Hey there KVOR listeners! Thanks for poppin' in to read my blog.
Today we talked about the issues that Fort Carson has been having with some of their soldiers, mainly with the 4th brigade combat team.
As we reported on KVOR, 6 soldiers from that particular brigade have been convicted or are considered suspects in homicides here in Colorado Springs...with the latest being 21 year old Robert Marko.
Marko has admitted to police that he is responsible for the death of 19 year old Judiliana (Judi) Lawrence, violently raping her, cutting her throat then leaving her body on Old Stage Road. According to reports Marko and Lawrence met online on the ever popular social site known as MySpace.
As you may or may not know I am a mother of a beautiful 12 year old girl who really, really wants a MySpace page and I am absolute in my 'no way' stance. But, even if I gave in regardless of her age...I would have total access to her page so that I know who she's friends with and what is being said between them. As a parent, it's my soul/sole responsibility to ensure the safety of my child even if my checking up is considered an invasion of privacy.
I understand that the victim in this story was 19 and considered an adult but she was still with her mother working toward earning her GED therefore, I would still call her 'dependent'. The unfortunate truth is that Judi's mother had no idea who her daughter was friends with and is actually quoted as saying that is wasn't until her daughter didn't come home that she learned about of the relationship with Robert Marko and she goes on to call Marko Lawrence's only friend.
Now, I believe that if Judi's mom was aware of her daughters page she would have seen Marko's profile and noticed a very angry, sexually aggressive person communicating with her child. I can only speculate from there that hopefully she would have had the opportunity to talk with her about the dangers of online predators...such as Robert Marko and worked on deterring her from continuing the relationship. Maybe even try to instill some self-confidence into her already quiet, and according to a close family friend, a bit anti-social little girl.
With that said, I don't think that the lack of communication between Judi Lawrence and her mother was the only reason this horrible crime was committed. Officials at Fort Carson are acknowledging a problem with this brigade and are working on a solution for the future of the soldiers but my next question is...how did this man's anger and desire to kill get through the MySpace 'filters'?
Warnings saturate MySpace about inappropriate material such as nudity and threats so how did this guy slip through the cracks? We'll never know the answer to that but, it doesn't stop the fact that this isn't the first time someone has posted death threats or the desire to kill on this popular website and it won't be the last unfortunately.
With the internet predators more prolific than ever with more avenues available every day all I know about this situation is communication with your children about every aspect of their lives is our business as parents. Don't worry so much about being your kids 'friend' and not want to piss them off when you 'spy' on them online. Spy away!!! You better, or someone else is going to tell them what they want to hear and the words you need them to hear will fall on deaf ears.
My thoughts and prayers are with the friends and family of Judi Lawrence.
~W~
