Article 8 – 'Rita Morgan's Tragic Death'

Miami Daily Herald Newspaper article, written by reporter Mike RePort, 1/11/10

"Rita Morgan's Tragic Death"

The Miami Daily Herald has always cooperated with local authorities to help the community in any way possible. This series of articles is no exception to that effort. My work as an investigative reporter to seek the truth has led me to a very interesting discovery. Missing persons. To be more specific missing persons that fall into one of three categories.

The first group is missing persons with criminal backgrounds. The second group is missing persons without criminal backgrounds only because the justice system failed to convict due to technicalities. The third group is missing persons that simply shouldn't be missing, at least at first glance. Most of these people are not being looked for and society is better off without them. I find this on one hand to be good news but on the other I find it very curious. If I were to rephrase this information one could easily be led to believe that we have a vigilante loose in our community, one that no one is looking for. Is it a coincidence that over 30 people fall into this category within the last four years or is something else or should I say someone else at work here?

Law abiding citizens that have not had the need to call 911 are fortunate indeed. For those less fortunate that have had to call 911 may hope that one of these 30 is the one that got away. I apologize for making such a general comment but it serves to make a point. The point being we each have a bit of vigilante in us at least at the "I wish" level. When an individual goes to the next level and takes the law into their own hands what do we as a society say or do?

What is the definition of "vigilante"? A vigilante is someone who illegally punishes someone for perceived offenses, or participates in a group which metes out extrajudicial punishment to such a person. Often the victims are criminals in the legal sense; however a vigilante may follow a different definition of criminal than the local law.

The following are a few of the 30 missing persons that I referred to above and would meet a vigilante's criteria. Based on my research and in an effort to put the puzzle pieces together I have put together the more obvious missing persons from the list for this article. Everyone on my list meets the standards of my research but these are the ones that made their way to the top for this article.

For the record I plan on turning over my complete list with all of my research to the authorities in the next few days. Per my request certain individuals from several different agencies need to be present so that the information presented is not compromised. I don't make this statement lightly, it is of the utmost importance that this information be handled and dealt with immediately by more than one agency.

The first individual I found that fell into group three is Dr. Emmett Meridian, a local psychotherapist, I should say, was. Dr. Meridian came to my attention because of his prominence in our community and his chosen profession which is to help people. He was reported missing by his family and his colleagues. He has not been found. There was no suicide note or any evidence of plans to relocate. His home, his office, and his bank accounts were all as they should be for a man who is staying put and planning to continue to do so. But he is missing.

This was a case of intense interest to the MMPD yet no clues to what could have happened were ever found. There was no person of interest. No suspect to investigate. I took the time to research Dr. Meridian through all avenues available to this reporter. I found a link, several in fact, which led back to the Doctor. Three female suicide victims were his patients in the recent past just prior to his disappearance. I spoke with their families and all of them had a similar story. Dr. Meridian took each of the patients off of their anti-depressants just prior to their suicide.

Someone else discovered this link. Someone else took the law into their own hands. They could have chosen a different path and reported their findings to the authorities but did not. This type of link would be considered circumstantial unless someone was able to verify their suspicions. Someone did. I have the proof.

The next person falls into the second group, James Jaworski. Mr. Jaworski was suspected and then arrested in the murder of Ms. Jane Saunders. But Mr. Jaworski was released based on a faulty search warrant rendering all of the evidence unusable in a court of law. Ms. Saunders left behind 2 young sons. The crime was committed in what is referred to as a 'snuff film' which is an underground film made by a murderer and viewed by those with a morbid sense of voyeurism.

Once again James Jaworski went missing soon after his release. He left his home intact and did not report to work as a valet for a local hotel. He went missing without a trace. How can this happen? The answer to this is in my research and will be made available to the authorities as I have already mentioned.

The final reference to missing people here in this article actually refers to a very sensational case from a few years ago that we reported on concerning the Bay Harbor Butcher. You all remember that one with the dozens and dozens of body bags with human parts found in our harbor. These bags contained the remains of dozens of people. All of them fall into one of the three groups. It was reported that one of the MMPD's own, a Detective Sergeant Doakes was the Bay Harbor Butcher based on the evidence.

Two different agencies worked on the case and it was solved. Except there were those at the time that felt the evidence did not add up based on, in part due to personal knowledge of the individual accused, and in part due to intuitive instincts. Neither of these were enough to reopen the case. One fact remains clear. The most damning evidence was processed by one individual in the MMPD forensics department, their Blood Spatter Analyst, Mr. Dexter Morgan. This is a very curious fact. I have additional information on this also that will be presented to the authorities in my meeting.

My next article will detail the results of the meeting and the ongoing investigation. This is investigative reporting at its best. I must let you know that I have received additional threats to my life because of this series of articles and will be taking precautionary measures until such time as the threat has past. My duty is to you, the reader.

Article 8 – 'Rita Morgan's Tragic Death'