Love Never Dies. Chapter Nine. Tale of One Friends Marriage. Autumn.
I've intentionally been running off of raw memory rather than referencing Autumn for facts to make the story my own recollection from a very long journey I traveled with her from across the country. So, as I have mentioned before, there are things I am forgetting, things probably not quite in the right order, things I am intentionally omitting. Believe it or not there is even more to this seemingly endless divorce saga but she is but one I plan to share and I have friends and family adding to them as I am writing hers!
Back to Autumn...
I don't recall how Autumn initiated the contact, but she reached out to Amanda's husband, Jerry. They immediately bonded about the surprising number of disenchanting similarities in each of their to be ex spouses and their equal goals for vindication.
Jerry had hired a private investigator or was planning to do so. Autumn followed to do so as well. She didn't have the funds, but her Mother and Father and provided them. Autumn would go and sneak a GPS on Dave's car when she was certain he wouldn't find her and then again retrieve it to recharge it when she was assured once again not to be caught. I don't remember the details of how things worked, but once either Jerry or Autumn knew where they were, the PI would send someone to take photos as proof of evidence. I recall, while I never saw them, hearing about Dave and Amanda outside a bar smoking a joint or bowl, pot anyway, which was not legal in their state at the time. The best was hearing about a picture of Dave fleeing Linda's townhouse through a sliding glass door in the walk through basement or lower level running to his car, I think with a sheet or blanket, obviously having just had sex.
There seemed to be a bit of a healthy competition between them to see who could dig up as much dirt as possible. As their goals became increasingly synonymous, and it seemed that Jerry was more than willing to share his "data" with Autumn without a subpoena I tried to encourage Autumn to let Jerry, who was further along with moving forward with divorce plans (she didn't even presently have an attorney and was living with Dave) do the bulk of the spending on the investigator and rather be very helpful with sharing information she had on what Dave was doing, when he left the house, etc. While she heeded my advice somewhat, she still spent some $2,500 on the investigator. It did reveal, more specifically, affirm plenty. At the end of the day, I don't feel Autumn ever used the evidence to her true advantage.
Amanda and Jerry went to a hearing for their limited divorce,or separation, I believe, that was not very favorable to Amanda. The judge's ruling did not settle well with Amanda at all. She became so
dismayed that after considerable consumption of alcohol she found her way to the edges of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and began an attempt to jump off the bridge to her demise. I crossed that bridge annually at least a couple times every summer as a teenager and again multiple times each year when I lived in DC. It is also nicknamed "America's scariest bridge" as it is very high at it's peak, long (over 4 miles) and narrow. It's height was built with consideration of large ships being able to continue to the port of Baltimore and elsewhere without interruption and Annapolis being a sailing capital of the world. I haven't been in many years, but remain clueless on how you'd even get on the bridge, especially in today's post 911 world. It's a toll bridge. There is no foot traffic. My understanding is she just abandoned her car, which she obviously she not have been driving. Amanda was doing all this, by way, in the winter, and during particularly poor conditions with extremely cold and windy weather. The air temperature was likely somewhere between 20 and 30 degrees and even colder with the wind chill factor. The water temperature was no more than 40 degrees. First responders did save Amanda before tragedy left two boys without a Mother (she also has 2 boys) and her now ex-husband without child support (she makes considerably more than he does now). Surprisingly, Maryland doesn't seem to have (or at least what I am getting 4th hand in this case) as strict policy as would occur in California for example. She went to the hospital. I think she spent 1 day in a mental health facility, but then was released. Either that release or the court thereafter simply required that she attend AA meetings and get her card signed. She didn't get a DUI. She didn't get a fine, let alone arrested for trying to jump off a bridge! She still had the same visitation of her children. None of this made sense to me.
Jerry had hired a private investigator or was planning to do so. Autumn followed to do so as well. She didn't have the funds, but her Mother and Father and provided them. Autumn would go and sneak a GPS on Dave's car when she was certain he wouldn't find her and then again retrieve it to recharge it when she was assured once again not to be caught. I don't remember the details of how things worked, but once either Jerry or Autumn knew where they were, the PI would send someone to take photos as proof of evidence. I recall, while I never saw them, hearing about Dave and Amanda outside a bar smoking a joint or bowl, pot anyway, which was not legal in their state at the time. The best was hearing about a picture of Dave fleeing Linda's townhouse through a sliding glass door in the walk through basement or lower level running to his car, I think with a sheet or blanket, obviously having just had sex.
There seemed to be a bit of a healthy competition between them to see who could dig up as much dirt as possible. As their goals became increasingly synonymous, and it seemed that Jerry was more than willing to share his "data" with Autumn without a subpoena I tried to encourage Autumn to let Jerry, who was further along with moving forward with divorce plans (she didn't even presently have an attorney and was living with Dave) do the bulk of the spending on the investigator and rather be very helpful with sharing information she had on what Dave was doing, when he left the house, etc. While she heeded my advice somewhat, she still spent some $2,500 on the investigator. It did reveal, more specifically, affirm plenty. At the end of the day, I don't feel Autumn ever used the evidence to her true advantage.
Amanda and Jerry went to a hearing for their limited divorce,or separation, I believe, that was not very favorable to Amanda. The judge's ruling did not settle well with Amanda at all. She became so
dismayed that after considerable consumption of alcohol she found her way to the edges of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and began an attempt to jump off the bridge to her demise. I crossed that bridge annually at least a couple times every summer as a teenager and again multiple times each year when I lived in DC. It is also nicknamed "America's scariest bridge" as it is very high at it's peak, long (over 4 miles) and narrow. It's height was built with consideration of large ships being able to continue to the port of Baltimore and elsewhere without interruption and Annapolis being a sailing capital of the world. I haven't been in many years, but remain clueless on how you'd even get on the bridge, especially in today's post 911 world. It's a toll bridge. There is no foot traffic. My understanding is she just abandoned her car, which she obviously she not have been driving. Amanda was doing all this, by way, in the winter, and during particularly poor conditions with extremely cold and windy weather. The air temperature was likely somewhere between 20 and 30 degrees and even colder with the wind chill factor. The water temperature was no more than 40 degrees. First responders did save Amanda before tragedy left two boys without a Mother (she also has 2 boys) and her now ex-husband without child support (she makes considerably more than he does now). Surprisingly, Maryland doesn't seem to have (or at least what I am getting 4th hand in this case) as strict policy as would occur in California for example. She went to the hospital. I think she spent 1 day in a mental health facility, but then was released. Either that release or the court thereafter simply required that she attend AA meetings and get her card signed. She didn't get a DUI. She didn't get a fine, let alone arrested for trying to jump off a bridge! She still had the same visitation of her children. None of this made sense to me.
Chesapeake Bay Bridge
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