Dani Vesper

My dad was so funny.

He always showed up for my events, and he just wanted to take care of and be with his family.

We were a regular family with regular problems.

He went to that close-by gas station often as he liked cigarettes and soda.

It was New Year's Day.

My dad did not deserve to die so cruelly.

His death has left a hole in all of our lives as he is always missing from every moment, big or small.

I had to be a teenager and grow up without the guidance of a loving father, all while processing a tragedy and trying to survive.

While I have had many blessings in my life, like family and those who have helped me in different ways, the horrific death of my father has given me treatment-resistant crippling anxiety to levels that are unimaginable to most people.

Even I didn't know someone could experience and live with such anxiety.

So this tragedy continues to steal from me to this day in many ways.

I was the first to find my dad in critical condition when my mom and I noticed a weird light shining in the window, which we later discovered was a headlight from his truck.

The other headlight was blocked by a house.

It is a horror no one should ever experience, let alone have to be tortured by it emotionally for the rest of their life.

Via memories, PTSD, and reminders of how their life is messed up as a result of this murder,

Even dealing with law enforcement is traumatic.

The questions, the retelling of events, the searches, the mind games, the worrying about other family members who are also just victims in this, the ups and downs of the case throughout the years.

Mind you, I was 14 at the beginning of this.

A death is bad enough, but it also has so many ripple effects that people don't realize.

There really is not enough understanding or support and resources for people who have gone through tragedies like this, and I hope that can be something that changes in this world.