LONGMONT, Colo. — In a home filled with grief, heroes never lose their way.
“I started yelling and Michelle yelled back, very faintly, and it was muffled help me! help me!” said Longmont police officer Bill Sawer.
Along with his partner Phil Pitrowski, the two responded to the call Wednesday. They found Michelle Wilkins, she was dying.
Police say Dynel Lane attacked Wilkins with a knife removing the baby girl from her stomach.
“I was walked in and looked at her for a short moment and I had to walk out for a second because I had to wrap my head around it,” Pitrowski said.
“She was covered from head to toe in blood and so I held her hand and went through where her injuries were and stuff like that and trying to figure out what we had,” said Sawyer.
The family says Michelle is alive because of people like these two officers.
“She’s alive why? Because of first-responders. Professional first-responders who know what they’re doing, train for it, practice for it and execute perfectly,” said Chris Wilkins, Michelle’s uncle. “Michelle is improving minute by minute hour by hour.”
Developments in the case
Prosecutors are awaiting autopsy results on a fetus removed from the womb of Michelle Wilkins two days ago. A decision on whether the suspect, 34-year-old Dynel Lane, will face murder charges depends on what the medical examiner finds. The issue according to Colorado law is whether the baby girl could’ve lived outside of her mother’s body.
Wilkins, 26, was seven months pregnant when she responded to an ad on Craigslist for maternity clothes and went to the suspect’s house to buy the clothes.
Wilkins was in critical and stable condition at Longmont United Hospital Friday night. Her family said her condition was improving. They also released a public statement Friday evening. It reads in part:
“Two days ago, our daughter Michelle was brutally attacked while responding to a Craigslist ad for maternity clothes. Her attacker beat, cut, and strangled her, and according to initial reports, then removed her unborn daughter with an ordinary kitchen knife, leaving Michelle for dead. We cannot begin to fathom the depths of depravity and evil which drove her attacker, and trust that between law enforcement and our legal system; they will make sure justice is carried out. One life was ended and another scarred beyond imagination in this senseless act, with scores of others negatively affected.
The focus of Michelle’s family and friends, who are numerous and spread around the world, is her physical recuperation from the attack and then a focus on her long-term recovery. Her medical condition is guardedly optimistic, and we hope for a full physical recovery.”
Read the rest of the statement here.
The suspect was being held in Boulder County jail on with a bond of $2 million. Investigators said they have developed a great deal of evidence in this case, which has generated world wide attention.
In January, a Facebook post practically predicted the crime that happened to Michelle Wilkins.
See full coverage of this case here.
Michelle’s family has account set up for donations for her. “For the many people who have generously reached out to assist Michelle with her recovery and expenses, they can mail their donations to:
The Michelle Wilkins Trust Fund
C/o The Kapsak Law Firm, LLC
1610 Hover St, Suite 203
Longmont, CO 80501