It’s a sign of the times–many people don’t know their neighbors next door. I can think of an instance where it was just as well not knowing. Neighbors came and went–not quickly, like in “Wizard of Oz.”
A young couple moved in across the street a few summers ago. “Wasn’t her name Trisha–or something like that?” A neighbor asked. “Her daughter was so cute.” “Her husband/boyfriend–or whatever, didn’t stay around much. Wasn’t she involved in a crime?”
The young woman pictured above, her husband, and daughter weren’t around long enough to get to know. The informal unofficial neighborhood welcoming committee members, reported varied stories of family tragedies. I couldn’t recall names, either–except for “Hammer,” their family dog.
Hammer visited my yard occasionally. I was leery of pit bulls at the start, but Hammer was a mellow, old fellow. He’d grunt with delight when I scratched his head and ears. As it turned out, Hammer was more together than his owners.
Nine years later, the phantom family was still a neighborhood topic of conversation; on slow days, when there wasn’t much else to talk about. At the time, nobody knew Tausha, was a fugitive on the run. Nor, that her, husband Greg, had murdered her ex-husband.
Our neighborhood was just a stopover for Tausha, Greg, and daughter, Lexie. Why were we chosen? Probably, because, we were plain vanilla, suburbia. They could go about their business like all young couples did. Greg was a motorcycle enthusiast with tattooed arms. Sometimes he rode with a bandana tied around his head.
Tausha was personable, attractive, in her thirties. One of the neighbors gave Lexie rides up and down the street on his ATV. Lexie had a birthday party with all the accoutrements. Lexie screamed and cried when Greg tried to ride her new pink bicycle.
Things weren’t as they appeared to be. The tangled web of lies began in far-away, rural Boone County, Missouri. Mitch Kemp, a local man, hadn’t been seen or heard from since the fall of 2004. The trail of deceit, led to the people in the house across the street, and beyond.
Tausha went on to have, at least five, husbands and several boyfriends. The entire story aired on a July 9, 2011, CBS News, “48 Hours” episode entitled, “Tausha Fields: Did She Lure Her Ex to His Death?”
She was, too good to be true
Whatever Tausha wanted, she got
itinerantneerdowell 