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Terri, our fifth child, was born fourteen years after our first. Our older children were ages 14, 12, 10 and 8 when Terri was born. They were old enough to anticipate her arrival with Al and I. I had to keep a list on the refrigerator door specifying who held her last and for how long, in order that each older brother and sister had a fair share of her.

In 1986, Terri was about to complete her associate degree, had a good job and had rented a small house. She was very proud of her independence and had been dating a young man for almost a year. On Saturday, January 17, 1987, Terri spent the day with Al and I. At that time she told us she was going to break up with her boyfriend and move into a secure apartment the following Tuesday. We were not to let her boyfriend know where she was. We asked her to just come back home, but she said no, she could take care of herself and added, "you and Dad would like to keep me your baby forever." She was right.

The following Tuesday the police found Terri's body where her boyfriend had left her after he killed her because she was going to break up with him. The police found him in Texas where he fled after shooting Terri. When he was found and returned to Kansas City, he pleaded insanity and spent about eighteen months in a mental facility. From that time on he has been on conditional release in Kansas City.

After Terri's murder we became leaders of the local chapter of "Parents of Murdered Children and Other Survivors of Homicide Victims." We have become volunteers in the Jackson County Victim Service Office and have worked to change laws to help crime victims. Many of the laws we helped change will not make a difference in our case but we have devoted a major part of our lives to understanding the system and helping others.