Tuesday, March 27th, 2018
Six hours after I wrote last Friday’s blog about Shawn shooting Cheyenne in the back of the head, execution style, I sat down at a sturdy wooden table in a coffee shop in Buffalo, Minnesota, opposite Paul Miller of Timber Bay, a community and camping organization that works with troubled youth from middle school to age 18. The young man I mentor, Tyler, kept telling me I had to meet with Paul Miller. He knew him from Timber Bay and now with Emerge Timber Bay for young adults beyond the age of 18, which Paul heads up in the area. “Meeting with Paul Miller” kept being pushed ahead on my “to do” list until March 22, two days after hearing Shawn’s confession at the Wright County Courthouse. Only by the hand of God.
I mainly listened to Paul talk about Timber Bay and his experiences with them over a long period of time. Near the end of our discussion, out of the blue, unknowing that I had any connection to the case, he told me that Cheyenne Clough had been a Timber Bay kid and he strongly believed she had become a Christian who followed Jesus but couldn’t shake her meth addiction. Amazing.
Paul knew Cheyenne well, both in Timber Bay and afterward when they’d see each other here or there on the street. He was in the hospital room when the plug was pulled on life support and gave the eulogy at her funeral.
I called Tyler the day after I talked to Paul. I found out he had known Cheyenne, and confirmed she was a Christian. You see, Tyler was a meth addict as well and it’s a small world in rural Minnesota where addicts are kind of a fraternal group, almost like an extended family.
There remains one last installment of this story that happened yesterday when I met with Shawn in the Wright County Jail and told him this whole story. I couldn’t wait to meet with him. You’ll find out his reaction in next Friday’s blog. It was unbelievable.