After a bit of controversy and hurt feelings between Chris Heisler of The U.S. Honor Flag organization and law enforcement officers investigating the murders of Mike and Cynthia McLelland, Heisler is no longer acting as a spokesman on behalf of Cynthia McLelland's family.
After a bit of controversy and hurt feelings between Chris Heisler of The U.S. Honor Flag organization and law enforcement officers investigating the murders of Mike and Cynthia McLelland, Heisler is no longer acting as a spokesman on behalf of Cynthia McLelland's family.
According to his email, Heisler's primary role had been to honor Mike and Cynthia McLelland by bringing the Honor Flag to Kaufman County to fly at full-staff at the Kaufman Courthouse. He also helped the family make arrangements for the public memorial in Sunnyvale and the funeral in Wortham, Texas. He took on another role at the request of Cynthia McLelland's side of the family, and acted as their family spokesman. Mike and Cynthia both had children from previous marriages.
The ill will between investigators and Mr. Heisler began after Heisler made public comments that the family was frustrated with the investigation. He told reporters, “If you're gonna put folks to secure officials, who's doing the investigation? Who's patrolling the streets? Who's keeping the rest of Kaufman County safe? They're just not available.” He went on to say that they feel federal law enforcement should take over the investigation. Currently the Kaufman County S.O. is working with Texas DPS and the F.B.I. on the investigation into the Hasse and Mclelland murders.
Heisler later clarified at the Honor Flag ceremony that they support local law enforcement and the investigators, but were simply frustrated with the lack of tips and information coming in that would help get an arrest in the case. Towards the end of the flag ceremony, the Kaufman County Sheriff's Office issued a press release regarding Heisler's previous statements about the investigation, saying that Heisler was not the family spokesman and was not authorized to speak for them.
The press release went on to say, “While we appreciate and applaud Mr. Heisler's efforts to promote the honor and memory of this nations' fallen heroes and protectors, it must be remembered that Mr. Heisler is not a law enforcement officer and is not affiliated with the investigation into the deaths of Mike and Cynthia McLelland or Mark Hasse in any manner.” The press release seemed to bother Mr. Heisler who told local media that rather than issuing press releases that impugn his character, investigators should concentrate on solving the Hasse and McLelland cases.
In the midst of this minor controversy, another arose. The Kaufman County Crime Stoppers has a $200,000 reward available for information that leads to an arrest or grand jury indictment of those involved in the murders of Assistant D.A. Mark Hasse or D.A. McLelland and Cynthia McLelland. Cynthia McLelland's family members would like to see more donations to raise the reward and hopefully entice someone with information to come forward. There were conflicting statements coming out saying that the Crime Stoppers program wanted more money to be donated but did not want to have the reward be too big.
Before leaving as the family spokesman, Chris Heisler sent an email to inForney.com saying that Cynthia McLelland's family is “in the process of establishing a memorial fund.” The general public will be able to donate to the fund once it is set up, though the Honor Network and Honor Flag will not be involved in the fund. He explained that Kaufman County Crime Stoppers will be advised on the funds performance and that the family will make pledges to the KCCS as funds increase. He wrote, “If an arrest is the result of a crime stoppers lead, then the family will honor the pledge. If an arrest is made unrelated to a crime stoppers lead, the family will donate to charities that they'd like too.”
