American Emily Infield has been threatened by a stalker for the past few years to abandon the Tokyo Olympics.
A long-distance runner who represented the United States at the 2016 Rio Olympics recounted how her Tokyo Olympic dream was destroyed by a stalker.
The British "Daily Mail" reported on the 26th that in 2018, Emily Infield was training for the Tokyo Olympic Games, when suddenly a stranger began to pursue her online. For the next three years, the track star and her fiancé, Max Randolph, lived in fear.
Fear peaked in June 2020 when she learned that the mentally unstable stalker had moved two miles (about 3.2 kilometers) from her home, allegedly threatening to kill her by posting on LinkedIn.
<h1 class="pgc-h-decimal" data-index="01" data-track="4" > a bunch of messages from the same person</h1>
One day in April 2018, field was injured in her foot, and she applied ice to her wound while logging on to Facebook. When she opened facebook's chat window, she saw a dozen messages from a man named Craig Donnelly.
Donnelly competed in cross-country and athletics at Westmont College in California and Oklahoma Baptist University. He has suffered from epilepsy since childhood. On April 27, 2016, he had a seizure while running. He fell backwards, hit his head, and underwent emergency brain surgery, removing part of his brain and skull. Donnelly's brain damage left him physically and mentally disabled.
Donnelly (center) had surgery and had both physical and mental disabilities due to brain damage.
But Infield knew nothing about the person who messaged her. Donnelly simply introduced himself as an American track and field coach, writing, "I noticed you were injured and I wanted to recommend some recovery methods to you."
Infield, who had never heard of the young man, who had a smirking avatar on Facebook, sent a screenshot of Donnelly's message to her coach, agent and Athletics team to verify his identity, but got no reply.
Over the next few weeks, Donnelly continued to advise her.
<h1 class="pgc-h-decimal" data-index="02" data-track="7" > an anonymous phone call to discuss the wedding</h1>
When Infield asked him to stop messaging and block him, she began to receive calls from an unknown number that she thought was Donnelly, but had a hard time understanding what the other person was saying.
In the voice, he seemed to be planning their wedding.
In one voice, a male voice said, "I'm easy to please, with only two requests." He proposed that the wedding was not held at a church in Santa Barbara, California, where the marriage was invalidated, and that the singer was Kelly Underwood (2005 American Idol champion)." I'm pretty sure she'll perform for free, just as I used to offer professional services for free. ”
A few days later, she received an email with the subject line "Wedding Ready."
The email said he would take a red-eye flight to Portland at 2 p.m. on Sunday for the awards ceremony. "The archbishop or one of his clergy will officiate at the wedding. The rest of the preparatory work we can do together, including applying for permission to keep your last name. Eternal Craig. ”
<h1 class="pgc-h-decimal" data-index="03" data-track="9" > an expensive package to her address</h1>
In an interview with ESPN, Infield said: "I feel strange in my heart, but I keep telling myself that this person can't have my address." Three days later, FedEx called her and told her that an expensive package would be delivered and would require her signature, which confirmed her worst fears.
Excited, Infield cried, and she explained to FedEx staff that the package had been sent by someone she didn't know, and she asked to have the package returned. The staff member then told her that the same sender had sent another package.
<h1 class="pgc-h-decimal" data-index="04" data-track="11" > a permanent tracking protection order</h1>
The next day, Infield and her fiancé went to Home Depot to buy a surveillance camera and left town for the weekend. At 2 p.m. on Sunday, she couldn't bear to go home, fearing Donnelly would show up, but she was relieved that home surveillance footage showed no signs of those who were following her.
Infield went directly to The Martenoma County Circuit Court to apply for a protective order. After explaining her case, the judge granted her permanent follow-up protection order.
According to court records, police in Hillsborough, New Jersey, issued notices of a protective order to Donnelly on September 26 and October 31, 2018, and Donald broke contact with Infield.
Infield revived her life, resumed her Olympic training, and recorded when she competed in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
<h1 class="pgc-h-decimal" data-index="05" data-track="13" > some disturbing posts</h1>
But 16 months later, Donnelly was back.
In February 2020, Infield was in her hotel room in Boston ready to compete in the 5,000-meter race, which would prove she was on her way to the Olympic Trials.
"My heart was about to jump out because I really thought it was over." Infield said, but Randolph called her to alert her to some of Donnelly's disturbing posts on Twitter and Instagram.
In these social media posts, Donnelly claimed to have been her coach and husband, but the two later fell out. He questioned her IQ, mentioned their "marriage" and "divorce" and even accused her of owing him money.
While Infield was scared and confused by the post, she struggled to focus on her own game.
"I kept telling myself, 'There's no time to think about this.' Just focus on the track, the movements, and the breathing. That's what she did.
Infield broke his personal best with a time of 14:51.91, the second-best result for an American track and field athlete who qualified for the Olympics.
Infield competed at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
<h1 class="pgc-h-decimal" data-index="06" data-track="16" > a threat of murder</h1>
Infield continued to block Donnelly's account, but in June 2020, she received a call from her security team, which was set up through her sponsors.
"We have some disturbing news," members of the security team told her. "That stalker... Rented a place two miles from your home. He also posted on LinkedIn that he came to Portland to kill you. ”
Infield and Randolph agreed to leave the town immediately, but for two days in Atlanta, neither of them was able to catch a flight to Randolph's parents' house. Infield didn't sleep for the next two nights, and they changed hotel rooms, trying to avoid Donnelly.
She said, "I've always had a lot of doubts. I looked out the window and paced back and forth, and I couldn't be quiet. I was really scared. ”
"I put in so much effort to be a good runner, but at that special moment, I felt like it was all gone." Infield explains: "My life is no longer in my control. I mean, I was thinking as I left the house quickly, is this true? Did this really happen to me?"
In Atlanta, Infield struggled to get up and continue training. She feared that she and Randolph would be exposed to the coronavirus during their travels, and that Donnelly would follow them.
<h1 class="pgc-h-decimal" data-index="07" data-track="18" > an experience of not being able to return home</h1>
Infield constantly asked for updates from the security team and called Portland police every week. They told her that a police officer had been sent to question Donnelly to investigate the situation.
She remembers a police officer saying, "This guy is coming for you." He knows you have a protective order and he knows he violated it. He thought you were married. He threatened to take your life, but he said he just wanted to scare you and let you know how much he hated you. ”
But the police did not arrest him that day, but only recorded his words and did not read miranda rights to him. Infield was told they were applying for an arrest warrant.
"The system is so messy, and that makes me angry." In retrospect, Infield is still angry: "They asked him, called us, and scared us... They said, 'It's good that you're gone, this guy wants to hurt you.' ’”
A few weeks later, in late July, sponsors asked Infield to return to Oregon to continue competing. That means, she says, if she doesn't come back, her salary will be cut.
Still, sponsors told ESPN they didn't ask Emily to compete in any races, but put her safety first.
Back in Oregon, Infield was still afraid to go home. She told police she felt unsafe but didn't get a response, and then spent $2,000 renting a room a few miles from her home.
Infield is on high alert. Instead of going on a long-distance run alone, she took the wolf's tooth stick and stayed close to home. She hid her position on Instagram, sleeping with multiple quilts, pillow pads on either side of her body, and even considered holding a gun.
<h1 class="pgc-h-decimal" data-index="08" data-track="20" > an infuriating conversation</h1>
On July 30, 2020, Maltenoma County prosecutors finally charged Donnelly with six misdemeanors for violating the Tracking Protection Order.
Portland Police Department spokesman Lt. Lieutenant Greg Pashley told ESPN that Donnelly left Oregon shortly after the interview, making it difficult for them to take any action.
When he left the state, Infield's security team told her they thought he was stalking another woman across the country and learned that the FBI was investigating the case.
But for nearly a year, Infield didn't know where her stalker was in the country.
Donnelly continued to message Infield, but when she contacted Portland police, an officer replied, "I was shocked that there was a warrant for this man...' But he has not yet been arrested. As far as you know, is he still in Las Vegas?"
"It makes me angry because after going through it all? How do I know where he is?" She sighed.
Not knowing where else to go, Infield shared her story on Instagram and exposed Donnelly. "It makes me very angry that people are sending so many messages like ' I'm going through something so similar,'" Infield said.
"I feel the support and love of a lot of people, but I also feel sad that our system is not helping these victims – the victims are on their own to protect themselves."
Finally, on June 3 of this year, Donnelly was arrested. Richard Hickey, assistant chief of police in Brentwood, Tennessee, said, "He called us. Because he felt like a victim of a scam, someone tried to steal his money. ”
Police searched the system for his information and took him to a detention center after learning that an arrest warrant had been issued for him in July 2020.
A photo of Donnelly at the time of his arrest.
Tennessee State Police said that when Donnelly continued to talk about someone trying to steal $201 million from him, it was immediately apparent that the man was mentally ill.
Asked why Portland police didn't follow up on his case for about a year, Mr. Pashley claimed the department was inundated by protests sparked by George Floyd's death from white police brutality.
On his way back to Oregon, Donnelly was stopped by U.S. marshals and detained by the federal government. On June 7, the U.S. Attorney's Office in Portland charged Donnelly with two felonies of cyber stalking and violation of the Interstate Protection Order.
The maximum sentence for both charges is 5 years. As of last week, Donnelly was waiting for U.S. marshals to transfer him to Portland.
<h1 class="pgc-h-decimal" data-index="09" data-track="23" > a goodwill toward him</h1>
On June 26, at the rescheduled Olympic Qualifiers in Eugene, Oregon, Field suffered a record-breaking heat wave and failed to qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, finishing eighth.
Her friend and distance runner Carla Gutchell, who has also been harassed and stalked during her career, blamed Donnelly for Field's poor performance.
Goucher told ESPN: "As an athlete, it's the worst-case scenario. It also explains why she has so many problems with staying fit in the last few years, as she is always in a state of mind to run or fight. ”
"It deprived her of the good times, the golden years of her career." Goucher adds: "One day when she looks back, she wonders if the pinnacle of her career has been stolen by this incident."
Although Donnelly had turned Infield's past three years into a nightmare, she still didn't want to see him go to jail. "I hope he can get help with mental health. I don't know if he can recover to 100% – I don't know if that's realistic – but just hope his life helps. I have sympathized with him many times. ”
Although Infield missed this year's Olympic games, her life seems to be back on track.
In the first two races of this summer, the long-distance runner set an individual record in the 1500m race and finished second in another race.
She and Randolph were already planning their fall wedding.
Infield with fiancé Max Randolph.
(Keli)