally summoned to the station from Jessie’s house, it seemed like a standard part of the investigation into her social circle, and the connection to Melissa’s case hadn’t been made yet. In fact, Joy had tried to reassure him before he left, telling him not to worry because the police simply needed to speak with all of Jessie’s friends.
Daniel was so arrogant about his ability to deceive them that he told his friends to come back and get him in half an hour. He was convinced he’d be out in no time. However, when his friends arrived to pick him up, they were met by officers stationed outside. The police informed them that Daniel would not be released and was being held in custody.
Those who knew him were in total disbelief, certain that the authorities must have made a massive mistake. New at 10, hundreds gathered tonight to mourn the loss of a murdered Hartford teenager, 19-year-old Jessie Blodgett. The entire community paid tribute to Jessie’s life at West Side Park. [singing] I’m Nick Bohr in Hartford, where police here have announced an arrest in the murder 2 weeks ago of 19-year-old Jessie Blodgett.
The local actress was found strangled to death in her home here in Hartford. A 19-year-old Hubertus man has been arrested. Police, though, are not giving any additional information as to who he is, although I have spoken with the district attorney. He tells me he expects to file charges and the suspect will be in court tomorrow on Wednesday.
Jessie’s dad, Buck, said, “It’s not Dan. He’s never been in any trouble at school or the law that we know of. Jessie and Dan sit together at school. He was a straight-A student. They would write songs together, sing together. He was welcome in our home. He was just over the day after Jessie’s murder, sharing hugs and memories and tears with us.
” Now officially in custody, Daniel faced a new round of questioning, this time as the prime person of interest in Jessie’s murder. He admitted to being inside Jessie’s house in the weeks leading up to her death, but claimed he had kept these visits secret. He even alleged that Jessie had been the one pursuing him romantically, but because he was supposedly in a new relationship, he didn’t want to come clean.
The police, of course, weren’t buying it. Daniel told them that on the day of the killing, he had been driving his parents’ car to maintain the facade that he still had a job. During his drive, he had stopped at a local park, and sure enough, security cameras caught him there. Investigators rushed to the scene.
Luckily, the trash bins he was seen lingering around hadn’t been emptied yet. After digging through the waste, police hit a goldmine of incriminating evidence. They found a cereal box crammed with ropes, blood-stained tissues, and the exact same brand of tape used to bind Jessie. A subsequent search of Daniel’s home and bedroom uncovered even more rope and tape.
Forensic analysis was devastating. Both Jessie’s and Daniel’s DNA were found on the items. His DNA was discovered under her fingernails, and biological evidence confirmed he had raped her. His laptop history revealed a descent into darkness, with searches for serial killer victim counts, spree killers, snuff films, and strangulation techniques.
One specific video depicted a woman being sexually assaulted, strangled, washed, and tucked into bed, a precise blueprint of the horror Jessie endured. Detective Klausing remarked that the brutality of the videos was beyond description. They also discovered fragments of a manuscript titled Red is Red by Joseph Bartelt, Joseph being Daniel’s middle name.
The story featured characters named Jessica and D beating a victim into a coma with a pillowcase full of LEGO bricks. The case was airtight. Daniel was slapped with four felony counts, including first-degree intentional homicide for Jessie’s death. The other three charges, first-degree recklessly endangering safety and false imprisonment, stemmed from his ambush on Melissa.
The timeline showed that Daniel had slipped into the house around 9:00 a.m., right after Joy and Buck had left for the day. He was intimately familiar with their schedules and the house layout, knowing Jessie would be vulnerable. He arrived with what the prosecution would later label his murder kit.
The full analysis of the crime scene revealed that once he entered her room, he had hog-tied and gagged her, using tape to secure the gag. He then raped her and strangled her with the rope. Afterward, he washed her body in an attempt to destroy evidence before posing her in bed to make it look like she was sleeping.
Daniel was the last person anyone would have suspected. He had stood shoulder to shoulder with Jessie’s inner circle, mourning her loss and offering a shoulder to her grieving parents. Her father, Buck, remembered that about a week before the murder, Jessie and Daniel had been at the house alone just playing music.
When Joy returned home unexpectedly, Daniel had asked Jessie, “What’s your mom doing back so early?” At the time, Joy found the comment odd. Looking back, the family believes that was his original window of opportunity, but his plan had been interrupted. Despite the mountain of evidence, Daniel continued to deny his crimes and pleaded not guilty, forcing everyone to endure a grueling and painful trial.
Opening statements started today in Daniel Bartelt’s murder trial. Jessie Blodgett’s mom was the first person to take the stand in this trial. When you would see Dan at at the house on those three occasions, did Jessie and Dan appear to enjoy each other’s company and and be having a good time making music? Mhm.
Yes. Yes. When I entered the bedroom, I observed um uh a female I did later identified as the mother, Joy. Um doing CPR on another female body. Police shot video of Jessie’s room that day. The Blodgetts held each other close as prosecutors showed it in court. We won’t show it here, but it included video of Jessie’s body and the marks around her neck.
The defense fought hard to keep that from jurors, but lost. Correct. I don’t think it’s being offered for the purposes of um exciting the passions of the jury, but rather for the purpose of assisting the jury in understanding the crime scene. A detective took the stand for the second day in a row to talk about a video found on Bartelt’s laptop.
It’s called Poor Girl Raped and Strangled to Death. Investigators also thought it was telling that on the day Jessie died, it appears Bartelt tried to delete a video of Jessie from his computer. It’s called Jessie’s Song. Did you find anything with regard to Jessie’s Song? Yes, it was in unallocated clusters.
And what was in there? The song file was sitting within the deleted files. Assistant District Attorney Sandra Gernoth shows the jurors evidence found at a nearby park where she says Bartelt went after the alleged struggle and homicide took place. Bartelt’s defense calls it circumstantial evidence.
These pieces of evidence alone are not sufficient. There are other reasonable explanations for that. The prosecution is trying to link it to Bartelt. In Hartford, Ben Hutcheson, WISN 12 News. Maintaining their trademark grace, Jessie’s family refused to let hatred consume them. Remarkably, Jessie’s parents and Daniel’s parents actually leaned on one another for support throughout the ordeal.
The Blodgetts acknowledged that two families had essentially lost a child that day. Buck explained their mindset, saying their initial reaction wasn’t one of pure rage toward Daniel, but rather a shocked realization of, “Oh my god, what happened to Dan?” The mountain of evidence was so overwhelming that even his own legal team struggled to present a counterargument or an alternative theory.
The facts of the case were simply impossible to ignore. I don’t believe that you have heard in the last six, seven days any testimony that would give you reason to believe that Dan Bartelt had any motive to cause the death of Jessie Blodgett. The jury required only 3 hours of deliberation to return a guilty verdict for first-degree intentional homicide.
Daniel was handed a life sentence without any chance of parole. For the violent ambush on Melissa, he received 5 years behind bars followed by 5 years of supervision, a penalty that drew significant public backlash for being too lenient. Finally, the moment came for the now 20-year-old to speak. Joy and Buck sat in the courtroom, holding onto a sliver of hope that he might finally offer some semblance of the truth.
With an eerie sense of calm, Daniel turned toward them and stated, Buck, Joy, I can’t give you the answers that you’re looking for. You say how you count the days and the hours, and I do, too. I have every day. There’s no hiding from yourself in a tiny concrete cell. I have [clears throat] a disgustingly innate ability to lie to myself that I’ve exercised far too many times in my life, but I refuse to hurt someone other than myself by doing that.
This jumpsuit that I’m wearing, these shackles that I’m put in, don’t make me guilty. I know there’s evidence that I can’t refute that would make you believe that I am guilty. I know that you feel I may have enjoyed how painful this process was for some of you, and at my worst, I’ve had I’ve had that quality. I’ve made terrible mistakes along that line, but the only reason the only reason that I went to trial at all is because I was told I would not be allowed to make an Alford plea, to acknowledge that I couldn’t refute the evidence
and just accept sentencing without saying that I’d done something I hadn’t. If I could have done that, I wouldn’t have put any of you through this or my family. Judge Martins, I uh [snorts] For what you represent, I don’t I’m not trying to be combative, but I don’t [snorts] know whether I should fear you or loathe you.
I struggle [snorts] to understand [cough] someone who has that human should be given the ability to condemn his fellow man. [snorts] But I do know that I pity you. I don’t blame you for any of this. I think you’ve been extremely [snorts] fair given what you have to work with. I can’t prove that I’m innocent to anyone, [snorts] not even myself.
I can’t prove that [snorts] that Jessie was a beautiful person, though she was and I still remember her. [snorts] I can’t prove that a son that I haven’t seen for over 400 days still even rises and sets, but I like to believe that it does. Buck, again [snorts] I I think it’s incredible that such ugliness has begotten such beauty and I’ve seen that from your entire family.
I saw that the day after Jessie died when I was with you. [snorts] I pray for you, for all of you. And I hope that I believe that someday I will be [snorts] before a court that will know that my conscience is clear. [cough] [snorts] I love you. I’m so sorry for your loss. Buck addressed Daniel and said Dan I forgive you as I have every day since I learned it was you.
I believe there is good and bad in every one of us. So, I do not demonize or vilify you to the good in you. And there is I say this, you are forgiven. But you will not know forgiveness until you tell the truth. For 457 days you have lived a lie. As long as you are alive you still have a chance to own what you did.
I hope you take that chance. As for Jess, she is now happy and free. Dan, I don’t think there is in any way on God’s green earth that you or many in this room will understand or believe this, but it’s true. I forgive you and I love you. Of course, I hate what you did, but that doesn’t mean I can’t forgive and love.
Daniel Bartelt attempted to overturn his conviction in the Wisconsin Supreme Court claiming his constitutional rights have been breached because investigators utilized statements he gave without an attorney present. However, the court dismissed his appeal. Only a month after Jessie’s tragic death a massive crowd of 500 people gathered for a vigil in her honor.
It was from this outpouring of community support that the Love is Greater Than Hate Project was founded. This nonprofit organization is dedicated to ending violence against girls and women a cause that Jessie’s parents have poured their hearts into. They hope to transform their personal heartbreak into a force that can truly change and save lives.
The organization’s mission is clear. Ending interpersonal violence, promoting forgiveness, presenting love. One look at her eyes told me that all hope was gone and Jessie was gone, too. That’s the moment Buck Blodgett’s life changed. A simple exchange with his wife the day his daughter was killed in July of 2013.
Now he shares their heartbreak with others. When this happened to Jess, I started self-educating and I had no idea how prevalent this is and how violent it often is. Her family started the Love is Greater Than Hate Project. People were just pouring out their hearts to us. It was unbelievable, indescribable and it’s still going on 15 months later.
It’s crazy. The goal is to talk to schools and groups of people urging them to take a pledge against male-on-female violence. The community is rallying together. Out here in the lobby they’re selling these t-shirts and they’re hoping that for everyone that’s sold the message spreads a little bit further. You know, every day when I’m not on purpose, I’m in pain.
And when I’m uh doing something and talking about love and and forgiveness, then I’m good. And he hopes by sharing Jessie’s story other families won’t have to go through a similar pain. Buck said something about his daughter that would later become his mission. This has been a devastating blow, but honey, your strength is in me, too and love will always be stronger than hate.
I forgive him every single day and I it’s it’s an ongoing practice cuz I get mad and I think about Jess and I think about what she went through and it was brutal. Music was her passion, but Jess before she was murdered, male-on-female violence had become Jessie’s cause. We are an organization defined by our message, not just our services and that message is straightforward.
We must put an end to interpersonal violence through the power of love and forgiveness. Buck noted that this mission is a perfect tribute to his daughter as Jessie was a tireless advocate. In the years leading up to her death she become a fierce and vocal campaigner against male violence toward women.
She was a courageous young woman who championed many causes. Ironically, the very issue she was most passionate about, violence against women, was the one she tried to warn me about. I listened to her but I didn’t truly grasp the gravity of it until it claimed her life. During Daniel’s sentencing Buck was granted only a few minutes to speak yet he delivered a powerful message that serves as a fitting conclusion to this story. I have 10 minutes.
10 minutes to encapsulate an entire life and articulate the devastating impact her absence has had on me. I feel like I should be shouting to the world every single day until my last breath about who this incredible person was. The values she upheld the countless lives she touched and the profound legacy of love she left behind.
And I intend to do exactly that. In the weeks after she was taken we were flooded with over a thousand letters and cards. I will never again be able to finish a stressful day at work by walking around the block with my daughter talking deeply about everything imaginable. In her last month she had started every one of those walks by asking, “So, how was your day, Dad?” How can I possibly explain the agony of this loss? I can’t.
It is constantly there, sometimes in the background but often right at the forefront of my mind every single second. It is a pain that will never leave. People tell me I will eventually adapt and learn to function despite it, which I have already started to do, but the void will remain forever. I know they are right.
