Thursday I will be going to a funeral. My cousin, John Charles Moers, died Monday, Mar 28, from complications of diabetes. Over the years he had sections of his legs amputated, until he had almost no legs left.

John Charles witnessed a murder on Jan 8, 1979 in Fort Bend County, TX. He drove up to a car on the side of the road that had gotten stuck in the mud. What he saw was Roger Leroy DeGarmo and Helen Mejia shoot a young woman they had kidnapped. She was in the trunk of her car fighting to get out. Her name was Kimberly Ann Strickler, and she was 20 years old. She had been kidnapped from a grocery store parking lot. The murderers then kidnapped John in his own truck and drove with him into southwest Houston, where he managed to open the truck door and roll out into a ditch, escaping his own death. 

EDIT Thurs 7:08 pm: Kimberly Strickler's father, Wayne Strickler, spoke at the funeral today. He spoke of John's bravery in escaping the kidnappers. They had planned to shoot him and put him in a box car. They were traveling at a high rate of speed when John jumped from the truck, and he received  no serious injuries - just cuts and bruises. No suspects had been arrested for 6 months, so John met with a sketch artist and gave very detailed descriptions of the killers. A reward was offered, and within a week, both suspects were arrested. He went to court repeatedly to testify. Helen Mejia is scheduled to be released from prison on April 8. DeGarmo was sentenced to death originally, but his sentence was overturned because of stupid details and he got a new trial. This time he got life. So now he is eligible for parole every couple of years.