A letter from the Editor

Losing faith

I lost a little more of my faith in humankind last week, actually a lot. It is a story I will relay so that others in this community can protect themselves. After all, Bigfork is small, but it definitely isn't immune to crime.

A 12-year-old boy started visiting our office last fall. He was a scruffy kid, obviously in need of a positive support system. So, one of the Eagle reporters and I took him under our wing. An avid lover of music and movies, I began to lend him CDs and videos from my own collection. As time went on, it became clear that his unemployed mother was not instrumental in her child's rearing. For Christmas, I bought the boy a nice stereo. Why? Because I knew that it was something he would enjoy. And so it went, he would visit the office, bum some money for a soda, and hang out while we worked.

Now comes the sad part of the tale. Last week I went home to rest before my Relay for Life meeting. As I put my car in park, I noticed that my back doors were open. I entered my home to find my stereo speakers missing, my laptop gone, my home in disarray, defecation in my toilet, my underwear drawer open, and numerous other upsetting mishaps. I took off out my door and caught sight of a neighbor. I asked him if he had seen anyone enter my home, for it had been burglarized. He replied that he had given a teenager on a bicycle a box for some speakers-that the boy had said he was a friend and it was OK. I looked at my neighbor amazed and said, "I know who did this."

Sure enough, I went to the boy's home and found my speakers set up in his livingroom. His mother reacted by saying that he told her he got them from the Flathead Industries bin-two brand new Sony speakers in a consignment store bin? We located her son at my office, oddly enough, and he denied breaking into my home and stealing my things.

The speakers I could live without, but the laptop had my entire career on it-every photo, every story. I tried to impress this fact upon the youth, but received nothing but lies and deceit. So, I called the sheriff's office. To make what is already a long story shorter, a deputy by the name of Keith Stahlberg came to my home, questioned me and fingerprinted various items throughout the house. He was kind and understanding-a light on a dark day. He went to the boy's house, and eventually got him to confess.

The boy had thrown the laptop down the Bigfork stairs and into some brush, where it was retrieved by Deputy Stahlberg. When we opened it, it was still on and stuck on www.Hustler.com.

I don't know why this boy of 13 did all these things to me. I think I could have handled it better if a complete stranger had broken into my house. I have shown him nothing but kindness and support. A friend recently told me, "Those kinds of people see kindness as a weakness." It is confusing and disappointing. I left Los Angeles so that I could feel safe in my own home. Now, a 13-year-old child has made me feel vulnerable.