Family, Friends & Fellow Officers Remember...

JUST WANTED TO SAY I CARE TO THE CLAXTON FAMILY. WHEN I HEARD OF THIS TRAGITY THAT HAD TAKEN PLACE, MAY OF 98, I CRIED INSIDE AND MY HEART WENT OUT TO THE FAMILY.
I CARE ABOUT ALL OFFICERS THAT FALL BUT THIS ONE HIT VERY CLOSE TO HOME BECAUSE I'M CLOSE TO MY FRIEND CHRISTINE CLAXTON HERE IN PHOENIX. SHE'S LIKE FAMILY TO ME.
OFTEN TIMES I THINK OF YOU ALL AND WONDER IF YOU'RE ALRIGHT. I LOVE YOU ALL, MARTHA

MARTHA DUNHAM, SECURITY
BURNS INTERNATIONAL, PHOENIX

Dear academy classmate and friend.

Dear Dale, I know you watch over me along with first Sgt. Dave Barbee. I loved you both dearly. As I walk up to each and evey car I know you are both watching over me. Sometimes as I approch a car I can feel you guys pulling me back, as to say watch out Chuck!!!

I keep a picture of you Dale in my patrol car at all times to remind of the people we deal with!!. The picture of Dale reminds me of the Evil that awaits us and the picture of Dave tells me to be careful.

I will never forget you guys, you live in my heart.

Officer Chuck Howell
Montclair police department, Ca

Dale,

Thanks for the help you provided for me to prepare myself for the Police Academy. I graduated in your honor. I was looking toward working with you, but now you are looking over me. You will never be forgotten. Thanks again.

Jason Spruell
Montezuma County Sheriff's Office

My wife and I recently traveled through Cortez and although it has been over two years since You were so Tragically and Brutally taken from your Loved Ones and your fellow Officers.  We still REMEMBER and our thoughts and prayers are with you, your Wife and Children..

M. Huggins
AZ.  Dept. Public Safety, Highway Patrol

Dear Dale; It's been a year now, since you were so cruelly taken from us. I still think of you a lot. I still wish with all my heart; that I could have dome something to stop them on that fateful day, May 29, 1998. I wish still, that there would have been some way for me to help you. I feel you must somehow know that. This year, May 22, 1999 at 2:00 P.M., Your department. The Cortez Police, and all the local law enforcement had a wonderful Memorial Service in your Honor and Memory. It was in the park, and over 1000 people attended. We also have a Fallen Officers Memorial Wall in the park, by the Dale Claxton Police Building. Your Chief of Police, Roy Lane, dedicated it during the memorial service. Sadly to say, there are 6 other names on the wall with yours. I hope you can look down and see it sometime, and I hope you know the feeling from my heart, and approve of everything. You are still loved and missed so much by everyone. It's still a nightmare for all your fellow officers.

J.

Daddy, we'll love you forever. Thank God you're with him instead of here on this earth. You were such a sweet-hearted man and the we're all so sad to have lost you to these cold-hearted men, but we won't forget you.

Caitlin Claxton

R Keith Hoffman
Montezuma County Sheriff's Department, CO

We miss you, Dale... and we still suffer, because the other
two killers have not been found, although we know who they
are. Some day we hope to have closure on this nightmare,
but we do not forget you... Our police building was
dedicated to you and named after you. Your kindness and your
gentle ways will never be forgotten.

Dispatcher Debbie Havran
Cortez Police Department, CO

"THE RISK"

It could have been you

It could have been me

It could have been any of us just lying there

We wonder why this has happened

We wonder why the people are against us

We wonder of a lot of things

and yet we know there will never be an answer

The bagpipes are playing

The sash is on the pin

The black tape is on the car

and the flags are flying half mast

The precession is starting

The lines of blue are forming

The blue lights are shining

and the radios remain silent.

The citizens are mourning

The suspect is running

The investication is beginning

and JUSTICE IS COMING!!!!

I thought this poem was appopriate withwhat is going on out west in Colorado.

Kayhla Brown
Baltimore, MD

Rest in peace brother.

Police Officer
Denver Police Department

I was an Officer with the Cortez Police Dept. from 94 to 95. I relocated my wife and daughter from Southern California to Cortez to enjoy a better quality of life.
Upon my arrival to this new town, I was greeted with warmth and genuine kindness from members of the Police Department, both sworn and non. An officers mother even allowed me to live in her home until I could send for my wife and daughter.
After only a year, financial and marital problems forced me to relocate back to Southern California. It is my understanding that Dale Claxton replaced me when I resigned. Whether this is accurate or not, it impacted me deeply. It caused me to question my place in the world of law enforcement. Eventually, I hung up my badge and gun and entered the private sector in fear that I may too leave behind a wife and kids.

It is incredibly important for those who have never put on a badge to know that Officer Claxton gave his life for no other reason than because he indirectly wanted to. He was a soldier that patrolled the streets while we all slept soundly in our beds. He gave up his weekends and day shifts so that he could make our world a better place. Not for fame and surely not for money. Dale did it for the same reason we all do. Because it was in his blood. God blessed him with goodness and selflessness to protect those who couldn't protect themselves. He died a hero, with honor and integrity. I know that God has Dale by his side.
Next time you see an Officer, just walk up and say "thank you". You would never believe how much that means to that officer.
May God bless all that protect us, both near and abroad.

Scott A. Polimeni
ex-Cortez Police Dept.

Dale,

I will never forget you and what you stood for. It was an honor for me to know and work with you. You made the Cortez Police Department a better place. I know that you are as proud as I am, of the officers and the civilian employees who worked so hard in trying to find your cowdly Killers. Two down, one to go. Never give up, Never give up!

There is not a day that goes by that I don't think of you.

Russell Johnson
(Retired) Assistant Chief of Police
Cortez Police Department

Chief Russell Johnson
New Braunfels Police Department

Dear Officer Claxton,

I hope you look down and read this. I saw your case and end of your watch on Unsolved Mysteries. I was shocked just to find out what happened. My heart dropped. Sometimes I feel a tear about to trickle from my eye. I have sent a copy of this memorial page to some of my friends over the net. I feel that doing so shows respect. I feel that others should know how senseless this crime was and I know it always helps to talk to a friend about it.
I think it is true what the letter says. I think it is true that when a police officer dies, it is not just the city that loses the officer but the entire nation. I hope to God that justice will soon be served.

Yours truly,
Brad Debbaudt

Brad Debbaudt
Unsolved Mysteries viewer

There are two people
whom I feel are great
One gave me life
one kept me safe
The first is my mother
born May 29th
The other a hero
who gave us his life
Though years apart
yet on the same day
One came to life
one taken away
Mothers care for us
while we are home
Dale kept us safe
while out on our own
On road 27
there is a place
Where I say thank you
and you should some day
When I drive by it
I remember this cop
I take just a moment
to come to a stop
To make us feel safe
and sleep well at night
A person like Dale
has given his life
So remember always
in your home or your car
Keep Dale Claxton's memory
close to your heart
When you see a cruiser
out on the street
Wave and say thank you
for working his beat
For those are his partners
those are his guys
and in each of them
a piece of him lies

Just a thank you to Dale and the other officers everywhere who take risks to keep us safe.
To his family, a message of regret for your loss. May he always be remembered for his kindness and heroism.

T. A. Baumgartner
Grateful Cortez citizen

Dear Uncle Dale in Heaven,

Since that Friday morning when I got the call about your abrupt end of watch, I have not gone one single day without thinking of you. You now have a great niece that knows you only by pictures and that you are with the Angels. She doesn't understand why her big Daddy cries sometimes. I hope that some day it gets easier not to miss you so much, but I pray to God that it will never be easy enough that I don't think of you each day. I need to be reminded to try to be the kind of real man you were, and live how I should, so I can be with you and God and all of our family in heaven some day. So stay in my dreams, where you have visited me many times, and be my guiding light. I just want you to know what you mean to me, because I don't think I ever really got to tell you, even though I did tell you I was proud of you. It was so much more than that. I love you and miss you so much Uncle Dale.

Love, Jason

Jason Taylor, nephew

Dale, I will never stop looking for the last of the criminals who took you away from us. You will always be remembered, and honored for the special man you were. I am sure that God holds you close, waiting to see us again one day. I will never stop.

Anonymous

My sincere condolence to the family of Officer Dale Claxton. I was a police officer in Walsenburg, Colorado when this event unfolded and I felt the emotions from over 400 miles away. I would like the family to know, even officers who never knew officer Claxton will always remember him as a law enforcement hero. Take Care Claxton Family. From Brighton, Colorado

Deputy Ron Brandt
Adams County Sheriff's Office

Deputy Ron Brandt
Adams County Sheriff's Office

I still remember our last conversation, as you relieved two graveyard weary officers, our last words, "Be safe", I said "I will", was your reply. I still remember the phone ringing, "we need you we have officers down." Although I had only been asleep about 2 hours, I was back in my uniform and in my patrol car about 4 minutes later, trying in my groggy state to understand the radio traffic, to figure out what was going on. I still remember driving into Cross Canyon with my graveyard partner in silence still unable to believe that you were gone. I still remember the silence of that canyon and the eeriness of the search, I remember the frustration of the manhunt and the hundreds of law enforcement faces that looked just like mine. Determined yet deterred. I still remember hugging Sue and talking quietly with your children. I still remember every word of the eulogy I delivered at your funeral, what an honor. I still wake in the middle of the night with the nightmares of not being able to help you. I still pray for peace in my heart. The tragedy of your death has taught us so many lessons. We are a department bound to each other by loss, taking a little more time to enjoy our friendships and appreciate their significance in our lives. You have taught me to appreciate every hug from my loved ones, every football game, every band concert. You have taught me to tell the people that surround me how much they mean to me. I still remember, you will never be forgotten. You will always be missed..

Di

Officer Diane Fox
Cortez Police Department