LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

McCown, staff helped family

Editor, the Leader-News:

I am writing concerning how I see Josh McCown and his staff and the quality of job they all perform from an outsider's viewpoint. My name is Marvin Dunnam and I reside in Beaumont.

I first met Mr. McCown in 1999 when our daughter, Lori (Dunnam) Lopez was murdered in a remote area of Wharton County. The entire District Attorney's office was extremely helpful during this very hard time for our family. They not only worked with all branches of law enforcement involved in the case, but they bent over backwards to assure us that everything possible was being done to locate Lori's killer and bring him to justice.

Her killer was located in Mexico and this required countless hours, days and months of hard work to finally get him extradited to Wharton County for a trial. All during this time Mr. McCown kept in close personal touch with me and my wife to reassure us and keep us up-to-date on all proceedings, while at the same time keeping any information confidential that might affect the trial, so as not to cause any blemish on the outcome of the trial.

I firmly believe that it was only due to the professional way that he (McCown) and his staff handled every detail of the case and led the investigation along with the sheriff's office and the Texas Rangers office, that an extradition of the killer, Romero Lopez, and later a hearing ending with a guilty plea and a long jail sentence, ever happened.

I and my wife along with our son have become lifelong friends with Mr. McCown and his assistants, Becky Ivy and Pat Potter. I can't count the many phone calls, letters, Christmas cards and cards of encouragement we have received from them, not to mention all the other personal and thoughtful things they have extended to our family.

I never expected to receive this level of treatment from a District Attorney's office and I know we would have just become a number lost in the cracks if the case had been moved to Harris County like some would have liked to see.

I personally respect Josh McCown as a true professional in his profession while at the same time allowing the victim's family the courtesy of being treated like real people. Due to that I will always proudly regard Josh as a true friend, a champion of the law and an advocate for justice.
Thank you,
Marvin and Connie Dunnam
Beaumont

EMS pros deserving of thanks

Editor, the Leader-News:

I know it has been said before, but El Campo, "We are truly blessed to have such a highly trained EMS staff," and that they have the equipment they need to do the job, i.e., mobile ICU ambulances.

My family experienced their professionalism and expertise on Christmas morning. My wife was having an aspiration induced asthma attack, with the beginnings of aspiration pneumonia, and was in serious-to-critical condition.

I have always been able to take her to the ER when she needed to go, but not this time. I was pretty much helpless, and had to call 9-1-1. I have been a nurse for 14 years, and my gut feeling was telling me to prepare for the worst.

The EMS arrived at the house, assessed her situation, and quickly got her into the ambulance for further assessment. The decision was made to intubate her airway, and Life Flight her to Hermann Hospital.

Thanks to their expert skills, she is with us today, and recovering from her illness. My family and I would like to say "Thank You" to the entire EMS staff for the job you do: It takes special people for your line of work. To the guys who saved her life, I am sorry I had to call you out on Christmas morning, but I sure am glad you were there. My family and I thank you.

Thanks again, Bryan Janda, RN