A Life Wasted

Lost Months

Over the next few months I was in a great deal of pain so the events are pretty much a blur to me. The best source of information I have for the sequence of events is from a 2002 newspaper article that I've just dug out of my legal stuff. As part of this article there is a U.S. map with pinned numbers indicating sightings of me along with the dates. Some of the dates and locations don't make sense to me, but as I said, I was more focused on pain management and not losing feet and hands than anything else. Given how bad my memory of this time is, I will reference this article for help.

The article correctly has me escaping from the DeWitt Count Jail in Clinton, Illinois on February 22, 2001. The next listed sighting is in Atlanta on March 1st. The Atlanta date seems right to me, though I have no idea how they knew I was there then. What I don't get is that there is no reference to the confrontation with that angry old guy and his big gun in Arkansas. I watched him write down the plate info on the truck I had stolen back in Clinton, Illinois. It still had the same license plate on it so there is no doubt they would put that together. Perhaps the old guy never called the police. Hard for me to believe, but it's possible.

The next date that shows me is Knoxville, Tennessee on March 24th, which could be true, though I am not sure. Then on March 28th they have me isolated to a hotel in Greencastle, Pennsylvania (eastern PA) which I remember. The details on that one are that I had checked into a hotel room but had a nagging sense of danger. For no reason other than that "feeling" I left the room during the night. I later learned that they had closed in on the room and were surprised I wasn't there.

After that they have me being in western Maryland between April 5th and 15th. This I am sure isn't accurate. I may have driven through western Maryland, though I am not sure, but I am sure I didn't spend any time there. In that same time-frame they have me spotted in Norfolk, Virginia, which was definitely me, and also in Atlanta and in Knoxville, which I am unsure of. Note that in a ten-day period they had reported sightings, what they are calling "known whereabouts" in western Maryland, Norfolk Virginia, Knoxville Tennessee, and Atlanta Georgia.

Now I'll tell you what I do remember about that period of time. My focus was on healing my body. After a few weeks my hands had begun to recover on their own to the point that I was no longer worried about losing them. At this point I didn't even believe I'd lose a finger. My feet were a different matter. They were black and I thought for sure I would have to have them amputated. For this reason, I took a large risk and made contact with a well-known anti-abortion extremist. This guy has passed on (of natural causes) so I'll go so far as to say he lived in the south, but I still won't give his name. It was a risk going to him since he would be under surveillance under normal conditions, but with me on the run there would be no doubt that he would be watched by the FBI. So I took my time and used a GPS moving map to figure out a way to approach his house from the woods. I was able to make contact with him without anyone knowing, including his family.

Just like the first contact I had made, this guy failed to recognize me. That I had to introduce myself to someone who was an active "player" in the anti-abortion movement gave me hope that no one else should be able to recognize me either. He did recognize my name though and, on hearing it, he embraced me warmly.

This guy was a great help. He had lots of contacts and he was willing to help me. He gave me what cash he could scrape up, but what I really needed was a place to lie up so my body could heal. He had that and more. He knew a woman who wanted to do something for the cause. She had no known connection to any anti-abortion extremist, including him. They had met in person at an "event" (I never learned what this "event" was) and they had arranged a clever way to communicate via public email. It was his belief that even though the feds monitored him closely, they didn't know about her. He was sure she could be trusted and sure she would put me up. The best part of this is that she was a nurse.

The guy wanted to email her to ask if it was okay to send me to her but I convinced him not to take that chance. He gave me her address and description. I found her easily enough and my plan had been to watch her for a few days to ensure she wasn't being watched. This didn't work out so well as, unlike the two previous contacts, this one recognized me in a crowd. Before I had a chance to react she walked up to me and hugged me. It was a public place so I was trying not to draw attention to myself but it didn't matter. She hugged me and cried, but I doubt anyone thought anything of it.

When I was able to tell her why I was there she immediately agreed and took me home to hide me and nurse my feet. This was how I was able to completely drop off everyone's radar for a while.

One other note on the listed sightings for this period: Norfolk, Virginia. I had gone into a Kinko's Copy Center there to rent computer time to check something. I didn't realize it but someone in the Kinko's had recognized me from the America's Most Wanted TV Show and called the cops. I was in and out in a few minutes and, as was my habit, I had parked my car in a place where no one from the place I went into could see it. This Kinko's was in a large shopping center, so I exited on the far side. As I was leaving I saw two police cars enter the other side. I noted this but didn't pay much attention since I was driving away. Those cops were there for me, but missed me. I should have paid more attention to this event as it was what ultimately led to my capture.

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