He said, "Sir, I am going to drive back to Cheyenne and inform Mrs. Pendergast that I will not be posting this notice today. I would also, with respect, like to give you the envelope so that you can file it as evidence with whatever office is going to need it." I thanked him. He handed me the envelope. He drove away.
I opened the envelope at the kitchen table that evening with me. The tow notice was a fabricated document on Sentinel Ridge Estates HOA letterhead. It claimed the F250 was in violation of section 8.4 of the Sentinel Ridge Estates community covenants and was scheduled for involuntary removal by community affiliated towing services within 48 hours. Sentinel Ridge Estates actual recorded covenants did not include a section 8.4. I checked.
I had a phone call with my daughter Enes that evening. Inz was 27. She had been a Coast Guard officer for 5 years. She was good at federal regulations the way her mother was good at federal sentencing guidelines. She listened to me read the tow notice over the phone.
She said one sentence. Dad, the HOA does not have civilian tow authority over Laram County land. The community affiliated towing services language is a fiction. Whoever drafted that document was relying on a non-existent Wyoming statute. I told her I had reached the same conclusion.
She said, "Dad, get mom involved on the legal side. Get AFOSI to interview Pete formally. The next time Briany escalates, she is going to call someone with actual authority, which means Cheyenne police or if she's lost it completely, fear security forces." The moment she calls security forces, the federal predicate locks. I told her I had been counting on it.
She said, "Dad, call when it lands. I will fly to Cheyenne." The next morning, Marray filed a preemptive notice of recusal with the District of Wyoming federal court regarding any current or future case involving Lieutenant Colonel Pearson Pendergast, his wife Brian Pendergast, the Sentinel Ridge Estates HOA, or Sentinel Ridge Properties LLC. Her notice was recorded by the federal court clerk that afternoon. The recusal eliminated any future appearance of conflict between Morel's judicial position and my command position, regardless of what AFOSI's investigation produced.
That same afternoon, Colonel Aurora Reinholm at AFOSI Detachment 803 began the formal interview process with Lieutenant Colonel Pete Pendergast. The first interview was scheduled for 900 hours Monday morning at AFOSI offices on the base. Pete was advised he had the right to consult military counsel before the interview. He requested Air Force Trial Defense Council. His request was granted.
The interview was scheduled for 900 hours Wednesday morning the following week. Pete did not appear for the interview. Pete's car remained parked at his Sentinel Ridge Estates residence. Brianie Pendergast went to the Cheyenne Police Department on Friday afternoon and filed a missing person's report on her own husband. Lieutenant Colonel Pete Pendergast was located by FE Warren security forces at the Holiday in Express on Lincoln Way in Cheyenne at 4:15 Saturday afternoon.
He was alone in a single room. He had been there since Friday night. He had checked in under his own name with his Air Force ID card. He had been awake for 31 hours. He had not eaten.