written by Sara Vallone but added my story
Nickole Atkinson believes she was one of the last people to see Shanann Watts alive.
Atkinson told ABC News that around 2:00 a.m. on August 13, she dropped Shanann off at home after they flew back into town from a work trip.
Atkinson said she watched Shanann walk into her home and close the door. The friends were supposed to meet up later that day, so when Atkinson hadn't heard from Shanann, she called her husband, Chris Watts, to see what was going on.
During the call, Chris revealed that he and Shanann were separating. Atkinson told ABC News that she was not concerned with their marital problems at the time.
She reported Shanann missing around 1:40 p.m.
Eventually, Chris reportedly admitted to killing Shanann and their two daughters, four-year-old Bella and three-year-old Celeste. The girls' bodies were found in an oil tank, Shanann's was nearby in a shallow grave. A motive has not yet been revealed.
Many of Chris and Shanann's family and friends found it hard to believe that something like this could happen.
However, as one mom pointed out on Facebook, women in abusive relationships make sure you never see the ugly side of it.
Julie VanderLaan was previously involved in an abusive relationship. As she explained on Facebook, the story of Shanann Watts hit close to home for her.
She wrote:
Chris remains in custody and has been accused of first-degree murder and tampering with a body.
Noted to add: sharing this post written by Rachel Wilson but added my story.
Atkinson told ABC News that around 2:00 a.m. on August 13, she dropped Shanann off at home after they flew back into town from a work trip.
Atkinson said she watched Shanann walk into her home and close the door. The friends were supposed to meet up later that day, so when Atkinson hadn't heard from Shanann, she called her husband, Chris Watts, to see what was going on.
During the call, Chris revealed that he and Shanann were separating. Atkinson told ABC News that she was not concerned with their marital problems at the time.
She reported Shanann missing around 1:40 p.m.
Eventually, Chris reportedly admitted to killing Shanann and their two daughters, four-year-old Bella and three-year-old Celeste. The girls' bodies were found in an oil tank, Shanann's was nearby in a shallow grave. A motive has not yet been revealed.
Many of Chris and Shanann's family and friends found it hard to believe that something like this could happen.
However, as one mom pointed out on Facebook, women in abusive relationships make sure you never see the ugly side of it.
Julie VanderLaan was previously involved in an abusive relationship. As she explained on Facebook, the story of Shanann Watts hit close to home for her.
She wrote:
The news in Colorado... is heavy on my heart. A Man killed his pregnant Wife and two toddler daughters. What hurts... is that everything I've read... no one “knew”. Her social media boasts pictures of a happy family - their friends and family “had no idea” there were problems. He is a “great guy... a great Husband and Father” - how could he have done this!?VanderLaan answered the question of “how could he have done this?”:
It's because he did it when no one was looking.She explained that she posted on Facebook because she lived through the abuse, she survived:
I’m not posting this for attention, I have LIVED this. When I left, everybody was so surprised. They asked why I wouldn’t stay any longer, you can’t just give up on a marriage.VanderLaan used her experience to speak to others:
Why did I leave? Because my daughters and my safety is worth it.
This is going to sting... not just a little. But a lot. The man you love... Does he call you a b*tch? A c*nt? A wh*re? That's not love.In the case of Shanann Watts, Atkinson said that looking back, there were some telling signs:
Did he hock a loogie and spit in your face on Mother’s Day? That’s not love.
Has he called you a fatass after you just gave BIRTH to his child and told you “good luck leaving, nobody would ever want you... look at you” THAT'S NOT LOVE.
Has he shoved you so hard that you flew back, landed on the coffee table then reached for your cell phone and he took it along with all the house phones and hid them so you couldn’t call the cops on him while he sat there crying apologizing for what he had just done? HE'S NOT SORRY AND THAT'S NOT LOVE.
Has he punched holes in your wall? In your bedroom door? In your bathroom door because all you were trying to do is take a bath but he wasn’t done arguing yet? That's not love.
Has he purposely slammed your hand in the door so hard that you ended up having to go get X-rays to see if it was fractured and you were almost too embarrassed to tell the ER doctors what really happened? That’s not love.
Has he locked you outside in the middle of a Michigan winter when all you were wearing is a T-shirt and laughed in your face before he shut the door and locked it? That’s not love.
Have you went to bed at night, locked your bedroom door and still refused to sleep with your back facing the door incase somehow he broke in and you wouldn’t have enough time to react? That's not love.
Does he do this behind closed doors... when no one else is around? Does everyone he knows... friends and family... love him because they have no idea who he truly is when no one is looking?
He doesn't love you.
If you have ever cried yourself to sleep. If you've ever prayed for God to change his heart. If you've ever prayed for strength to leave.
Leave. Now.
Leave before you are the one on the news. Leave before your family is questioning what/how/why it happened. Because “they didn't know.”
He is strong... but you are stronger.
Do I believe people are capable of change? Yes... I pray they do.
There are GOOD men out there. Men who won't even raise their voice, let alone their hand. Find him. You'll then know love.
“He wasn't being the loving Chris that he normally was. He wasn't touching or hugging or doing stuff like that. He wasn't being as attentive to the girls as he normally is."But she said: “Anyone in their right mind will start piecing things together and think something had happened, but you don’t want to go there. You want to believe the best in people.”
Chris remains in custody and has been accused of first-degree murder and tampering with a body.
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