May 7, 2011- Today marks 7 years, one month, and 25 days since Mary allegedly walked off from her Walden Pond apartment in Marshall, Michigan, as reported by her fiancé, Christopher Luke Pratt. He is now serving a 5-15 year sentence for felony crimes against a more recent girl-friend, Norrene Parker. Inmate Pratt could be released as early as February 2012.
We are aware of the skeletal remains that were recently found approximately three miles west of the Target Distribution Center in Comstock Township.
WWMT Channel 3 News Link-
Numerous bodies, both male and female, have been recovered over these last seven years in Michigan, Indiana, Illinois and Ohio, but none have come close to fitting the description of Mary Denise Lands. These remains, and the proximity of their location do give us hope that it may be her, and she might soon be able to rest in peace.
Battle Creek Enquirer News Link-
Chief Jim Schwartz of the Marshall Police Department has always said that forensics would be the key in solving Mary's case. Whether these remains are of our Mary, or that of another missing female, the identity of this person will be soon discovered through thorough forensic examination. It may not give comfort to the Marshall family, but it will give come comfort to another family who have endured a similar tragedy of their missing daughter, granddaughter, or relative. Someone's loved one will be coming home.
May 3, 2011- WOODTV8 News Link-
May 6, 2011- Battle Creek Enquirer News Link-
We should all pray that the recovery and identity of the female in Comstock Township will bring some peace to a family in turmoil searching for their lost relative over the years.
To remind the public of the fear that this felon perpetrated against Ms. Parker we are re-publishing her letter to Judge Stephen Miller at sentencing. I am sure that the words may be similar for other women leaving in fear in an environment of domestic violence.
January 1, 2008
Re: Sentencing of Christopher Luke Pratt
Dear Honorable Judge Miller:
We see it every day on the news, "women battered, women killed, and women missing"….Looking back on June 24th, 2007 I realize I was one of the few women that walked away from the enraged hands of a controlling individual, such as Christopher Pratt. It’s true, loving Christopher Pratt does hurt; it hurts a lot and it is a hurt that does not go away once the relationship is through. People tell me how lucky I was to get away and how proud they are of me standing up and facing him. Although I did walk away physically that day I do not know if I will ever escape him mentally; myself and my children included. The humiliation of what I have gone through during this trial has been an embarrassment I will never forget, nor will my friends, family and co-workers.
Christopher’s doing caused me to move out of the home we shared, moving myself and my children three times in six months before we finally settled. I have incurred medical bills, as well as counseling costs as well. In addition my employer hired extra guards to make sure I came and went from their facility in a safe manner while his bond was active.
He has destroyed my trust, my solitude of feeling "safe" as well as my children’s sense of safety. "If he comes home will he find us?" is a common question from the mouth of my nine year-old son. My nightmares of Christopher and that day wake me in the night, as does the little one standing beside my bed. "Can I sleep with you…are you sure Chris is still in jail?" His shadow will forever lurk in our minds.
Christopher recently made a comment from his jail cell, which entailed, "Make sure she doesn’t make it to the witness stand or I am fucked". What exactly was his evil intent behind this? Although he is locked up now, I am constantly looking over my shoulder and seldom go out at night, especially if no one is with me. I am fearful of anyone I don’t know that approaches me..fearful it’s someone that is doing Chris’ dirty work for him. Christopher is a man of trophies, of possessions, and I, in his eyes, am his forever. He has made the comment, "If I can’t have you, No one will"….and to my father, "If your daughter leaves me I will hunt her down and get her back". This behavior is not normal and for the most part, unsettling. His intents and his so-called empty threats…are too real for me..real because I know he is fully capable of fulfilling each and every threat he made to me…capable because he is one that cares not what he does, but that in his eyes, he wins at doing it.
Christopher is, in my opinion, a narcissistic evil and one of the world’s best liars. But the problem for him and a blessing for us is, he forgets what he has lied about and walks into his own net eventually. Although Christopher will tell you he is never wrong, all his problems are caused by other individuals. Christopher is fully aware of his own evil. He has told me in a fit of tears on more than one occasion that he has done things to make himself sick, that I should not be with him, however he added, "I am too selfish to let you go". Christopher also noted to a letter to his son,…"It’s because of Norrene I am here, if she hadn’t provoked me I wouldn’t have lost my temper, however Son, the good thing is that God has a place for men like me and its called prison." He knows he is a danger to me.
Christopher promised me a long and happy life with him, stating we will be sitting in our rocking chairs side by side one day…if that was the case, why was he throwing chairs at me? Simple in my mind today, he was trying to make sure I never left him…even if he had to attempt to break my ankles doing so, he would never allow me to leave him.
Your Honor, I am asking you to consider maximum sentencing possible. Letting him go on anything less, will most certainly bring dread to my family and our community. Even if he is let out with a "no contact condition", I can guarantee within an hour of his release, he will be at my doorstep. He has no authority for the guidelines for which you set, as he proved by attempting to contact me within minutes of being released from your courtroom the same day you issued a "no contact" guideline between him and me. Christopher taunts authority and does not like to be told what to do, more so, he resents the word "No".
Christopher harms children, women and animals without considering the repercussions of his actions. Do you think they forget as easily as you do? Well, they don’t. Christopher I never will and I know my children will not forget the wake you have left behind in our lives. Christopher is a man that will not learn his lesson with a slap on the hands, he is someone who has the potential to harm others for the sake of his own well-being. He is habitual. I honestly believe Christopher is lacking a human conscience, and because of this I pray for him. I pray that he finds it in himself to consider every evil thing he has done and come clean with it. Christopher can’t take back the tears he placed in my sons eyes the day he put us through this, nor can he take away the emptiness he placed in their hearts with the betrayal he brought out after promising to be so good to them and to their Mom. In my eyes, no sentencing handed to him is justifiable enough, but I know God will sentence him one day and when that day comes…God have mercy on your soul Christopher Pratt.
Again, Your Honor, please consider the maximum sentencing that is reasonable and prudent to this manner, and do so with the thought of myself and children in mind, of every soul he has waltzed upon without hesitation to their lives, their feelings, their well being. Anything less will result in a profound nightmare.
Respectfully,
Norrene Parker
Jim Carlin
Justinian Investigative Services
269.753.1181
JustinianLaw@sbcglobal.net
