Wednesday, May 21, 2003

I am personally offended at the article about David Mangham and his friend Michael Fowler. I have personally known David for over 15 years as well as my husband knowing him for 14 of those years.

David was adamantly against drugs due to someone in his life many years ago being addicted to drugs. He hated drugs and all they stood for. I think it is ridiculous that Fayette County has no other items to print than speculation about people. This is slander on someone that cannot even defend themselves.

This is all speculation on the part of Fayette County police who cannot determine the cause and they are throwing out ideas and the news media is printing, rather than waiting for facts. Bad news about people sells better than good news, so it gets printed.

All of us that were friends of David would like to know the truth about what happened to him, and we may never know until we get to heaven. To infer that he had "seedy" friends, then come out and say "illegal drug activity" is high on the list is nothing but slander against a fine human being and good friend.

We have all known people that are not of the best reputation in our lifetime, but didn't Jesus befriend the sinners in the Bible? We as Christians are to build relationships in order to bring others to Christ, not preach religion. If he was an acquaintance with anyone that the police would feel was of questionable character, I am sure it was in an effort to build a relationship and show them the way to Christ. David was a very God-fearing and Bible-knowledgeable individual and shared his faith with others often.

Regina Larvie

FTMCPHER@Carlson.com