Katelyn Usher Fund
Donation protected
As parents of a 14-year-old daughter (Katelyn) and triplets (Teagan, Stephanie, Luke) that are 7-years-old, we (Ian & Denise) are in a position where we feel we need help financially. This is not something that we are fully comfortable admitting, but with recent circumstances that have taken place with our oldest daughter and the fact that people are asking how they can help, we've decided to reach out at this time.
As most of you know, Katelyn just went through a very traumatic experience. Approximately 6 months ago, she met a 16-year-old boy online and began chatting with him on a regular basis. They became very close. This "boy" turned out to be a girl (Krystal) posing as a boy. Katelyn was crushed when she found out the truth through another online friend. Here she was, trying to help this poor boy feel better about himself and his bad situation at home.
She immediately cut off communication with Krystal. Three months later, Krystal worked her way back into Katelyn's life through a series of online chats, asking for forgiveness and singing a sad song. That's when the manipulation went to another level.
Fast-forward to 2-weeks ago. Krystal managed to make her way from Michigan to Reno, NV. She snuck into our house and slept in our daughter's bedroom for 2 nights before we discovered her.
Katelyn explained to us that she was trying to help Krystal get away from home and, "Couldn't she just come live with us?"
Of course we couldn't do that.
Although we felt sorry for this girl, we decided it would be best to find a local shelter for the time being and take things from there. With the shelter being closed that day (Sunday), we decided to allow Krystal to stay in our house overnight with the condition that we would take her to the shelter the following morning.
That never happened.
At 1:30am the next morning, my wife Denise, woke up to find that Krystal was gone, Katelyn was gone, and our Suburban had been stolen out of our driveway.
We immediately contacted the Reno Police Department, who in turn put out a BOLO (Be On The Lookout) on our Suburban.
The next day, the FBI got involved and after 3 days of frantically searching for our daughter, the FBI was able to locate Krystal and Katelyn in Las Vegas, NV. The location they found them just happened to be the worst part of Las Vegas, where the sex-trafficking is rampant.
Over that 3-day span and without getting into too much detail, our daughter Katelyn was taken advantage of physically, emotionally, and mentally.
It was later confirmed that Krystal was actually an 18-year-old girl, not 16-years-old. She has been arrested and is facing multiple charges.
Although we were extremely relieved that Katelyn was back in our arms, we had to make a decision of what to do next to help our family, as a whole, deal with this traumatic experience.
We felt that it would be best to enroll Katelyn in a Teen Challenge Adolescent Girls' Center in Seale, Alabama. It's a lot farther away from home than we'd like, but this center happens to be one of the best in the nation and a lot of people within Teen Challenge made this happen.
That brings us to the reason we need financial help.
Denise & I will be able to visit Katelyn every other month throughout the course of her enrollment at Teen Challenge. That adds up to a lot of travel over the next 15 months. In addition, after Katelyn completes 1 year in the program, she is granted 3 separate home visits, so we'll have the opportunity to fly her home for a few days to spend some quality time with her.
It hurts our hearts to be away from her at this time. The triplets are sad as well, but they know that Katelyn is in a good school and that she is getting "better" each day. Denise & I know that this story will have a happy ending and that God has a purpose for everything. He's very good at bringing something "GREAT" out of something so traumatic and horrible.
We would like to thank you in advance for any support you may be able to offer at this time. We are so thankful for all of our family and friends who have comforted us and offered support in other areas throughout this time.
With heartfelt thanks,
Ian & Denise
As most of you know, Katelyn just went through a very traumatic experience. Approximately 6 months ago, she met a 16-year-old boy online and began chatting with him on a regular basis. They became very close. This "boy" turned out to be a girl (Krystal) posing as a boy. Katelyn was crushed when she found out the truth through another online friend. Here she was, trying to help this poor boy feel better about himself and his bad situation at home.
She immediately cut off communication with Krystal. Three months later, Krystal worked her way back into Katelyn's life through a series of online chats, asking for forgiveness and singing a sad song. That's when the manipulation went to another level.
Fast-forward to 2-weeks ago. Krystal managed to make her way from Michigan to Reno, NV. She snuck into our house and slept in our daughter's bedroom for 2 nights before we discovered her.
Katelyn explained to us that she was trying to help Krystal get away from home and, "Couldn't she just come live with us?"
Of course we couldn't do that.
Although we felt sorry for this girl, we decided it would be best to find a local shelter for the time being and take things from there. With the shelter being closed that day (Sunday), we decided to allow Krystal to stay in our house overnight with the condition that we would take her to the shelter the following morning.
That never happened.
At 1:30am the next morning, my wife Denise, woke up to find that Krystal was gone, Katelyn was gone, and our Suburban had been stolen out of our driveway.
We immediately contacted the Reno Police Department, who in turn put out a BOLO (Be On The Lookout) on our Suburban.
The next day, the FBI got involved and after 3 days of frantically searching for our daughter, the FBI was able to locate Krystal and Katelyn in Las Vegas, NV. The location they found them just happened to be the worst part of Las Vegas, where the sex-trafficking is rampant.
Over that 3-day span and without getting into too much detail, our daughter Katelyn was taken advantage of physically, emotionally, and mentally.
It was later confirmed that Krystal was actually an 18-year-old girl, not 16-years-old. She has been arrested and is facing multiple charges.
Although we were extremely relieved that Katelyn was back in our arms, we had to make a decision of what to do next to help our family, as a whole, deal with this traumatic experience.
We felt that it would be best to enroll Katelyn in a Teen Challenge Adolescent Girls' Center in Seale, Alabama. It's a lot farther away from home than we'd like, but this center happens to be one of the best in the nation and a lot of people within Teen Challenge made this happen.
That brings us to the reason we need financial help.
Denise & I will be able to visit Katelyn every other month throughout the course of her enrollment at Teen Challenge. That adds up to a lot of travel over the next 15 months. In addition, after Katelyn completes 1 year in the program, she is granted 3 separate home visits, so we'll have the opportunity to fly her home for a few days to spend some quality time with her.
It hurts our hearts to be away from her at this time. The triplets are sad as well, but they know that Katelyn is in a good school and that she is getting "better" each day. Denise & I know that this story will have a happy ending and that God has a purpose for everything. He's very good at bringing something "GREAT" out of something so traumatic and horrible.
We would like to thank you in advance for any support you may be able to offer at this time. We are so thankful for all of our family and friends who have comforted us and offered support in other areas throughout this time.
With heartfelt thanks,
Ian & Denise
Organizer
Ian Usher
Organizer
Reno, NV
