"Dateline: As seen on"--Front cover. "The true story of love, a perilous elopement, and the return home after living as a U.S. fugitive for twenty-four years."--Cover (page 4.)
Summary:
The year was 1982, and Dianne and I were both still in high school when we fell in love. The kind of love so precious and rare that few will ever experience in their lifetime. This was not some meaningless tryst during a brief courtship, or a settlement for a lifetime of security. This was the real deal, and we both knew it. Days turned into months, and months into endless infatuation—as we spent many a night sneaking out in defiance—before an elopement plan to leave our families and friends for the rest of our lives was born. But when, on the eve of our greatest adventure, Dianne tragically died, my world would be ripped apart, only to spend decades getting over the grief before returning to where it all began. But that is only half the story, because unlike a Hollywood movie with a poetic ending, life does not always work the same in reality. When I finally returned to Kalispell, Montana, there was a lynch mob waiting—ready for blood. I was sure that once the accident details were known and re-evaluated, the Flathead County authorities would do the right thing—just as the Canadian authorities did. But they were not that kind of people. After years of speculation and skepticism, they were now ready to put aside evidence in place of retribution. Their passions ran deep and punishment was paramount, as I faced their enigmatic Flathead County justice. What this story tells is not only the details of how Dianne and I met, fell in love, concocted our elopement, and eventually executed our perilous plan, but also what happened twenty-four years later when I came back to Kalispell, Montana to face the presumptuous Flathead County authorities. Everyone from the judges to the State prosecutor to the Babcock family to my attorneys to the media to Genea, insisted on, and demanded the truth. Well, this is the brutal truth! Read my story, look at the evidence, and judge for yourself. "The incredible true storu of two high school sweethearts who mystifies the U.S. and Canadian authorities for a quarter of a century after their elaborate elopement ended in tragedy. The plan was simple: following months of preparation, they packed their bags, rented a Cessna C-150 aircraft, and left-leaving their families and friends behind for the rest of their lives. But their irrepressible teenage love ended abruptly when-at the pinnacle of their greatest adventure-Dianne tragically died. Distraught and in shock, Jarek disappeared and spent decades trying to piece his life back together in Texas. It would remain the longest running "America's Most Wanted" mystery for next twenty-four years, until fate struck again-returning Jarek to Montana to face the wrath of the Flathead County authorities. Read about their love, the accident, and what happened a quarter century later in Kalispell, where passions ran deep and punishment was paramount. Find out how the innocent elopement accident was turned into a crime by a town that would not be denied its scapegoat."--cover (page 4.)
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