Walling Memorial Fund

WALLING MEMORIAL FUND:

Groves, Birmingham, Franklin and West Bloomfield, community one of our beloved family members needs our immediate help! As you may have read in recent social media and news reports about this tragedy
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.freep.com/amp/4973863002
while the outcome is one catastrophe that we have no control over. What we can do is come together immediately to support the Walling family: Maria, Brandon, and Josh. The family tragically lost their recently retired, father and beloved  husband of 33 years while traveling to Jamaica. He leaves behind his wife Maria, sons Brandon and Josh. Brandon is a student at Michigan State University while Josh is a freshmen at Groves High School.    Not only is Maria grieving and distraught over the way her husband passed on, but she needs to go to Jamaica to bring Ted back to the U.S. amidst Jamaican laws & protocol (autopsy is required before they’ll issue death certificate). Ted’s trip also consisted of his gem business, of which apparently only 2 rings were left in hotel. All of his credit cards, passport, identification, MacBook, iPhone were stolen along with the gems & proceeds from what he took there. Because this was also a robbery the family had to freeze his accounts, so automatic bill pay will not be able to happen until death certificate is issued. Apple devices cannot be tracked, no passwords.

Ted was a loving father. He was very active in the community with Franklin baseball and also Groves Football always seen there supporting his son Josh and cheering him on. He loved attending both of his sons school and sporting events. Ted could be seen riding his bike around the neighborhood with his family or playing tennis at Franklin Racquet Club. Ted Walling’s hobbies also included jewelry, gemstones, gardening and Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee.

Close friends and family in the community, we NEED to pull together for the Walling family to support them during this difficult time as they grieve and await closure from this on-going criminal investigation.   Please also share this with every one you know.

Walling Family Update - June 12, 2020

I want to thank everyone for their generous contributions & support.  As most of you know I had to travel to Jamaica to identify & bring back my husband & father of our boys, Brandon & Joshua.  Because of COVID-19 the autopsy & identification process could not happen
as scheduled, so my two day trip became a two week nightmare.

Thank God & all of you for your prayers I made it home safe and was able to bring Ted home along with the documents I needed to obtain.  One thing amongst many I’ve learned is that God gives us strength & courage to endure the surprises that life imposes on us.
I have been in close contact with the Jamaican Detective in charge of the investigation of
this senseless & violent crime done to my husband, a kind, peaceful, loving man.  On
4/26/20 Jamaican Police released a photo caught on hotel surveillance video of the man
they believe is the culprit & asked the public for their assistance in finding him as well as
asked him to turn himself in.  As of today, Friday June 12, no leads or arrests have been
made. 

Brandon, Josh and I have good days and bad.   We’ve had challenges along the way but we
are trying to move forward.  I have returned to my job and it feels good to be working
outside the home once more.  The boys have been busy with their own work and are trying to maintain the yard work and we are all trying to care for his many plants.  Ted had the
green thumb.  We all miss him terribly & we pray that justice is done.



Family Update as of 3/30/2020 (from Brandon's FaceBook @ 3:14pm):

my mom is home! mission accomplished.

Family Update as of 3/28/2020 (from Brandon's FaceBook @ 10:00am):

latest from my mom is that they did complete the post mortem autopsy yesterday, and she returned back to Negril where she was hoping to have the cremation completed so she could obtain the documentation she needs to return home with my dad. well, seems like the funeral homes in Jamaica had other plans. we know that they get $ for every night they keep the body on dry ice, well despite knowing the schedule and the urgency, the people there are on their own schedules. my mom had a lot of faith in her representative at the embassy and the detective and police officers, until yesterday when she was let down and they had their hands in their pockets. really hoping that today is a different story - last night my mom said she had a “long” and “bad” day - had to travel all the way across Jamaica and back, only to get bad news from the people that she put her trust in. really pulling for her today and praying she can finish up her mission and return home with him. love you guys

Family Update as of 3/27/2020 (from Brandon's FaceBook @ 6:50am)):
just heard from my mom - she was just picked up by a police bus from her hotel in Westmoreland, Negril where she is heading (with a mask and gloves on) to St. Catherine’s (near Kingston) where she will be attending my dad’s post-mortem autopsy. looks like today is the day we have been waiting for, and there is high hopes that she will be heading back home with him on Saturday. again, on behalf of my family, just want to thank every single one of you for taking the time to reach out and let us know you are thinking about us , the love has really been felt and it is so appreciated. while my mom has been alone down there for the last 10+ days, I have let her know that you are all thinking of her and sending your best and she can feel the love from down there, too. crossing our fingers and hoping that her mission is successfully! thank you all so much!

Family Update as of 3/24/2020 (from Brandon's FaceBook @ 4:09pm):

not sure how to find the words to express what I’m feeling, but this is a start, I guess. the last three weeks have been… overwhelming… to say the least. on March 5th, my world was turned upside down when I found out that the day before, my dad was found murdered in his hotel bed in Jamaica. he retired from 20 years at Chrysler on the last day of January, and by the second week of February he had returned to his favorite place (where he had just gone to celebrate his 65th birthday – “65, still alive” is what he would say to me). he didn’t tell any of us he was going until he was there because he knew we would guilt him. my brother had a week for spring break while he was gone, and I had the next week off, and we endlessly told him he should be here playing tennis with us, while he posted on his FB about how happy he was, not feeling any pain because he hasn’t had to work his physical job anymore, enjoying himself, while we were trying to make him feel bad about it. suddenly, when she had been in Hawaii enjoying a vacation for herself, my mom showed up at our house to tell my brother and I the news. my mom has been working with the US Embassy and the detective in Jamaica, who initially told her it could be weeks or months to schedule an autopsy (irrelevant to the virus outbreak). I reached out to state government reps, with help from a good friend and his brother who is a district rep, and we got the state department involved in the investigation, we got confirmation from them on a Friday, and by Monday my mom got the call that my dad’s autopsy was scheduled for Wednesday (3-18). since we got the news, and this is the craziest part of the story, perhaps, the entire world has continued to flip upside down around us. the global pandemic we are facing has added just a layer to the already inexplicable, incomprehensible reality that we have been forced to confront. while our Governor is telling us we have to stay in our house, we can’t gather with groups of friends or family, we can’t visit our favorite places, my mom bravely ventured to Jamaica to try to take care of business and be there for the 3-18 autopsy, but when she got there, she was notified that the pathology department was closed because of the outbreak, and the autopsy could not be performed. they told her they would meet again on 3-20 and could even potentially perform the autopsy then, but if not, maybe by 3-23 or hopefully by 3-25 at the latest. so my mom changed her return flight to 3-25, tomorrow. over the last week my mom has been in Jamaica, trying to bring back with her my dad and the documentation needed to proceed with his affairs, but she has been facing roadblock after roadblock. yesterday, the pathology department told her they are not re-opening this week, but the Embassy told her they are trying to expedite 3 American autopsies, including my dad, and could have them done by tomorrow. in the meantime, she has been given work-arounds from different funeral homes with different reasons why they cannot perform a timely cremation to enable my mom to bring my dad back home with her tomorrow. simply put, it is looking more and more like my mom will be returning home tomorrow without my dad. while I have been at home with Josh, practicing social distancing and quarantining in our home, my heart hurts for my mom who is out there trying to deal with this alone, while she is losing hope and likely will not be able to accomplish our goals. I’ve been helpless, not sure what I can do. I was going to try and call our Senators’ offices, but yesterday my iphone turned off and will not turn back on, but apple stores are closed for the week. not sure if there is even anything that can be done by contacting the Senators to expedite the autopsy. I’m not sure who I am writing this for… I know I have not been as good as I should have been about keeping all of the friends and family updated, and I wanted to give some kind of update for anybody who wants to know what is going on. Josh and I have felt an amazing outpour of support and love from all angles, and we can’t even tell you guys how much it means to us to know there are so many people out there who care about how we are doing – we have had neighbors preparing dinners for us, cards and gifts sent in the mail, calls and texts nonstop. it has not been an easy time, but you all have made it easier for us. in a way I also feel lucky that this outbreak has given me a unique opportunity to be with my brother and process what is happening. we logistically can’t proceed with anything until the business in Jamaica is taken care of, which means if my mom comes home empty-handed tomorrow, it will be even further delayed, but eventually we will have a celebration of life. if there is one benefit to the outbreak, it has been buying time for me to deal with things, emotionally, before we can all come together and say goodbye.



Family Update as of 3/11/2020
Thank you everyone for your
thoughts, prayers, and assistance.
We are still in shock over this
horrific act of violence. Ted would
have given the shirt off his back to
anybody. He was a peaceful, giving, loving man, who loved his family
very much, and it saddens us that someone would take advantage of his trusting demeanor to steal from
him monetary and material things. We pray that they find the person/
people responsible, and pray that
the Jamaican government is
seriously doing everything they can in this investigation.
We are still waiting for the Jamaican government to schedule a date for the Post Mortem that is required by Jamaican law in order to issue a death certificate. Until that is done, I cannot bring him home. Our family, friends and community have really reached out, and on behalf of my
sons and I, thank you. Patti Maria
Walling