FLORIDA...THE BEGINNING OF THE END September 15, 1995

We were so glad Carl was doing so well!  He looked great...he had put on weight while in the  Minnesota Rehab hospital.  We were thrilled to be able to be reunited once again!  As a mom, I was in heaven to be able to hold my son once again!!! We toured the magnificant facility...previously, it had been a Sport Resort, a group had purchased the facility and made it into a beautiful Rehab facility for the Brain Injured...this was heaven come true for our son.  At last, he was going to get the final segment of his rehabilitation, and would soon be restored to us...a healthier son than we had sent to Minnesota 5 months earlier.  The facility in Florida was more than we expected.  They had Woodworking, Horticulture, College....everything that we could have dreamed to help our son find the new future...that he would live and prosper.  That was all we wanted for him...happiness.  Things seemed to look up for the first time since that horrible day in 1992!  Initially, he was in a group house, with others who were working on personal skills to eventually transfer to private apartments in the neighboring town.  Soon Carl demonstrated that he was able to accomplish all the goals he needed to be able to transfer to those apartments.  In November of 1995, he was able to make that move! During his stay at FINR, we visited with Carl.  We went to Orlando...the first time that we had seen the Atlantic Ocean.  We spent time at Hard Rock Cafe, Sea World, all of the wonderful things that we could once again do as a family. December of 1995, we were able to spend the first Christmas with him in two years!  What joy we had!  We were building memories once again as a family...happy and cherished memories.  He and his sister cherished each and every moment they had together.

We spent Christmas of 1995 with Carl in his apartment.  What fun we had opening the presents and calling the family back in California.  We spent 7 wonderful days with him!  We think he had a blessed time too...the first time in two years that we had a Christmas with our son!  We left him on December 26th.  He woke up long enough for us to say Good Bye to him.  He growled at us to shut the door, and turn the lights off...since the accident, he was unable to tolerate any light or noise when he was sleeping.  The slightest noise or light would send him into a verbal tirade.  In fact, when we were there for the Holidays, when Carl went to bed, so did WE!  NO NOISE OR LIGHTS!!!!  It didn't matter if we weren't tired!  We STILL went to bed.  We laugh about that even today! THAT DAY WAS THE LAST WE SAW HIM ALIVE!

Fun family photos of those days in Florida with Carl!

Sea World was especially for fur us all!

BLACK FRIDAY, JANUARY 19TH, 1996--- How normal the day began....we prepared to go to our jobs.  My husband had just gotten into his truck to go to work...the phone rang...it was Carl's case manager wanting to talk to us...he seemed to think it was urgent...both of us were on the line, or so I thought..."...we found Carl's body at the base of the 100 foot radio tower on the facility...I am really sorry!"  Suddenly, I fell to the floor, screaming.  My husband kept saying, "What is wrong...OH NO OH NO!!!"  The rest of the day is a blur...we got to the airport, collected our daughter in San Diego, and flew to Florida.  We spent the night at the Tampa Airport.  We drove to the facility...went to our son's apartment...gathered some things.  We were told we could not see him because his death was a homicide and the autoposy was being performed...we could not 'contaminate the evidence' and, by the way, where were you on the night of January 18th and early January 19th?????  WHAT???  Were we suspect in the death of our son?  How could they EVEN think that?  We were quickly ruled out - we had been in California at the time of his death!  The absurdity of it all!  We were told the last time they had seen Carl, was at 7:00 pm the evening of the 18th.  The group had just gone to Orlando for the day-something they did each Thursday...the clients took a trip somewhere for the day, then went to town for dinner.  For some reason, Carl had stayed at the facility-6 miles from his apartment.  If he did not go with the group, he would have to find another way home, and the workers of the facility were not allowed to take clients in their personal cars anywhere.  So, Carl was left behind. Carl was on a phone check in every 8 hours, and his final check in for the evening was at 10:00 pm that night.  When the facility failed to hear from Carl at 10:00 pm, they sent a woman worker to his apartment to check in on him.  She opened his apartment door, and walked into his hallway.  She reported  a "...person lying in the bed.  The TV was on and the hall light was on.  I didn't wake him, but I did not have a face to face view of him."   She locked the apartment and went back to the facility. Somehow, Carl supposidly had walked the 6 miles to his apartment!  AND he was sleeping with the TV and lights on....WRONG...!  He was UNABLE to sleep with ANY noise or lights.  The next day, January 19th, the Taxi came to pick up Carl at his apartment.  There was no answer so the Taxi lady went to pick up the other clients, and returned to his apartment.  Still no answer.  They drove the 6 miles to the facility where she reported Carl's absence.  Immediately, there was a search for him.  A search for him in his apartment was fruitless...suddenly, a call went out to the facility workers.  Just outside the woodshop, was a 100 ft radio tower.  Some workers driving by happened to notice a "...pile of clothes..." by the tower, and decided to check it out.  That "pile of clothes" turned out to be the battered body of our son.  He had been pushed from the radio tower.  CPR was useless...he was dead...and the homicide investigation began.  Two sets or foot prints, and two kinds of cigarette butts...a murder had taken place. Little could be done about the situation.  Within 3 months, all of the people who had worked with Carl had either moved, or fired.  We never knew much else.  The facility, of course, denied any fault.  God knows all that happened that night, and we are convinced that HE will prevail in the end!