November 8, 2019
This Day
When my cell phone rings at 5:30 am it usually means that an employee will not be showing up for work on time, or at all that day. That rarely happens on a Friday (payday) though, so, as I shuffled paperwork before daylight on Friday, November 8, 2019, and my phone began to ring, I was a bit startled. Excitement ensued when I checked the screen and saw the name, Morgan Patten.
“Hi Mouse”
“Hi Dad”
“Are you getting ready to leave for your trip”
“I’m already on the boat”, my daughter replied.
It was the beginning of Veterans Day weekend, which also encompassed the 244th Marine Corps Birthday. Phil Brandon was training with Advanced Infantry Training Battalion, Camp Geiger, North Carolina, and invited Morgan to come down and visit with him while he enjoyed a “96”, which is Marine Corps language meaning four day weekend.
“What time does the boat leave?” I asked.
“ Not until 6, but I couldn’t sleep all night, I’m so exciiiteeeeed” she wailed, with Catherine Hepburn-esque drifting diaphragm in her voice. “ I get to see Phil tomorrow!”
It was heartwarming to hear the emotion in her voice. As a dad, there were many things that I wished for my daughter, but loving a great man who also made her feel loved was near the top of the list! Morgan had certainly found this with Phil. Neither could hide their adoration for each other, and after a year of dating, they had announced their engagement on October 26th, just two weeks prior to this special weekend trip. She was on the first ferry to leave Oak Bluffs, catching the first bus from Woods Hole to Logan Airport. Once there, she would board a plane to JFK, grab a connector to Charlotte, NC and a commuter flight into Jacksonville. After thirteen hours of travel, an Uber driver dropped Morgan off at the Baymont Hotel and Suites, which is the closest hotel to the gate outside of Camp Lejeune. She had communicated with Renee and/or me at every juncture of this trip, and a few minutes after 7pm, let us know that she was safely in her room. About 50 minutes later, after settling in and showering 900 miles of travel away, Morgan walked a little over 100 feet to an Applebee’s restaurant, which shared a parking lot with the Baymont. Her intentions, and our advice had been to stay at the hotel until Phil arrived after 8am Saturday morning, but considering that the lights from the restaurant shined through her hotel room window, she felt safe; even still, though, after watching surveillance video from outside of the hotel lobby, it was clear that Morgan was not comfortable being alone in Jacksonville, NC. Instead of walking a direct route from her room, across the asphalt parking area and through a small grassy island, under a row of trees, Morgan lengthened her walk by traveling under the street lights, circumventing any shadows created by those trees.
Once inside, Morgan ordered a garden salad with grilled chicken and a Sam Adams Boston Lager. She continued to send text messages to Phil and us. About the same time she entered Applebee’s, Renee and I were arriving at one of our favorite pizza restaurants with our long time friend, Sean, ( who Morgan knew as Uncle Fun). Over the next couple of hours, Sean, Renee and I spoke with excitement about the engagement, this weekend trip, and we even started a list of possible wedding venues to check out. At 9:42pm, as we were leaving our restaurant, we received a message from Morgan stating, “Okay going to sleep” followed two minutes later by, “I’ll text you in the morning “. Renee’s last response was, “ Love you. Goodnight❤”
At 4:40am on Saturday, November 9th, I was awakened by Lieutenant Ed Shaunessy; Bradford, NH Police Department. Lieutenant Shaunessy had been dispatched to inform Renee and me that at 10:51pm, on White Oak River Road in Maysville, NC, a pickup truck carrying two off duty Marines and our sweet Morgan Patten left the roadway traveling in excess of 90mph, struck a tree and rolled several times. The driver, who had been the only person in the front seat, was treated for minor injuries and had been released from a nearby hospital. The male passenger was flown to a regional hospital for treatment of a head injury. Morgan, sadly, had been ejected from the vehicle and was pronounced “deceased upon arrival” by medical personnel. No identification for her was found during the initial search of what was described to us as the “debris field “. Morgan was a Jane Doe for the next several hours, left at the side of a dead end road, in the middle of nowhere, by two complete strangers, who now, eight months later, have not explained what they were doing or where they were going.
We have more questions than we do answers after eight months. There is still an ongoing investigation being conducted by Onslow County Sheriff’s Department, though the COVID-19 pandemic has virtually brought it to a halt. The driver of the truck has been charged with three felony counts, including Felony Death by Motor Vehicle, plus several misdemeanors and moving violations. He has hired a local attorney and vehemently invoked his fifth amendment right to remain silent. The male passenger, who had been in the rear seat of the truck, along with Morgan, spent three weeks at Vidant Medical Center in NC being treated for his head injury, then returned to his home in MT to continue his recovery. Once home, he immediately applied for a Medical Separation from the United States Marine Corps, and though the rest of his memories returned, he maintains that he has no recollection of the events which occurred on November 8, 2019.
“Hi Mouse”
“Hi Dad”
“Are you getting ready to leave for your trip”
“I’m already on the boat”, my daughter replied.
It was the beginning of Veterans Day weekend, which also encompassed the 244th Marine Corps Birthday. Phil Brandon was training with Advanced Infantry Training Battalion, Camp Geiger, North Carolina, and invited Morgan to come down and visit with him while he enjoyed a “96”, which is Marine Corps language meaning four day weekend.
“What time does the boat leave?” I asked.
“ Not until 6, but I couldn’t sleep all night, I’m so exciiiteeeeed” she wailed, with Catherine Hepburn-esque drifting diaphragm in her voice. “ I get to see Phil tomorrow!”
It was heartwarming to hear the emotion in her voice. As a dad, there were many things that I wished for my daughter, but loving a great man who also made her feel loved was near the top of the list! Morgan had certainly found this with Phil. Neither could hide their adoration for each other, and after a year of dating, they had announced their engagement on October 26th, just two weeks prior to this special weekend trip. She was on the first ferry to leave Oak Bluffs, catching the first bus from Woods Hole to Logan Airport. Once there, she would board a plane to JFK, grab a connector to Charlotte, NC and a commuter flight into Jacksonville. After thirteen hours of travel, an Uber driver dropped Morgan off at the Baymont Hotel and Suites, which is the closest hotel to the gate outside of Camp Lejeune. She had communicated with Renee and/or me at every juncture of this trip, and a few minutes after 7pm, let us know that she was safely in her room. About 50 minutes later, after settling in and showering 900 miles of travel away, Morgan walked a little over 100 feet to an Applebee’s restaurant, which shared a parking lot with the Baymont. Her intentions, and our advice had been to stay at the hotel until Phil arrived after 8am Saturday morning, but considering that the lights from the restaurant shined through her hotel room window, she felt safe; even still, though, after watching surveillance video from outside of the hotel lobby, it was clear that Morgan was not comfortable being alone in Jacksonville, NC. Instead of walking a direct route from her room, across the asphalt parking area and through a small grassy island, under a row of trees, Morgan lengthened her walk by traveling under the street lights, circumventing any shadows created by those trees.
Once inside, Morgan ordered a garden salad with grilled chicken and a Sam Adams Boston Lager. She continued to send text messages to Phil and us. About the same time she entered Applebee’s, Renee and I were arriving at one of our favorite pizza restaurants with our long time friend, Sean, ( who Morgan knew as Uncle Fun). Over the next couple of hours, Sean, Renee and I spoke with excitement about the engagement, this weekend trip, and we even started a list of possible wedding venues to check out. At 9:42pm, as we were leaving our restaurant, we received a message from Morgan stating, “Okay going to sleep” followed two minutes later by, “I’ll text you in the morning “. Renee’s last response was, “ Love you. Goodnight❤”
At 4:40am on Saturday, November 9th, I was awakened by Lieutenant Ed Shaunessy; Bradford, NH Police Department. Lieutenant Shaunessy had been dispatched to inform Renee and me that at 10:51pm, on White Oak River Road in Maysville, NC, a pickup truck carrying two off duty Marines and our sweet Morgan Patten left the roadway traveling in excess of 90mph, struck a tree and rolled several times. The driver, who had been the only person in the front seat, was treated for minor injuries and had been released from a nearby hospital. The male passenger was flown to a regional hospital for treatment of a head injury. Morgan, sadly, had been ejected from the vehicle and was pronounced “deceased upon arrival” by medical personnel. No identification for her was found during the initial search of what was described to us as the “debris field “. Morgan was a Jane Doe for the next several hours, left at the side of a dead end road, in the middle of nowhere, by two complete strangers, who now, eight months later, have not explained what they were doing or where they were going.
We have more questions than we do answers after eight months. There is still an ongoing investigation being conducted by Onslow County Sheriff’s Department, though the COVID-19 pandemic has virtually brought it to a halt. The driver of the truck has been charged with three felony counts, including Felony Death by Motor Vehicle, plus several misdemeanors and moving violations. He has hired a local attorney and vehemently invoked his fifth amendment right to remain silent. The male passenger, who had been in the rear seat of the truck, along with Morgan, spent three weeks at Vidant Medical Center in NC being treated for his head injury, then returned to his home in MT to continue his recovery. Once home, he immediately applied for a Medical Separation from the United States Marine Corps, and though the rest of his memories returned, he maintains that he has no recollection of the events which occurred on November 8, 2019.