(although Heather Thompson is not a Missing Mother, it's situations like hers that lead to a woman being missing and, in most cases, murdered by her intimate partner)
While her situation is being played out online in a Facebook Group, through messages and emails, Heather Thompson is watching the clock tick. A survivor of a severe case of domestic violence, Heather is watching her time run out.
Very soon her ex-husband, Thomas Price, Jr., will be paroled from Federal prison. The same prison from which he sent threats to kill her and her children. The same prison from which he has had 14 years to think about and plot ways to carry out those threats.
What are the citizens of Charlotte, NC waiting for? Are they waiting for the next headline news story of a bloodbath, where a woman and her family are murdered? Are they waiting to see the day's headlines and then turn away to do the dishes?
This is real life for Heather Thompson.
This is real life for her children and family.
This is not just another headline waiting to happen. Or is it?
Yes, there are things that Heather had the opportunity to do with the last 14 years, but she chose to rebuild her life, remarry, have more children and put the past behind her. But now that past is back to haunt her. Maybe she should have done some things differently, maybe she should have just left the family and surroundings that she knows and loves and went underground, knowing that this day would come.
Heather chose to be an outspoken spokesperson for domestic violence. After her brutal attack, billboards were placed around Charlotte, NC so that everyone could see the injuries inflicited upon her and maybe think twice about going home and beating their partner. Maybe Heather saved a few women that way.
Heather has spent the last 14 years, the years that Tommy Price has been in prison, speaking out for victims, serving on the board of directors of domestic violence groups , and letting women know that there is hope, that their is a way out of a sickening situation.
Heather's hope has run out. What will it take to save her life? Is there a safety plan for her? Is there anywhere she can turn and not live in fear? Is there any way to keep Tommy Price from snuffing out the lives of his ex-wife and children? What are the odds?
I'm sure Tommy Price has a cheesy grin on his face today, knowing that his actions have stirred up so much controversy. If there were any way left in our justice system to keep him behind bars, it would be a blessing, but I doubt that is going to happen.
Every day in our country we read about cases where a partner continues to victimize and uses their children as pawns in their game. Child murder and suicide seems to be epidemic. Where is our judicial system in all this? It is flawed to say the least.
So what can we do to keep Heather Thompson and her family alive? There aren't many options left. She is at the eleventh hour and there are not too many places left to turn. If Tommy Price is paroled, Heather Thompson's death cerificate is as good as signed unless drastic measures are taken quickly.
As just a concerned person with no knowledge of the law and how paroles work, I have no answers, but I know with every breath in my being that someone out there knows.
If you have the knowledge and wherewithall to stand up and do something to help Heather, please do it. Do it quietly, do it behind the scenes, don't announce to the world and pat your own back, just take the ball and run with it.
Please save a life today.
To read about or contact Heather, please read at her group on Facebook
1 comment:
There is no parole in the federal prison system. If he was sentenced after November 1, 1987, then he was sentenced under federal sentencing guidelines and has to be released at the end of his sentence. He may have to be in a halfway house for up to six months and then will be on supervised release, with a Federal P.O. She can always contact the P.O. with her concerns, which may result in increased monitoring. Sentencing guidelines sentences are set by Congress.
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