[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 62 (Monday, April 12, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Page S1873]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

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    TRIBUTE TO OFFICER ANDY FERGUSON AND DETECTIVE RYAN KIRKPATRICK

 Mr. PAUL. Mr. President, at 10 p.m. on March 30, 2021, 
Stanford, KY, Police Officer Andy Ferguson and Detective Ryan 
Kirkpatrick were dispatched to the parking lot of a local eatery after 
receiving a 911 call from Maria Vergara, a teenager who witnessed a 
heinous crime: a young woman being assaulted and dragged, screaming, 
into the cab of a semitruck.
  Once on the scene, these law enforcement professionals gained access 
to the vehicle, rescued the victim, and eventually arrested the 29-
year-old perpetrator who was later charged with sexual assault and 
kidnapping.
  Working with SPD Chaplain Jeremy Johnson and the Kentucky Cabinet for 
Health and Family Services, the out-of-State victim received medical 
treatment at the hospital and was reunited with her family.
  But the story does not stop there. A locket containing the ashes of 
the victim's mother had been ripped from her neck and discarded during 
the assault, and officers were unable to locate it during the night. 
The next day, Chaplain Johnson and Stanford Mayor Dalton Miller 
returned to the scene and eventually found the necklace, which has 
since been returned to the victim.
  These actions remind us all of several things: of one person's 
ability to change the course of history for another--in this case, the 
teenager who reported the crime, of the mix of professionalism and 
heroism that sends police officers into unknown but certain danger; and 
of the never-give-up attitude of our best public servants who are moved 
by compassion to go the extra mile for those who are hurting. We honor 
each of these individuals today and thank them for their 
example.

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