Other Victims

There are MANY other victims of the rampant organized criminal activity here. One elderly man brave enough to write a letter published in one of the local newspapers told of his frightening experiences with a gang of cocaine traffickers who were operating out of his residential neighborhood. He said these guys were constantly harassing and threatening him, causing him to live in fear in his own house. After watching them steal his social security check out of his mail the moment it was delivered (they apparently knew when it came), the man went to the local police and filed a criminal complaint. Not only did the police not do anything, but the next time he left his house, he was waylaid by the gang and beaten so severely that he had to be hospitalized. When he finally returned home, the same people stole his check again, so he felt he had no choice but to pack up and move out of the area immediately. His letter was written with great sadness over his having been forced to leave and his concerns for what was happening here because of the lack of functioning law enforcement.
Another victim, this time a middle-aged woman, also had the courage to write to the paper about her plight. Her published letter described her life as the wife of a wealthy local professional and their house on a golf course. All that suddenly changed when several close friends called her to say they'd heard that her husband was contacting certain people locally to arrange for her murder because he had a girlfriend. She said she immediately fled her nice home with only the clothes on her back and was having to live out of her car in 100+ degree heat without daily medications she needed because there was nowhere safe for her to go--her husband (like mine) had high-level connections with local law enforcement and even did volunteer work at the local battered women's shelter!
Both of these letters were published several years ago, and I have often wondered what became of their writers. Because of so many other similar tales I've heard, I don't doubt either of their stories for a second.