05272015 - Eight years ago this week...

Eight years ago this week, I made the decision to leave an abusive relationship. In response, my abuser screamed: "don't be surprised when your dogs end up dead". 

Portage police officers laughed about my ex's threat, and told me, "Only call us if the dogs end up dead".

In loving memory of Abbi and Bailey.





--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Renee' [mailto:sur5er1998@aol.com]
Sent: Friday, May 13, 2011 2:05 PM
To: Mark Becker; Olga Velazquez; johnrhame@rhameandelwood.com
Subject: Police Complaint Form request

Chief Becker,

Could you please email [sur5er1998@aol.com] or mail me [6003 Central Ave., Portage IN 46368] an official police complaint form, so I may file it in regards to the October 7th police incident? I could not find a complaint form on the Portage PD website to download. I am too terrified to come into the police department and obtain a police complaint form. 

I have heard that the police officers at your department are quite mad regarding my recent inquiry into the October 7th incident. I was also informed that all the officers know who I am and about my recent complaint. Some officers are under the false impression that I have already filed a lawsuit against the City. Some officers are spreading false rumors that officers may loose their jobs, over the October 7th incident. This has of course spread much hatred towards me, by your officers. It has set me up for retaliation, and has also re-enforced in me that I have absolutely no police protection from my abusive ex-husband. I cannot express enough to you, how terrified I am of both your officers and my ex.

This matter needs to be resolved ASAP so I can rescue my dogs and  I can return home to Michigan / escape my abusive ex. Hopefully, my filing an official police complaint will speed up the process of finding a resolution to the October 7th incident.

Thank you for your time,

Renee' Harrington

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From:	Mark Becker <MBecker@portage-in.com>
To:	Renee' <sur5er1998@aol.com>; Olga Velazquez <OVelazquez@portage-in.com>; kenelwood <kenelwood@rhameandelwood.com>
Subject:	RE: Police Complaint Form request
Date:	Mon, May 16, 2011 8:36 pm

---

Ms. Harrington
 
I am sorry that you have lost your dogs, however based upon 

the information provided to Captain Vaughan and the ensuing 

investigation he conducted, I do consider  this matter closed.  

As you noted in your email, your former husband "killed" your dogs, 

or at least signed over the paperwork approving them to be put down.  

Why he would have done so is something I cannot answer.
 
mjb

05192015 - News Article - Campaign complaints linger long after Lake primary

Campaign complaints linger long after Lake primary
NWI Times
May 19, 2015 - 6:04 pm
http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/elections/campaign-complaints-linger-long-after-lake-primary/article_927afb90-b3fa-5000-9cbb-611ea4847b28.html

CROWN POINT | A political activist demanded Lake County election officials follow through with investigations of the mayors of Gary and Lake Station two weeks after the voters have spoken.

Ken Davidson, who operates the Northwest Indiana Gazette blog, told the county elections board Tuesday to determine whether Lake Station Mayor Keith Soderquist was within the law last year when he paid $8,500 in campaign funds to his criminal defense lawyer, Scott King of Merrillville.

Soderquist, who lost May 5 to his Democratic primary opponent Christopher Anderson, still awaits trial in August on charges he and his wife gambled at a casino with money diverted from the mayor's campaign treasury and a city food pantry. Soderquist is pleading not guilty.

"Is that a legitimate campaign expense?" Davidson asked the elections board.

"Legal fees are an appropriate expenditure," King responded.

The elections board took the question under advisement for further legal research.

Davidson withdrew complaints about Soderquist paying Frontier Communications $808 for Internet and telephone service and $84 in bank fees after King said the Internet service was used exclusively for the political campaign. King said the bank fees were not penalties for bank overdrafts.

Davidson asked the elections board to act against Chase Street Auto Wrecking of Gary for $2,100 in donations to the Soderquist campaign --  $100 more than the legal limit Indiana for corporation contributions. He also asked them to investigate whether Chase Street made other excessive contributions.

King said Soderquist's campaign will refund the extra $100 if the elections board rules it was excessive.

Davidson also wants an investigation into a $2,000 donation to Gary Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson, who won the May 5 primary.

Davidson said the 2013 donation was listed on one of her campaign finance reports as coming from the Gary Community School Corp., which isn't allowed to make political contributions.

Freeman-Wilson said earlier this spring the campaign finance report was in error. She said an individual donor gave the money so Gary School Board members could attend one of her political fundraisers.

Elections board members said they will hear further evidence on that matter next month.

05142015 - News Article - Mother's tearful plea: 'Please do not forget her'

Mother's tearful plea: 'Please do not forget her'
Post-Tribune
May 14, 2015
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:0HpLCYwELxMJ:www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/post-tribune/opinion/ct-ptb-murder-victim-memorial-st-0515-20150514-story.html+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us

Elizabeth Hefner did her best to suppress a mother's deepest pain from choking back her words in front of dozens of tearful mourners.

Somehow, she summoned enough strength to stand up and thank everyone for attending Thursday's funeral service for her daughter, Brianna Lyn Hefner Ballor.

"The outpouring of love has been beyond belief," Hefner said inside Moeller Funeral Home in Valparaiso, which overflowed with family, friends and loved ones.

With that said, Hefner had only one final request for them, the same heartfelt request that any grieving mother would have regarding her child. But first, Hefner let out a sigh and a shrug before admitting something to the mourners, and maybe to herself.

"What can anybody really say?" she asked.

What can anybody really say about the truly senseless death of Ballor, shot and killed on Mother's Day weekend by her husband, who then took his own life, police said. The couple were in the middle of a divorce and there was evidence of a fight prior to the shootings, authorities said.

What can anybody really say about the loss of a woman whose legacy features words such as sweet, loving, caring, smart and resilient? What can anybody really say about a 31-year-old mother who will not be here for her own 2-year-old daughter's life?

The Rev. Gretchen Seidler-Gibbs did her best to use mere words in a situation when only feelings really mattered. She read aloud several biblical passages written thousands of years ago, praying that they still offered hope, comfort and healing.

Seidler-Gibbs reminded mourners that Thursday was "Ascension Day," according to the Christian liturgical calendar. One of the great solemnities, it commemorates the bodily ascension of Jesus into heaven on the 40th day of Easter.

Jesus, too, was "murdered," she said.

At one point in our collective history, the word death had a period after it. However, Jesus' ascension turned that fateful period into a faithful comma, giving believers a new sentence on life, and on death, she said.

"Life is the final word, not death," she preached.

Surrounded by life-affirming photos of Ballor's life, rather than a casket, Seidler-Gibbs invited mourners to step up and offer their own personal memories about Ballor.

Only one person did.

The man said he was a representative from the Morgan Township High School graduating class of 2002, all 43 members, where Ballor, the class valedictorian, was voted the "sweetest grad."

"Bri," as everyone called her, was loving, caring and resilient, he said. She loved sports. She loved to compete. She loved to win. She also was a distance runner who didn't make it the distance in life she had hoped.

This was the overriding sentiment from the mourners who packed the funeral home, which used a video stream in an adjacent room to reach everyone. Outside, vehicles were parked around the block, and into empty nearby parking lots.

Ballor, who will be cremated, touched the hearts of a lot of people in her relatively short life. She touched them in high school, in college where she earned a degree in criminal justice, and at her job at the Porter County Juvenile Detention Center, where she offered her special gift to troubled kids.

"She gave a life of service," Seidler-Gibbs said after a photo slideshow played to the song "I Miss You" by Avril Lavigne.

Ballor's 2-year-old daughter, Brynn, stared at some of those photos, unaware that they would someday be part of the patchwork memories of her late mother.

"There was nothing more important than her daughter," Seidler-Gibbs said. "Her legacy will continue on."

She encouraged everyone to write down their memories of Ballor and give them to her family, who will create a memory box for Brynn. The girl can then open that box as she grows up to learn more about her mother, and more about herself.

We can only hope that Brynn will never associate Mother's Day as the day her father killed her mother. And himself. Not a word was publicly spoken at the service about Ballor's husband, Glenn. Instead, Seidler-Gibbs repeatedly preached love over hate, hope over anger, healing over torment.

"This is how we redeem this situation," she said. "Something good must come out of this. It has to."

She quoted scripture from Ecclesiastes: "A time to kill and a time to heal; a time to tear down and a time to build up; a time to weep and a time to laugh; a time to mourn and a time to dance; a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak."

Hefner's time to speak came earlier than expected, as no one else had the strength to do so. They were still absorbing Ballor's death. Her life. And Brynn's future.

Hefner lives next door to her daughter's home in a quiet, rural neighborhood just southwest of the Porter County fairgrounds. It was Hefner who received a frantic phone call from her daughter just before her killing. It was Hefner who called police, who found the bodies on the floor in their bedroom.

The night before her daughter's memorial service, I called Hefner to offer my apologies.

"I'm very sorry for your loss," I said, noting to her how cliché it must sound.

"I understand and thank you," Hefner replied politely. "It's a difficult situation. There's nothing more that can be said."

But there was one more thing to say.

Hefner may have realized it while standing alone before the crowd, surrounded by cheerful, loving photos of her daughter. Or maybe she knew she would say it from the moment after her daughter's death.

In a mother's plea that ended in a child's whimper, Hefner told mourners, "Please do not forget her."

05122015 - News Article - Porter woman beaten, then shot - Murder, suicide come as surprise to family

Porter woman beaten, then shot 
Murder, suicide come as surprise to family
Post-Tribune (IN)
May 12, 2015
www.newsbank.com
VALPARAISO - Family and friends of Brianna Ballor saw no signs of the violent side of the man who beat up and killed his wife late Saturday night before taking his own life.

"I asked her two weeks ago if she was scared of him," said Elizabeth Hefner, Brianna's mother. "She told me she was not afraid and that he wouldn't do anything to hurt her."

The couple were in the middle of a divorce proceeding, so Hefner wondered why Ballor still lived at the residence with her daughter and their 2-year-old in Morgan Township, near the Porter County fairgrounds.

Hefner said Glenn Ballor had just been let go from his job with a steel fabricating company in Buchanan, Mich. She said he was an assistant wrestling coach at Michigan City High School and previously coached at Portage High School.

Police told Hefner that her daughter suffered a black eye and a skull fracture before Ballor shot her at point-blank range with a shotgun, she said. "My only consolation is I hope she passed out from the blow to the head before he shot her."

Hefner said she didn't know loaded guns were in the home, which is next door to her own home.

Allison M. Cox, director of the Porter County Juvenile Detention Center where Brianna Ballor worked as a supervisor, said she never mentioned problems at home.

"Our hearts are aching. She was a huge part of our family," Cox said.

Glenn Ballor, who was a wrestler at Portage High School where he graduated in 1995, is listed as an assistant wrestling coach at Michigan City High School on its website. Officials there couldn't be reached for comment.

He also worked as a wrestling assistant at Portage High until about two years ago, said Portage athletic director Kelly Bermes, who said he was also previously an assistant coach at a Portage middle school.

Court records show Glenn Ballor pleaded guilty to burglary in 2003 and fraud in 2004. Both were felonies. Between 2000 and 2014, he had 11 arrests.

"Yes, we do criminal background checks," Bermes said. "The thing you're speaking of happened quite a while ago."

Bermes said she wasn't athletic director when Ballor joined the wrestling coaching staff.

"This is a tragedy, I never would have imagined it," she said.

Meanwhile, grief counselors and therapists met with staff members and kids Monday at the Juvenile Detention Center.

"We have lost a family member and we're reeling right now," Cox said. "Our hearts are devastated for Brynn," who is the couple's 2-year-old daughter who was home during the fatal shootings.

Cox said Brianna Ballor began work at the detention center as a detention officer in 2010. She was promoted a few times and worked as a daytime supervisor.

"She had a fantastic ability to work with at-risk kids," Cox said. "She always had a smile on her face, even on the hardest days."

Cox said the staff met with kids incarcerated at the center early Monday. "They're taking it hard, she's well-liked."

Grief counselors came in the afternoon to talk with staff.

"This is a family here, it's very tight-knit," Cox said.

The couple were married about three years ago after meeting during a wedding.

Brianna Ballor was the 2002 valedictorian at Morgan Township High School where she played basketball and ran track. She graduated from Purdue University and the University of South Carolina where she majored in criminal justice.

Her funeral is at 11 a.m. Thursday at Moeller Funeral Home in Valparaiso.

Arrangements for Glenn Ballor are pending at Edmonds & Evans Funeral Home in Portage.

05112015 - News Article - Police: Deaths may be murder-suicide

Police: Deaths may be murder-suicide
Evansville Courier & Press (IN)
May 11, 2015
www.newsbank.com
The Porter County Sheriff’s Department issued a news release Sunday saying deputies were called shortly before noon Saturday to a home where two people were dead.

They found Glenn Ballor, 38, and Brianna Ballor, 31, dead in their home about five miles south of Valparaiso.

Police say an investigation indicates Glenn Ballor shot his wife with a shotgun and then used the shotgun to shoot himself.

05112015 - News Article - Police: Murder-suicide in Porter - Man kills wife, officials say; daughter unhurt

Police: Murder-suicide in Porter 
Man kills wife, officials say; daughter unhurt
Post-Tribune (IN)
May 11, 2015
www.newsbank.com
MORGAN TOWNSHIP - Brianna Hefner Ballor, a former athlete and valedictorian at Morgan Township High School, called her mother late Saturday for the last time.

"She said 'Mom,' and then she was screaming and it went click," said Elizabeth Hefner.

Hefner went next door to her daughter's house about 11:50 p.m. and heard a single gunshot. She called police who found Brianna and Glenn Ballor dead from gunshot wounds lying in a pool of blood on the floor in their bedroom.

Police say Glenn Ballor, 38, shot his wife Brianna, 31, with a shotgun, then turned the gun on himself. Porter County Coroner Chuck Harris said both died from gunshots fired at point-blank range. Their 2-year-old daughter, Brynn, was unharmed.

Authorities and Hefner said the couple were in the middle of a divorce proceeding. Harris and Porter County police Sgt. Larry LaFlower said there was evidence of a fight before the shooting.

The couple lived in a quiet, rural neighborhood at 189 S. County Road 75 East, just southwest of the Porter County fairgrounds.

Harris said toxicology tests will be done to determine if drugs or alcohol played a role in the shooting.

Hefner said her daughter married Glenn Ballor about three years ago. She said the couple met when they were in a wedding party together.

"They started dating and then they got married," she said.

Hefner Ballor was the 2002 valedictorian at Morgan Township High School, where she also played basketball and ran low hurdles on the track team.

"She graduated from Purdue in 31/2 years," Hefner said. "Then she went to the University of South Carolina in Columbia."

Hefner said her daughter received a degree in criminal justice and worked at the Porter County Juvenile Detention Center.

LaFlower said Glenn Ballor had a criminal history, but there were no domestic violence calls to the couple's house.

Hefner said Glenn Ballor, who graduated from Portage High School, had a bad temper.

Chris George, who is now the principal at Morgan Township, was Hefner Ballor's basketball coach her junior and senior year.

"She was a very good student and quite a competitor. My heart goes out to her and her family," he said.


Caption: Hefner Ballor This residence in Morgan Township is where police say Glenn Ballor, 38, killed his wife, Brianna Hefner Ballor, 31, then took his own life. The couple were found in a bedroom in the home. Carole Carlson/Post-Tribune

05112015 - News Article - Family, co-workers didn't foresee violence

Family, co-workers didn't foresee violence
POST-TRIBUNE NEWS
May 11, 2015
http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/post-tribune/news/ct-ptb-murder-suicide-folo-st-0512-20150511-story.html

Family and friends of Brianna Ballor saw no signs of the violent side of the man who beat her up and killed her late Saturday night before taking his own life.

"I asked her two weeks ago if she was scared of him," said Elizabeth Hefner, Brianna's mother. "She told me she was not afraid and that he wouldn't do anything to hurt her."

The couple were in the middle of a divorce proceeding, so Hefner wondered why Ballor still lived at the residence with her daughter and their 2-year-old child in Morgan Township, near the Porter County fairgrounds.

Hefner said Glenn Ballor had just been let go from his job with a steel fabricating company in Buchanan, Mich. She said Ballor was an assistant wrestling coach at Michigan City High School and previously coached at Portage High School.

Police told Hefner that her daughter suffered a black eye and a skull fracture before Ballor shot her at point-blank range with a shotgun, she said. "My only consolation is I hope she passed out from the blow to the head before he shot her."

Hefner said she didn't know Ballor kept loaded guns in the home, which is next door to her own home.

Allison M. Cox, director of the Porter County Juvenile Detention Center where Brianna Ballor worked as a supervisor, said she never mentioned problems at home. "Our hearts are aching. She was a huge part of our family," Cox said.

Glenn Ballor, who was a wrestler at Portage High School where he graduated in 1995, is listed as an assistant wrestling coach at Michigan City High School on its website. Officials there couldn't be reached for comment.

Ballor also worked as a wrestling assistant at Portage High until about two years ago, said Portage athletic director Kelly Bermes who said he was also previously an assistant coach at a Portage middle school.

Court records show Glenn Ballor pleaded guilty to burglary in 2003 and fraud in 2004. Both were felonies. Between 2000 and 2014, he had several brushes with the law that included 11 arrests. "Yes, we do criminal background checks," Bermes said. "The thing you're speaking of happened quite a while ago."

Bermes said she wasn't athletic director when Ballor joined the wrestling coaching staff.

"This is a tragedy, I never would have imagined it," she said.

Meanwhile, grief counselors and therapists met with staff members and kids Monday at the Juvenile Detention Center.

"We have lost a family member and we're reeling right now," Cox said. "Our hearts are devastated for Brynn," the couple's 2-year-old daughter who was home during the fatal shootings.

Cox said Brianna Ballor began work at the detention center as a detention officer in 2010. She was promoted a few times and worked as a daytime supervisor.

"She had a fantastic ability to work with at-risk kids," Cox said. "She always had a smile on her face, even on the hardest days."

Cox said the staff met with kids incarcerated at the center early Monday. "They're taking it hard, she's well-liked."

Grief counselors came in the afternoon to talk with staff.

"This is a family here, it's very tight-knit," Cox said.

The couple were married about three years ago after meeting during a wedding.

Brianna was the 2002 valedictorian at Morgan Township High School where she played basketball and ran track. She graduated from Purdue University and the University of South Carolina where she majored in criminal justice.

Her funeral is at 11 a.m. Thursday at Moeller Funeral Home in Valparaiso.

Arrangements for Glenn Ballor are pending at Edmonds & Evans Funeral Home in Portage.

05112015 - News Article - Slaying of 'shining star' stuns fellow juvenile center workers

Slaying of 'shining star' stuns fellow juvenile center workers
NWI Times
May 11, 2015
http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/porter/slaying-of-shining-star-stuns-fellow-juvenile-center-workers/article_43f3baa3-f024-56c4-8a82-fb3b06dbfe88.html

VALPARAISO | Employees at the Porter County Juvenile Detention Center were grieving Monday after co-worker Brianna Ballor was shot and killed late Saturday by her estranged husband.

"We're numb. We're all numb," said Alison Cox, director of juvenile detention.

Ballor, 31, had worked at the detention center for the past five years, rising from a detention officer to supervisor.

"She was just a shining star and will be greatly missed by all of us," Cox said.

Porter County police said Brianna Ballor was killed in a murder-suicide by Glenn Ballor, 38, following a "domestic situation" at their home in the 100 block of South County Road 75 East. Glenn Ballor shot Brianna with a shotgun and then turned the gun on himself, they said.

The couple left behind a 2-year-old daughter, who was home at the time of the shootings but was unharmed.

"She was a beautiful spirit, wonderful mother," Cox said of Brianna. "Brynn lost a wonderful mother."

Cox said Ballor was often smiling and had a talent working with at-risk children.

Porter Circuit Court Judge Mary Harper said Ballor was well liked and highly respected.

Grief counseling was being offered Monday to staff at the juvenile center, she said.

Harper said it is heartbreaking when victims of domestic violence don't or can't reach out for help.

Among the local resources is The Caring Place, which offers a 24-hour crisis line (464-2128 or 1-800-933-0466) and a website (thecaringplacenwi.org) with lots of resources, said Executive Director Mary Beth Schultz.

Sometimes those in need don't reach out because they are embarrassed or think they will wind up in a shelter, she said. Callers are never told what to do, she added.

Glenn Ballor served for a brief period as an assistant wrestling coach at Portage High School. He left the position about two years ago.

Ballor previously had been arrested on burglary, theft and driving while suspended charges, police said.

Porter County Coroner Chuck Harris said toxicology testing will be done to determine if drugs or alcohol played any role in the deaths.

05102015 - News Article - Police investigate apparent murder-suicide near Valparaiso

Police investigate apparent murder-suicide near Valparaiso
Associated Press State Wire: Indiana (IN)
May 10, 2015
www.newsbank.com
VALPARAISO, Ind. (AP) — Authorities in northern Indiana are investigating the apparent murder-suicide of a wife and husband in their home.

The Times of Munster reports (http://bit.ly/1QyZRwH ) the Porter County Sheriff's Department issued a news release Sunday saying deputies were called shortly before noon Saturday and found 38-year-old Glenn Ballor and 31-year-old Brianna Ballor dead in their home about five miles south of Valparaiso.

Police say an investigation indicates Glenn Ballor shot his wife with a shotgun and then used the shotgun to shoot himself. Police said a 2-year-old girl in the home at the time was not hurt. The child was placed in the custody of a relative.

05102015 - News Article - Cops: Mother killed in murder-suicide

Cops: Mother killed in murder-suicide
NWI Times
May 10, 2015
http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/porter/cops-mother-killed-in-murder-suicide/article_4a2137ec-91f5-53b7-a63c-9a3c0f3b5914.html

MORGAN TOWNSHIP | A Morgan Township man shot and killed his wife and fatally shot himself in their home late Saturday, authorities said.

Porter County Sheriff's Department officers found Glenn Ballor, 38, and Brianna Ballor, 31, dead from apparent gunshot wounds after responding at 11:52 p.m. to a home in the 100 block of South County Road 75 East for a report of a shooting.

An investigation indicated a "domestic situation" occurred before Glenn Ballor shot his wife with a shotgun and then turned the gun on himself, according to the Porter County Sheriff's Department.

The Ballors' 2-year-old daughter was in the house at the time but was not injured, investigators said.

Brianna Ballor's mother, Beth Hefner, said her daughter was a kind, loving woman who was dedicated to her young daughter.

"She was really working very hard at being a good mother," Beth Hefner said.

Brianna Ballor was valedictorian of her class at Morgan Township High School and earned her bachelor's degree at Purdue University in 3.5 years. She worked for the Porter County Juvenile Detention Center, Hefner said.

Brianna Ballor also loved to run and completed the Chicago Marathon in 2011.

Hefner said her daughter called her asking for help late Saturday and the phone went dead as they talked. Hefner then got Glenn Ballor on the phone, and he told her to come get her granddaughter, she said.


When she arrived at the home, she found her granddaughter sitting on the couch and heard a gunshot, she said.

Porter County Coroner Chuck Harris said both bodies were found in a bedroom lying next to each other on the floor. Evidence indicated there was a physical fight before Brianna Ballor was shot, he said.

The child was released to a family member at the scene, police said.

The Ballors were going through a divorce, but Glenn Ballor had not moved out of the house, Hefner said.

Funeral services of Brianna Ballor are pending, she said.

Police had never been called to the home in the past for domestic violence issues, Porter County Sheriff's Department spokesman Sgt. Larry LaFlower said.

Glenn Ballor wrestled for Portage in the 1990s and more recently served for a brief period as an assistant wrestling coach at Portage High School. He left the position about two years ago.

Ballor previously had been arrested on burglary, theft and driving while suspended charges, LaFlower said.

Harris said toxicology testing will be done to determine if drugs or alcohol played any role in the deaths.

05102015 - News Article - Police: Man kills wife, then himself in Porter County

Police: Man kills wife, then himself in Porter County
Post-Tribune
May 10, 2015
http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/post-tribune/news/ct-ptb-porter-murder-suicide-st-0511-20150510-5-story.html

Brianna Hefner Ballor, a former athlete and valedictorian at Morgan Township High School, called her mother late Saturday for the last time.

“She said 'mom,' and then she was screaming and it went click,” said Elizabeth Hefner.

Hefner went next door to her daughter's house about 11:50 p.m. and heard a single gunshot. She called police, who found Brianna and Glenn Ballor lying in a pool of blood and dead of gunshot wounds on the floor in their bedroom.

Police say Glenn Ballor, 38, shot his wife Brianna, 31, with a shotgun, then turned the gun on himself. Porter County Coroner Chuck Harris said both died of gunshots fired at point-blank range. Their 2-year-old daughter, Brynn, was unharmed.

Authorities and Hefner said the couple were in the middle of a divorce. Harris and Porter County police Sgt. Larry LaFlower said there was evidence of a fight prior to the shooting.

The couple lived in a quiet, rural neighborhood at 189 S. County Road 75 East, just southwest of the Porter County fairgrounds.

Harris said toxicology tests will be done to determine if drugs or alcohol played a role in the shooting.

Hefner said her daughter married Glenn Ballor about three years ago. She said the couple met when they were in a wedding party together. “They started dating and then they got married,” she said.

Brianna Hefner was the 2002 valedictorian at Morgan Township High School, where she also played basketball and ran low hurdles on the track team. “She graduated from Purdue in 3 1/2 years,” said Hefner. “Then she went to the University of South Carolina in Columbia.”

Hefner said her daughter earned a degree in criminal justice and worked at the Porter County Juvenile Detention Center.

LaFlower said Glenn Ballor had a criminal history, but there were no domestic violence calls to the couple's house.

Hefner said Ballor, who graduated from Portage High School in about 1995, had a bad temper.

Chris George, who’s now the principal at Morgan Township, was Brianna’s basketball coach her junior and senior year. “She was a very good student and quite a competitor. My heart goes out to her and her family.”











Police report - Glenn Ballor: Failure to appear in court
Porter County edition
Apr 25, 2001
http://www.nwitimes.com/uncategorized/police-report/article_ca079c1a-417b-59cc-bd53-988c8f005d04.html
Failure to appear in court -- Katherine Hall, 44, of 704 Fremont, South Haven; Nathan Howard, 21, of 3508 E. Evans, Valparaiso; Charles Gregory, 42, of Norman Street, Portage; Frank A. Miceli, 34, address not listed; Glenn M. Ballor, 24, of 2273 Walden, Portage; Faith M. Bratcher, 19, of 1704 Worthington, Valparaiso; Peter Zajicek, 27, of 625 Osage, South Haven; Cordell Moore, 26, of LaPorte; Andrew Sanchez, 34, of 5414 Redwood, Portage.

Three charged with carpet store burglary  - Glenn Ballor
Porter Crime - Porter County
NWI Times
August 21, 2003
http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/porter-crime/article_c782b68d-c7a9-5937-baa8-6112d2c2b977.html
Three men have been charged in connection with a burglary Sunday at Cortie Wilson Jr.'s business -- Carpets by C.W. at 5822 E. U.S. 6.

Glenn Ballor, 26, and Anthony Ballor, 24, both of 3002 Anderson, Portage, were charged with burglary. They each face up to eight years in prison if convicted.

Michael Gass, 18, of 2942 Sunset, Portage, was charged with possession of stolen property and faces up to three years behind bars if convicted.

Portage police said patrons at Sunset Lounge, located nearby, gave police information about suspicious men they saw at the business. Police said Gass admitted he had 12 keys and tried to use them to enter 35 to 40 storage sheds behind the carpet business. Gass said he was unsuccessful, but he said he was with the Ballors when they burglarized the carpet business.

Police said a television, leaf blower, stereo speakers and other items were stolen. Police said much of the property was recovered.

Porter Police Beat - Arrests - Glenn Ballor
Porter County
Nov 12, 2003
http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/porter-police-beat/article_5ae2b9e6-0576-533a-a97e-715d9431818f.html
Check fraud, possession of stolen property, theft -- Glenn Ballor, 27, of 3002 Andersen, Portage.

05092015 - Brianna Hefner Ballor - Murdered by estranged husband, Glenn Ballor

Police: Man kills wife, then himself in Porter County
Post-Tribune
May 10, 2015
http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/post-tribune/news/ct-ptb-porter-murder-suicide-st-0511-20150510-5-story.html

Brianna Hefner Ballor, a former athlete and valedictorian at Morgan Township High School, called her mother late Saturday for the last time.

“She said 'mom,' and then she was screaming and it went click,” said Elizabeth Hefner.

Hefner went next door to her daughter's house about 11:50 p.m. and heard a single gunshot. She called police, who found Brianna and Glenn Ballor lying in a pool of blood and dead of gunshot wounds on the floor in their bedroom.

Police say Glenn Ballor, 38, shot his wife Brianna, 31, with a shotgun, then turned the gun on himself. Porter County Coroner Chuck Harris said both died of gunshots fired at point-blank range. Their 2-year-old daughter, Brynn, was unharmed.

Authorities and Hefner said the couple were in the middle of a divorce. Harris and Porter County police Sgt. Larry LaFlower said there was evidence of a fight prior to the shooting.

The couple lived in a quiet, rural neighborhood at 189 S. County Road 75 East, just southwest of the Porter County fairgrounds.

Harris said toxicology tests will be done to determine if drugs or alcohol played a role in the shooting.

Hefner said her daughter married Glenn Ballor about three years ago. She said the couple met when they were in a wedding party together. “They started dating and then they got married,” she said.

Brianna Hefner was the 2002 valedictorian at Morgan Township High School, where she also played basketball and ran low hurdles on the track team. “She graduated from Purdue in 3 1/2 years,” said Hefner. “Then she went to the University of South Carolina in Columbia.”

Hefner said her daughter earned a degree in criminal justice and worked at the Porter County Juvenile Detention Center.

LaFlower said Glenn Ballor had a criminal history, but there were no domestic violence calls to the couple's house.

Hefner said Ballor, who graduated from Portage High School in about 1995, had a bad temper.

Chris George, who’s now the principal at Morgan Township, was Brianna’s basketball coach her junior and senior year. “She was a very good student and quite a competitor. My heart goes out to her and her family.”










Cops: Mother killed in murder-suicide
NWI Times
The Times May 10, 2015
http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/porter/cops-mother-killed-in-murder-suicide/article_4a2137ec-91f5-53b7-a63c-9a3c0f3b5914.html

MORGAN TOWNSHIP | A Morgan Township man shot and killed his wife and fatally shot himself in their home late Saturday, authorities said.

Porter County Sheriff's Department officers found Glenn Ballor, 38, and Brianna Ballor, 31, dead from apparent gunshot wounds after responding at 11:52 p.m. to a home in the 100 block of South County Road 75 East for a report of a shooting.

An investigation indicated a "domestic situation" occurred before Glenn Ballor shot his wife with a shotgun and then turned the gun on himself, according to the Porter County Sheriff's Department.

The Ballors' 2-year-old daughter was in the house at the time but was not injured, investigators said.

Brianna Ballor's mother, Beth Hefner, said her daughter was a kind, loving woman who was dedicated to her young daughter.

"She was really working very hard at being a good mother," Beth Hefner said.

Brianna Ballor was valedictorian of her class at Morgan Township High School and earned her bachelor's degree at Purdue University in 3.5 years. She worked for the Porter County Juvenile Detention Center, Hefner said.

Brianna Ballor also loved to run and completed the Chicago Marathon in 2011.

Hefner said her daughter called her asking for help late Saturday and the phone went dead as they talked. Hefner then got Glenn Ballor on the phone, and he told her to come get her granddaughter, she said.


When she arrived at the home, she found her granddaughter sitting on the couch and heard a gunshot, she said.

Porter County Coroner Chuck Harris said both bodies were found in a bedroom lying next to each other on the floor. Evidence indicated there was a physical fight before Brianna Ballor was shot, he said.

The child was released to a family member at the scene, police said.

The Ballors were going through a divorce, but Glenn Ballor had not moved out of the house, Hefner said.

Funeral services of Brianna Ballor are pending, she said.

Police had never been called to the home in the past for domestic violence issues, Porter County Sheriff's Department spokesman Sgt. Larry LaFlower said.

Glenn Ballor wrestled for Portage in the 1990s and more recently served for a brief period as an assistant wrestling coach at Portage High School. He left the position about two years ago.

Ballor previously had been arrested on burglary, theft and driving while suspended charges, LaFlower said.

Harris said toxicology testing will be done to determine if drugs or alcohol played any role in the deaths.










Police investigate apparent murder-suicide near Valparaiso
Associated Press State Wire: Indiana (IN)
May 10, 2015
www.newsbank.com
VALPARAISO, Ind. (AP) — Authorities in northern Indiana are investigating the apparent murder-suicide of a wife and husband in their home.

The Times of Munster reports (http://bit.ly/1QyZRwH ) the Porter County Sheriff's Department issued a news release Sunday saying deputies were called shortly before noon Saturday and found 38-year-old Glenn Ballor and 31-year-old Brianna Ballor dead in their home about five miles south of Valparaiso.

Police say an investigation indicates Glenn Ballor shot his wife with a shotgun and then used the shotgun to shoot himself. Police said a 2-year-old girl in the home at the time was not hurt. The child was placed in the custody of a relative.










Slaying of 'shining star' stuns fellow juvenile center workers
NWI Times
May 11, 2015
http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/porter/slaying-of-shining-star-stuns-fellow-juvenile-center-workers/article_43f3baa3-f024-56c4-8a82-fb3b06dbfe88.html

VALPARAISO | Employees at the Porter County Juvenile Detention Center were grieving Monday after co-worker Brianna Ballor was shot and killed late Saturday by her estranged husband.

"We're numb. We're all numb," said Alison Cox, director of juvenile detention.

Ballor, 31, had worked at the detention center for the past five years, rising from a detention officer to supervisor.

"She was just a shining star and will be greatly missed by all of us," Cox said.

Porter County police said Brianna Ballor was killed in a murder-suicide by Glenn Ballor, 38, following a "domestic situation" at their home in the 100 block of South County Road 75 East. Glenn Ballor shot Brianna with a shotgun and then turned the gun on himself, they said.

The couple left behind a 2-year-old daughter, who was home at the time of the shootings but was unharmed.

"She was a beautiful spirit, wonderful mother," Cox said of Brianna. "Brynn lost a wonderful mother."

Cox said Ballor was often smiling and had a talent working with at-risk children.

Porter Circuit Court Judge Mary Harper said Ballor was well liked and highly respected.

Grief counseling was being offered Monday to staff at the juvenile center, she said.

Harper said it is heartbreaking when victims of domestic violence don't or can't reach out for help.

Among the local resources is The Caring Place, which offers a 24-hour crisis line (464-2128 or 1-800-933-0466) and a website (thecaringplacenwi.org) with lots of resources, said Executive Director Mary Beth Schultz.

Sometimes those in need don't reach out because they are embarrassed or think they will wind up in a shelter, she said. Callers are never told what to do, she added.

Glenn Ballor served for a brief period as an assistant wrestling coach at Portage High School. He left the position about two years ago.

Ballor previously had been arrested on burglary, theft and driving while suspended charges, police said.

Porter County Coroner Chuck Harris said toxicology testing will be done to determine if drugs or alcohol played any role in the deaths.










Family, co-workers didn't foresee violence
POST-TRIBUNE NEWS
May 11, 2015
http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/post-tribune/news/ct-ptb-murder-suicide-folo-st-0512-20150511-story.html

Family and friends of Brianna Ballor saw no signs of the violent side of the man who beat her up and killed her late Saturday night before taking his own life.

"I asked her two weeks ago if she was scared of him," said Elizabeth Hefner, Brianna's mother. "She told me she was not afraid and that he wouldn't do anything to hurt her."

The couple were in the middle of a divorce proceeding, so Hefner wondered why Ballor still lived at the residence with her daughter and their 2-year-old child in Morgan Township, near the Porter County fairgrounds.

Hefner said Glenn Ballor had just been let go from his job with a steel fabricating company in Buchanan, Mich. She said Ballor was an assistant wrestling coach at Michigan City High School and previously coached at Portage High School.

Police told Hefner that her daughter suffered a black eye and a skull fracture before Ballor shot her at point-blank range with a shotgun, she said. "My only consolation is I hope she passed out from the blow to the head before he shot her."

Hefner said she didn't know Ballor kept loaded guns in the home, which is next door to her own home.

Allison M. Cox, director of the Porter County Juvenile Detention Center where Brianna Ballor worked as a supervisor, said she never mentioned problems at home. "Our hearts are aching. She was a huge part of our family," Cox said.

Glenn Ballor, who was a wrestler at Portage High School where he graduated in 1995, is listed as an assistant wrestling coach at Michigan City High School on its website. Officials there couldn't be reached for comment.

Ballor also worked as a wrestling assistant at Portage High until about two years ago, said Portage athletic director Kelly Bermes who said he was also previously an assistant coach at a Portage middle school.

Court records show Glenn Ballor pleaded guilty to burglary in 2003 and fraud in 2004. Both were felonies. Between 2000 and 2014, he had several brushes with the law that included 11 arrests. "Yes, we do criminal background checks," Bermes said. "The thing you're speaking of happened quite a while ago."

Bermes said she wasn't athletic director when Ballor joined the wrestling coaching staff.

"This is a tragedy, I never would have imagined it," she said.

Meanwhile, grief counselors and therapists met with staff members and kids Monday at the Juvenile Detention Center.

"We have lost a family member and we're reeling right now," Cox said. "Our hearts are devastated for Brynn," the couple's 2-year-old daughter who was home during the fatal shootings.

Cox said Brianna Ballor began work at the detention center as a detention officer in 2010. She was promoted a few times and worked as a daytime supervisor.

"She had a fantastic ability to work with at-risk kids," Cox said. "She always had a smile on her face, even on the hardest days."

Cox said the staff met with kids incarcerated at the center early Monday. "They're taking it hard, she's well-liked."

Grief counselors came in the afternoon to talk with staff.

"This is a family here, it's very tight-knit," Cox said.

The couple were married about three years ago after meeting during a wedding.

Brianna was the 2002 valedictorian at Morgan Township High School where she played basketball and ran track. She graduated from Purdue University and the University of South Carolina where she majored in criminal justice.

Her funeral is at 11 a.m. Thursday at Moeller Funeral Home in Valparaiso.

Arrangements for Glenn Ballor are pending at Edmonds & Evans Funeral Home in Portage.










Police: Murder-suicide in Porter 
Man kills wife, officials say; daughter unhurt
Post-Tribune (IN)
May 11, 2015
www.newsbank.com
MORGAN TOWNSHIP - Brianna Hefner Ballor, a former athlete and valedictorian at Morgan Township High School, called her mother late Saturday for the last time.

"She said 'Mom,' and then she was screaming and it went click," said Elizabeth Hefner.

Hefner went next door to her daughter's house about 11:50 p.m. and heard a single gunshot. She called police who found Brianna and Glenn Ballor dead from gunshot wounds lying in a pool of blood on the floor in their bedroom.

Police say Glenn Ballor, 38, shot his wife Brianna, 31, with a shotgun, then turned the gun on himself. Porter County Coroner Chuck Harris said both died from gunshots fired at point-blank range. Their 2-year-old daughter, Brynn, was unharmed.

Authorities and Hefner said the couple were in the middle of a divorce proceeding. Harris and Porter County police Sgt. Larry LaFlower said there was evidence of a fight before the shooting.

The couple lived in a quiet, rural neighborhood at 189 S. County Road 75 East, just southwest of the Porter County fairgrounds.

Harris said toxicology tests will be done to determine if drugs or alcohol played a role in the shooting.

Hefner said her daughter married Glenn Ballor about three years ago. She said the couple met when they were in a wedding party together.

"They started dating and then they got married," she said.

Hefner Ballor was the 2002 valedictorian at Morgan Township High School, where she also played basketball and ran low hurdles on the track team.

"She graduated from Purdue in 31/2 years," Hefner said. "Then she went to the University of South Carolina in Columbia."

Hefner said her daughter received a degree in criminal justice and worked at the Porter County Juvenile Detention Center.

LaFlower said Glenn Ballor had a criminal history, but there were no domestic violence calls to the couple's house.

Hefner said Glenn Ballor, who graduated from Portage High School, had a bad temper.

Chris George, who is now the principal at Morgan Township, was Hefner Ballor's basketball coach her junior and senior year.

"She was a very good student and quite a competitor. My heart goes out to her and her family," he said.


Caption: Hefner Ballor This residence in Morgan Township is where police say Glenn Ballor, 38, killed his wife, Brianna Hefner Ballor, 31, then took his own life. The couple were found in a bedroom in the home. Carole Carlson/Post-Tribune










Police: Deaths may be murder-suicide
Evansville Courier & Press (IN)
May 11, 2015
www.newsbank.com
The Porter County Sheriff’s Department issued a news release Sunday saying deputies were called shortly before noon Saturday to a home where two people were dead.

They found Glenn Ballor, 38, and Brianna Ballor, 31, dead in their home about five miles south of Valparaiso.

Police say an investigation indicates Glenn Ballor shot his wife with a shotgun and then used the shotgun to shoot himself.










Porter woman beaten, then shot 
Murder, suicide come as surprise to family
Post-Tribune (IN)
May 12, 2015
www.newsbank.com
VALPARAISO - Family and friends of Brianna Ballor saw no signs of the violent side of the man who beat up and killed his wife late Saturday night before taking his own life.

"I asked her two weeks ago if she was scared of him," said Elizabeth Hefner, Brianna's mother. "She told me she was not afraid and that he wouldn't do anything to hurt her."

The couple were in the middle of a divorce proceeding, so Hefner wondered why Ballor still lived at the residence with her daughter and their 2-year-old in Morgan Township, near the Porter County fairgrounds.

Hefner said Glenn Ballor had just been let go from his job with a steel fabricating company in Buchanan, Mich. She said he was an assistant wrestling coach at Michigan City High School and previously coached at Portage High School.

Police told Hefner that her daughter suffered a black eye and a skull fracture before Ballor shot her at point-blank range with a shotgun, she said. "My only consolation is I hope she passed out from the blow to the head before he shot her."

Hefner said she didn't know loaded guns were in the home, which is next door to her own home.

Allison M. Cox, director of the Porter County Juvenile Detention Center where Brianna Ballor worked as a supervisor, said she never mentioned problems at home.

"Our hearts are aching. She was a huge part of our family," Cox said.

Glenn Ballor, who was a wrestler at Portage High School where he graduated in 1995, is listed as an assistant wrestling coach at Michigan City High School on its website. Officials there couldn't be reached for comment.

He also worked as a wrestling assistant at Portage High until about two years ago, said Portage athletic director Kelly Bermes, who said he was also previously an assistant coach at a Portage middle school.

Court records show Glenn Ballor pleaded guilty to burglary in 2003 and fraud in 2004. Both were felonies. Between 2000 and 2014, he had 11 arrests.

"Yes, we do criminal background checks," Bermes said. "The thing you're speaking of happened quite a while ago."

Bermes said she wasn't athletic director when Ballor joined the wrestling coaching staff.

"This is a tragedy, I never would have imagined it," she said.

Meanwhile, grief counselors and therapists met with staff members and kids Monday at the Juvenile Detention Center.

"We have lost a family member and we're reeling right now," Cox said. "Our hearts are devastated for Brynn," who is the couple's 2-year-old daughter who was home during the fatal shootings.

Cox said Brianna Ballor began work at the detention center as a detention officer in 2010. She was promoted a few times and worked as a daytime supervisor.

"She had a fantastic ability to work with at-risk kids," Cox said. "She always had a smile on her face, even on the hardest days."

Cox said the staff met with kids incarcerated at the center early Monday. "They're taking it hard, she's well-liked."

Grief counselors came in the afternoon to talk with staff.

"This is a family here, it's very tight-knit," Cox said.

The couple were married about three years ago after meeting during a wedding.

Brianna Ballor was the 2002 valedictorian at Morgan Township High School where she played basketball and ran track. She graduated from Purdue University and the University of South Carolina where she majored in criminal justice.

Her funeral is at 11 a.m. Thursday at Moeller Funeral Home in Valparaiso.

Arrangements for Glenn Ballor are pending at Edmonds & Evans Funeral Home in Portage.










Mother's tearful plea: 'Please do not forget her'
Post-Tribune
May 14, 2015
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:0HpLCYwELxMJ:www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/post-tribune/opinion/ct-ptb-murder-victim-memorial-st-0515-20150514-story.html+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us

Elizabeth Hefner did her best to suppress a mother's deepest pain from choking back her words in front of dozens of tearful mourners.

Somehow, she summoned enough strength to stand up and thank everyone for attending Thursday's funeral service for her daughter, Brianna Lyn Hefner Ballor.

"The outpouring of love has been beyond belief," Hefner said inside Moeller Funeral Home in Valparaiso, which overflowed with family, friends and loved ones.

With that said, Hefner had only one final request for them, the same heartfelt request that any grieving mother would have regarding her child. But first, Hefner let out a sigh and a shrug before admitting something to the mourners, and maybe to herself.

"What can anybody really say?" she asked.

What can anybody really say about the truly senseless death of Ballor, shot and killed on Mother's Day weekend by her husband, who then took his own life, police said. The couple were in the middle of a divorce and there was evidence of a fight prior to the shootings, authorities said.

What can anybody really say about the loss of a woman whose legacy features words such as sweet, loving, caring, smart and resilient? What can anybody really say about a 31-year-old mother who will not be here for her own 2-year-old daughter's life?

The Rev. Gretchen Seidler-Gibbs did her best to use mere words in a situation when only feelings really mattered. She read aloud several biblical passages written thousands of years ago, praying that they still offered hope, comfort and healing.

Seidler-Gibbs reminded mourners that Thursday was "Ascension Day," according to the Christian liturgical calendar. One of the great solemnities, it commemorates the bodily ascension of Jesus into heaven on the 40th day of Easter.

Jesus, too, was "murdered," she said.

At one point in our collective history, the word death had a period after it. However, Jesus' ascension turned that fateful period into a faithful comma, giving believers a new sentence on life, and on death, she said.

"Life is the final word, not death," she preached.

Surrounded by life-affirming photos of Ballor's life, rather than a casket, Seidler-Gibbs invited mourners to step up and offer their own personal memories about Ballor.

Only one person did.

The man said he was a representative from the Morgan Township High School graduating class of 2002, all 43 members, where Ballor, the class valedictorian, was voted the "sweetest grad."

"Bri," as everyone called her, was loving, caring and resilient, he said. She loved sports. She loved to compete. She loved to win. She also was a distance runner who didn't make it the distance in life she had hoped.

This was the overriding sentiment from the mourners who packed the funeral home, which used a video stream in an adjacent room to reach everyone. Outside, vehicles were parked around the block, and into empty nearby parking lots.

Ballor, who will be cremated, touched the hearts of a lot of people in her relatively short life. She touched them in high school, in college where she earned a degree in criminal justice, and at her job at the Porter County Juvenile Detention Center, where she offered her special gift to troubled kids.

"She gave a life of service," Seidler-Gibbs said after a photo slideshow played to the song "I Miss You" by Avril Lavigne.

Ballor's 2-year-old daughter, Brynn, stared at some of those photos, unaware that they would someday be part of the patchwork memories of her late mother.

"There was nothing more important than her daughter," Seidler-Gibbs said. "Her legacy will continue on."

She encouraged everyone to write down their memories of Ballor and give them to her family, who will create a memory box for Brynn. The girl can then open that box as she grows up to learn more about her mother, and more about herself.

We can only hope that Brynn will never associate Mother's Day as the day her father killed her mother. And himself. Not a word was publicly spoken at the service about Ballor's husband, Glenn. Instead, Seidler-Gibbs repeatedly preached love over hate, hope over anger, healing over torment.

"This is how we redeem this situation," she said. "Something good must come out of this. It has to."

She quoted scripture from Ecclesiastes: "A time to kill and a time to heal; a time to tear down and a time to build up; a time to weep and a time to laugh; a time to mourn and a time to dance; a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak."

Hefner's time to speak came earlier than expected, as no one else had the strength to do so. They were still absorbing Ballor's death. Her life. And Brynn's future.

Hefner lives next door to her daughter's home in a quiet, rural neighborhood just southwest of the Porter County fairgrounds. It was Hefner who received a frantic phone call from her daughter just before her killing. It was Hefner who called police, who found the bodies on the floor in their bedroom.

The night before her daughter's memorial service, I called Hefner to offer my apologies.

"I'm very sorry for your loss," I said, noting to her how cliché it must sound.

"I understand and thank you," Hefner replied politely. "It's a difficult situation. There's nothing more that can be said."

But there was one more thing to say.

Hefner may have realized it while standing alone before the crowd, surrounded by cheerful, loving photos of her daughter. Or maybe she knew she would say it from the moment after her daughter's death.

In a mother's plea that ended in a child's whimper, Hefner told mourners, "Please do not forget her."










Domestic violence social media campaign lauded
POST-TRIBUNE NEWS
November 17, 2015
http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/post-tribune/opinion/ct-ptb-murder-victim-memorial-st-0515-20150514-story.html
The death of a Porter County employee in a murder-suicide on Mother's Day weekend is prompting a social media campaign for greater awareness about domestic violence.

Porter Circuit Court Judge Mary Harper and Alison Cox, director of the Juvenile Detention Center, told the Board of Commissioners on Tuesday about the campaign in light of the shooting death of Brianna Hefner Ballor, 31.

Hefner Ballor, a Morgan Township resident and supervisor at the center, was killed by her husband, Glenn, who then turned the gun on himself in a murder-suicide on May 9.

Harper and Cox are working with the Porter County Community Foundation and The Caring Place, as well as Ballor Hefner's mother, Elizabeth Hefner, on the campaign, which is called Bri's RACE, or Raising Awareness Changes Everything.

The work will include Facebook, Twitter and a web page.

"We have a lot of pamphlets out there to tell what people to do if they're a victim of domestic violence, but nothing in social media," Harper said, adding she and Cox were coming before commissioners because they are using county computers for the work.

The effort, which will inform people about the resources available in the community, also will require the assistance of the county's information technology department. "We want to saturate the community but we also know we are using county resources," Harper said.

Commissioners gave the effort their blessing and commended the plan.

"Social media is a great way to reach out," said Commissioner Laura Blaney, D-South.










Woman killed, husband takes his own life
2015 in review - Porter County
Post-Tribune (IN)
January 3, 2016
www.newsbank.com
On the day before Mother's Day, Brianna Hefner Ballor, 31, a former athlete and valedictorian at Morgan Township High School, was shot to death by her husband, Glenn Ballor, at their Morgan Township home, authorities said.

Ballor, 38, then turned the gun on himself, authorities said. Their 2-year-daughter was unharmed.

The couple were in the middle of a divorce, and police said they found evidence of a fight before the shooting.

Hefner Ballor worked as a supervisor for the Porter County Juvenile Detention Center.

"Our hearts are aching," said Allison Cox, the center's director.

A few months later, Cox and Porter Circuit Court Judge Mary Harper launched a social media campaign called Bri's RACE or Raising Awareness Changes Everything.








Bri's RACE set for Saturday
NWI Times
June 22, 2016
http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/porter/valparaiso/bri-s-race-set-for-saturday/article_ffeb2d82-0c04-5951-bac9-b7e1e5d487dc.html
VALPARAISO — Sunset Hill County Park will be the site for the first Bri’s RACE to end domestic violence at 8:30 a.m. Saturday.

The 5K Run/1 Mile Walk will commemorate the domestic violence awareness campaign created in the memory of Brianna “Bri” Hefner-Ballor.

Bri was killed last year by her husband, leaving behind her daughter, who is now 3 years old.

Bri was an avid runner who participated in many local and Chicago-based races.

Bri’s RACE will raise funds to address needs for those suffering from domestic violence. Bri’s RACE also is developing a social media campaign to modernize the way information about domestic violence is made available.

The goal is to reach those in the community who are in need of assistance because of a potentially violent relationship and to provide the means to obtain help and guidance.

Bri’s RACE, which stands for Raising Awareness Changes Everything, was the creation of Porter Circuit Court Judge Mary Harper, Bri’s mother Elizabeth Hefner and several of Bri’s co-workers at the Porter County Juvenile Detention Center.

Those interested in gaining more information about the social media campaign or would like to sign up for the 5K Run/1 Mile Walk can visit brisrace.org.

Proceeds will benefit the Caring Place.











Community news: Race honoring domestic violence victim is Saturday
POST-TRIBUNE
June 23, 2016
http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/post-tribune/lifestyles/ct-ptb-neighbors-briefs-st-0624-20160623-story.html
Race honoring domestic violence victim is Saturday

The inaugural 5K run/1 mile walk Bri's RACE (Raising Awareness Changes Everything) to End Domestic Violence will take place 8:30 a.m. Saturday at Sunset Hill County Park. The race is in the memory of Brianna "Bri" Hefner-Ballor, a woman murdered last year by her husband, who killed himself and left behind their 2-year-old daughter, according to a press release sent out by Porter Superior Court Judge Mary Harper.

Hefner-Ballor was an avid runner, and her mother, Elizabeth Hefner, and co-workers from the Porter County Juvenile Detention Center along with Harper created the race. They're also developing a social media campaign to reach those who need assistance because of a potentially violent relationship. Harper said, having an employee killed by domestic violence made her rethink how Porter County delivers information to those who need it. More information on the event is at brisrace.com. Proceeds will benefit The Caring Place shelter for women experiencing domestic violence.








Police report - Glenn Ballor: Failure to appear in court
Porter County edition
Apr 25, 2001
http://www.nwitimes.com/uncategorized/police-report/article_ca079c1a-417b-59cc-bd53-988c8f005d04.html
Failure to appear in court -- Katherine Hall, 44, of 704 Fremont, South Haven; Nathan Howard, 21, of 3508 E. Evans, Valparaiso; Charles Gregory, 42, of Norman Street, Portage; Frank A. Miceli, 34, address not listed; Glenn M. Ballor, 24, of 2273 Walden, Portage; Faith M. Bratcher, 19, of 1704 Worthington, Valparaiso; Peter Zajicek, 27, of 625 Osage, South Haven; Cordell Moore, 26, of LaPorte; Andrew Sanchez, 34, of 5414 Redwood, Portage.










Three charged with carpet store burglary  - Glenn Ballor
Porter Crime - Porter County
NWI Times
August 21, 2003
http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/porter-crime/article_c782b68d-c7a9-5937-baa8-6112d2c2b977.html
Three men have been charged in connection with a burglary Sunday at Cortie Wilson Jr.'s business -- Carpets by C.W. at 5822 E. U.S. 6.

Glenn Ballor, 26, and Anthony Ballor, 24, both of 3002 Anderson, Portage, were charged with burglary. They each face up to eight years in prison if convicted.

Michael Gass, 18, of 2942 Sunset, Portage, was charged with possession of stolen property and faces up to three years behind bars if convicted.

Portage police said patrons at Sunset Lounge, located nearby, gave police information about suspicious men they saw at the business. Police said Gass admitted he had 12 keys and tried to use them to enter 35 to 40 storage sheds behind the carpet business. Gass said he was unsuccessful, but he said he was with the Ballors when they burglarized the carpet business.

Police said a television, leaf blower, stereo speakers and other items were stolen. Police said much of the property was recovered.










Porter Police Beat - Arrests - Glenn Ballor
Porter County
Nov 12, 2003
http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/porter-police-beat/article_5ae2b9e6-0576-533a-a97e-715d9431818f.html
Check fraud, possession of stolen property, theft -- Glenn Ballor, 27, of 3002 Andersen, Portage.