On October 9, 1990 in Prescott, Arizona, a
rancher, Alan Kessler ,and his son J.B. came upon a grotesque site.
With arms outstretched as if reaching up to heaven, Alan thought he was
looking at a doll, J.B. called out to his father that it was not a doll,
it was a baby.
The baby had been burned and still visable
on the baby were pieces of a red, white and blue outfit. Alan Kessler
touched the baby which caused her skin to give and some fluid leaked out.
Alan Kessler rode to his ranch house and
called the police. Six years would come and go before anyone knew
who this precious baby gilr had been and the circumstances which had lead
to her being found in this unimiginable
condition.
When the truth came out, the story was shocking.
Born December 8, 1989 to James and Lillian Meegan, her name was Francine
Lori Toni Meegan. From the very beginning, her parents knew they
did not want her.
A couple they were friends with the Meegan's
agreed to take the baby and to help them out financially in return.
Valerie and Dennis Jenson had three boys already and wanted a girl.
Valeries doctors had told her it would be a health risk for her to have
any more children. The Jenson's gave the couple $1,000. and bought them
a car also agreeing to help them with a down payment on a new house.
Money was demanded so much that it was soon over $30,000. that the Jenson's
had shelled out.
On September 10, 1990, the Meegan's were
upset that their steady "income" of money from the Jenson's had stopped.
The Meegan's went to the home of the Jenson's and made threats concerning
their children while demanding to have Francine back. The Jenson's
had no choice but to give her back to them.
James Meegan was once again out of work and
had a broken leg. Francine was in her play pen crying. James
Meegan headed towards the play pen and when he reached it, he grabbed Francine
by the neck and shook her. Francine stopped crying and was now gasping
for air. James took her to the bedroom and Lillian tried to perform
CPR on her, however Francine was not responding.
Francine did not die right away, she suffered
for hours and died as day was breaking. Her older sister Maria saw
her on the bed and though her mother tried to make excuses, Maria knew
that Francine was dead.
Lillian dressed Francine and her husband
put her body into a suitcase and then placed it in the trunk of the car.
They drove to Arizona to a relatives
home and left their other children there.
James and Francine then drove off alone. They drove to a deserted
area and took Francine's body out of the trunk. James set her down
on the ground and pourd gasoline over her body. At this point, Lillian
turned away not wanting to watch. James then lit a match and threw
it on Francines body.
Lillians sister Lucy was the one who finally
broke the story of James having killed Francine. She did so under
the threat that if she ever talked, he would
kill her and her family, however, she
ended up telling a social worker that she had been dating.
When the Police confronted James and Lillian,
they denied ever having a child called Francine, however, it was clear
that they had since there was a birth certificate for her with them listed
as the parents. Lillian made up some story about their daughter having
been kidnapped and how they didn't trust the Police so they had never reported
it. The story was obviously a lie.
In Prescot Arizona Jacque Price was reading
the newspaper and saw a picture of Francine and immediately knew this was
the baby that had been found burned in the desert.
When confronted by Police again, Lillian
told the story of what had happened to Francine. On that same day, Maria,
who was at this time 17 years old, gave her testimony about the day her
sister died. Oddly, Maria had this to say to the Police about her
father,
"I know this might seem like my father
was brutal and killed her,
but if you knew my dad you would know
he's a very loving father."
Lillian Meegan plead guilty to felony child
abuse and James Meegan was going to plead guilty to first-degree murder.
James changed his mind and started claiming that Lillian had killed Francine.
James received a life in prison sentence. Lillian was sentenced to 18 years
Francines headstone is inscribed with these
words, "Forever in our hearts".
Please
don't let them become Angels to soon.
1-800-4-A-Child
Call
this number to report child abuse!
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