Wednesday, February 02, 2011

Differences in Humanity


As our area has endured a tremendous snow storm and a rare blizzard warning, I have been reminded of the vast contrasts in individual humanity.

On Tuesday, February 1, at the height of the storm, a hard working mother of three encountered the worst of humanity.  This mother of three lives in Verona, Missouri, which is 50 miles from Neosho.  She needed work to care for her children, so she took a job at the Green Forest Restaurant, on Neosho Boulevard.  She has a great personality and her customers love her!

As this hard working Mom drove home from her job, she became stuck in the snow.  Her car could not move.  As she sat stranded, a man pulled up in a large black one ton dually Dodge Ram pickup with dark tinted windows and the word “Playboy” in pink letters on the back glass and offered to pull her free.  She was elated!  The man asked her to pay him $50, to which she agreed.  She gave the man the money and he ran to his truck and drove away!!!!  He stole her money!!!

As she watched him drive away, she wondered what to do.  She called for help and the wonderful men of the Neosho Fire Department came to her rescue!  They freed her car and brought her to the Fire Station to warm up and make a theft report with the Sheriff’s Department.  We MUST find this man!  If you recognize the description of this truck, call the Newton County Sheriff’s Office at 417-451-8000 and leave the owner’s name or license plate number. 

In sharp contrast, as I patrolled the rather desolate roads of Newton County, on Tuesday; I came across a man helping a woman with her snow bound car.  They were on US 71, just north of V Highway.  I stopped to check on their safety and the woman said, “I am fine, my Guardian Angel found me!”

The Lady went on to tell me she slid off the road around 8 a.m. and this man was driving behind her.  As he stopped to check on her, she learned he was driving to work in Webb City.  She told the man she was fine and was going to call a wrecker.  He would not hear of such a thing.  She said he called his place of work and said he would be late.  He then drove her to Flying J and bought a tow rope and some hot breakfast.

After they ate, he drove back to her car in whiteout conditions and was now pulling her car free.  He refused any money from her.  As I stood there talking to the Lady, this good Samaritan said goodbye and drove on to work.  The Lady had tears in her eyes as she said she had recently moved here and knew no one.  She could not afford a wrecker.  This man made her day!

William Allen White, an American Journalist, once said; “If each man or woman could understand that every other human life is as full of sorrows, or joys, or base temptations, of heartaches and of remorse as his own . . . how much kinder, how much gentler he would be.”

8 comments:

  1. Please don't lose sight of the wonderful man who stopped and cared for the second stranded woman!!! This part of the story is as important as the first part! Yes, we need to catch the man who stole the hard working Mom's money, BUT thank God for the good souls of the Earth!!!!!!

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  2. Great blog Steve. I'm reminded of the Novelist James Lane Allen who said, "Adversity does not build character, it reveals it". While the first -ss in your story weakens our faith in humanity, the second gentleman restores it.

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  3. Casey, thank you so much! That is one of the greatest quotations of all time and ironic for me personally, as I used that as a suggestion to my daughter for a way to start off a speech! To me, that quote sums up America! Have a great day and while we all search for this thief, remember for every evil soul - there are a thousand kind folks!

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  4. UPDATE: On February 27, 2011, thanks to leads from Facebook and the help of Joplin, Mo. Police Detective Brady Stuart, we located the truck and driver. This case is being actively investigated and a resolution should be obtained soon. Thank you to all who helped in this effort!

    I had leads phoned, texted, and e-mailed to me; from people in five different counties and three different states!!! This blog page had more than 500 individual hits!

    The power of the internet in solving crimes / problems is well known! We appreciate the help provided and as soon as I am in a position to post information on the entire story, I will.

    Just let me close by saying, please don't judge the driver of this vehicle - as all things may not be what they originally appeared!

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  5. I've had the pleasure of working with Brady Stuart at JPD over the past 20 years. He is truly a 'bird dog' and I sure wouldn't want him on my trail! Great job, guys!

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  7. INVESTIGATION COMPLETE - UPDATE: On February 28, 2011, we completed our investigation into this incident. I regret to inform all of you of the facts, but here I go.

    The "hard working mom", who reported this "theft" made the story up for reasons we don't know. The young man who stopped to help her, in the Dodge Dually, actually pulled her out of the ditch and assisted her.

    We have forwarded our case to the Newton County Prosecutor's Office for the consideration of charges in regard to the Filing of a False Report - which is a crime in Missouri.

    Now, while I am sure you will join me in feeling much frustration with this woman and amazement that she would accuse someone who helped of such a thing - I WANT YOU TO CONSIDER THIS - many, many GOOD people came forward with information to help locate "this bad man".

    People offered to give the woman $50 of their own money, so she would not go without. People from far and wide helped to look for the suspect, in the good faith belief he had wronged an innocent person.

    Point is, while we hear of these types of things from time to time; I beg you not to lose faith in humanity, because on the whole - a wide majority of people are good!!!!

    Now, you know the rest of the story - as Paul Harvey would say! Good Day!

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  8. WTG Brady, and thanks again Steve for keeping us updated. Dbl Congrats to Brady as he just got some pretty great news too :)

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