SARANAC, Mich. – Greg Slocum is still reeling from the murder of his eight-month pregnant daughter, Brooke Slocum.
“To think this was going to be my first granddaughter, and to have lost her is just every worst nightmare come true,” Slocum said.
Brooke Slocum, 18, along with her unborn child, were killed along with Charlie Oppenneer, victims of Brady Oestrike, according to police.
The elder Slocum says Brooke was exposed to a lot once she moved away from Saranac and into Grand Rapids. But she had her dreams. "She wanted nothing more than to start a family and to have a baby,' said Slocum.
It was after her move that she met Oppenneer. But Slocum says their relationship was not healthy.
“I know that love is not manipulation; love is unconditional and that wasn’t the case,” Slocum said. “My daughter deserved better than that.”
Slocum says Brooke was deeply impacted by the divorce of her parents and willing to do whatever it took to keep her family together.
“I don't know any of the details of any of it, but that life of hers, I know she knows dad wouldn't approve if she was doing anything like that. So, I'm the last one she's gonna tell.”
"She did some pretty unspeakable things for him that she thought was out of love,” said Slocum. “That was manipulation and totally cruel to do.”
Wyoming police say Slocum and Oppenneer met Brady Oestrike through an ad on Craigslist. Other ads posted on the site's personal section appear to match the profiles of the young couple.Slocum says that wasn’t the Brooke he and many others knew.
While looking for a dress for his daughter’s funeral, Slocum says he came across several letters.
He says another example of Brooke’s selflessness was her reaction to the homeless living on the streets of Grand Rapids. “She went out and held up a sign saying she was homeless and she said, ‘Dad, in an hour I made $75, and I gave it to one of the homeless people who really needed it, and hopefully that got them off the street for a night.'"
Brooke also started to pack lunches for the people living on the street. “She could barely feed herself, she was getting' so skinny,” Slocum said. “She's just done so many wonderful things for so many other people.”
As the Slocum family continues to come to terms with their loss. They’re asking you to pay it forward.
“We do live in a good world, we just need to take it back,” said Slocum. “I've already put a post out in remembrance of my daughter, that we'd like everyone to do an act of kindness to a complete stranger. Some, of course, can do more than others. It doesn't matter how little it is. She gave everything she had even when she had nothing.”
A memorial fund will be set up on Monday at Independent Bank in Ionia.
One of Brooke’s brothers, Jordan, organized a GoFundMe account.
