Huge Prayer Request!! Urgent!

Sorry to put it so desperate-sounding but I think it is very urgent. This is gonna sound like a John Grishom novel so read on. I don't think I've been in here since last week so I didn't mention this (cuz it hadn't happened...duh). *big sigh*
Okay, here I go...

This has to do with my best friend in the whole world, Rhonda, and her parents, who I'll call Jim and Brenda, and her sister, Angel.
Angel had been slowly heading toward a mental breakdown since this past May, everyone could see it except her father, Jim. Angel was married to Tim and lived in Tennessee but Brenda, her mother, decided that Angel should get a divorce so she came down here to get one and for their protection. Angel had a fight, a real fist-fight, with her father (he's been abusive all of her life to both of them) and asked Rhonda to come get her for a while. Angel weighed 80 pounds and was about 5'4", maybe taller. On the second day that Angel was there she started looking for her daughter in Rhonda's kitchen cabinets so Rhonda took her back to their parents because she was afraid for the safety of her own children.
Rhonda rarely called her parents because of all the abuse and neglect she and Angel suffered. However, Rhonda wanted to get Angel some mental help so badly that she would call her parents several times a week to try to convince them that Angel needed to be commited to some type of institution for a short time so she could be evaluated by proper doctors. In the state of Florida, maybe elsewhere, you must have three family members to agree and sign papers to get a person mental help without their consent. No one would help and Rhonda soon gave up and stopped calling her parents and she could tell it was such a strained relationship it would soon be gone completely if she kept it up, then Angel would never get any help.

The main reason I gave so much background (and that's not even a fraction of the whole story) is so that you can get a mental picture of these girls and their parents. You see, on December 19th, at my mother's house (Rhonda loves my mother very much and we spend a lot of time there) and Mom was telling us about this couple in our town who had been murdered by their daughter on Hickory Street. You can guess the rest of the story, right? When Rhonda heard that she said that it was her parents and Angel. We thought she was over-reacting because there was no way that we could be connected in any way to a double-murder/suicide in our tiny town. That happens to other people, right? But when Mom said that the house was on the 2400 block and that it was a brick house with blue shutters...Rhonda hit the floor screaming.
So, to get to my point (I know, I know "FINALLY!") Rhonda is almost destroyed by this. Even though her parents weren't saints, she feels guilty about the last few conversations they had. And the fact that Rhonda wouldn't let Angel stay at her house just makes the "what if..." game really hard on her.
We are trying our best to take the brunt of the responsibilities but legally there is a lot that only she can do. Oh, yeah, I forgot something...they had been dead since around December 5th and a neighbor smelled something and called the police on December 19th; that's the day it was on the news. So these people were in that house for 14 days or so with the heat on (we also had many warm days) with a little dog, I don't think I have to say any more about that; you can do the math. Someone told Rhonda that the dog was fat and healthy and then told her why. She's had nightmares ever since and wakes up screaming.
So, I've come to the end of my tale and I implore you to storm the Throne with prayer for this woman and her two children (she's also in the middle of a nasty custody battle right now). I probably could have just given a name and the prayer request but I feel so deeply for this woman as my friend, practically my sister, that I want you to feel sympathy for her situation too.
Pray, my friends, please pray hard.

Thanks for reading this, it means a lot to me.

Stacie

A quick update: Rhonda is getting better but the investigation is still ongoing. No one seems to be completely convinced that this little woman (Angel) could do this. We've been going through many bags of personal effects and it's been tough.
They've finally been identified because they had to ask Rhonda to look at the jewelry and watches her parents were wearing. Her brother-in-law, Tim, accused her of doing this horrible thing so they had to question her for the record. That was really rough. The funerals are Friday so pray for strength for her, please.
Thanks for the interest and prayers.

Stacie

Thanks Kelly, and all of you,

The funeral was very tough on Rhonda. It was for both of her parents, not her sister because her husband, Tim, has control over what is done to her. He had her cremeated and sent to Tennessee but the funeral director got some of the ashes and gave them to Rhonda so at least she has something of her sister.
I took her to Sunday School with me yesterday and it was our "eatin' meetin'" as we call the first Sunday of the month because each group rotates in bringing food for the class. Anyway, Rhonda was introduced and she ate a little bit but then she got up quickly and went to leave the room. I asked her if she was okay and she said No so I followed her downstairs to the Ladies Room. She threw up until there was nothing left. She was pale and shaking so much I just cried with her. She was sobbing uncontrollably and one of the ladies from class came to check on her (remember, she isn't a member of my church). Then, when we were outside again, the pastor, Dr. David Spencer, came out of his office and saw us with Rhonda. He only had about 20 minutes until the service started but he took her into his office and let her cry and he prayed with her. She said he had tears in his eyes and she felt closer to him than her own pastor.
Well, her father's brothers told the newspaper that there was no abuse in the home, ever, and insisted they recant what they reported about physical and mental abuse by their parents. Rhonda (and my mother and myself) has an interview with the paper to show proof of the abuse. We found a letter written by her father where he says he beat the girls "unmercifully". There are many audio cassette tapes that he had been using for years to record the girls' phone conversations, a lot of those are very incriminating.
So that's probably much more than y'all wanted to know, but there it is!
And how was your week?

In His Love,

Stacie

P.S. Did I tell y'all that I have a new little puppy? His name is "Renegade" and he's a black labrador with a smidge of chow...just enough to make 2 little black spots on his tongue. He's so cute! I'll try to download a picture one of these days before he gets too big!