RoCkY Colorado: NEVER FORGET

Please forgive me, for I have a deep passion for researching cold cases.  Everyday I ponder how these chilling stories got a grasp on me.  Over the years, I have concluded that one of the main reasons behind this morbid obsession is because many people forget about these victims.  Years fly by, and unsolved cases become buried underneath the dust of even more murder victims.  Although I can't put on latex gloves and investigate until I find the culprits, I can ease their angelic souls and let them know that I did not forget.  Even more, I can spread the awareness of these cases so people have a better understanding of these intense and continuous crimes.  Perhaps this mindfulness can prevent people from being snatched from their loved ones.  It takes years to build a life, but it only takes a second to lose it.  

Floyd T. Hafley, II was murdered on May 1, 2005.  From all the articles and interviews I've read, it appears that he drove to the Denver Wrangler, a gay bar located at the intersection of 17th and Logan Street in Denver, CO.  Apparently he was too drunk to drive and asked a bartender to call him a taxi.  Hafley was seen waiting outside the bar around 2am.  Three hours later he was found about fifteen driving minutes away in a Dahlia Shopping Center parking lot.  The stockbroker was found alive without his clothes, wallet, or class ring.  All he had was seven bullets in his forty year-old body.  He died later that morning in the hospital.  

None of my research specified whether or not he was picked up by the cab.  I would assume the assigned taxi driver would be one of the first likely suspects interviewed.  The fact that this was not even mentioned makes me believe he was picked up by someone else.  It literally could have been anyone.  It could have been someone in the bar who noticed his wallet was overflowing with cash.  It could have been a ruthless, random driver who had a thirst for blood.  It could have been an ex lover.  It could have been someone he drunkenly bumped into on the way to the bar's bathroom.  It could have been a bartender.  It could have been a man who wanted a homosexual encounter, but could not stomach this stranger spilling his secret.  It could have been someone who disturbingly thought they were doing an act of religious beliefs by eliminating a gay sinner off the street.  I don't know if it was personal, and I am not confident I will ever find out if one of my suspicions is actually true.  

Hafley's parents believe that whatever did happen to their son commenced in the bar.  The one thing that makes me agree with this is how busy and lit up the surrounding area is.  Maybe it was because the Broncos game was on and it was not two o'clock in the morning, but regardless, the upscale atmosphere had other establishments that appeared to also stay open to Saturday night owls.  I may never find out what happened in that three hour span, but along with the Hafley family and the executioner, I will never forget.