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First of all, thank you all for coming this morning, we hope that you all can understand and appreciate how difficult the last 48 hours have been for our family in our quest to understand why this happened to the pillar of our family.On behalf of the extended Withers family we would like to first of all thank the Westminster Police Department, their K-9 unit, the paramedics, the nurses, doctors, and staff of St. Anthony's Central, and specifically Westminster Police Officer Matt Jursick, Detective Mike Lynch, Investigator Wayne Read, Victim Advocate Drew Hogan, and Public Information Officer Heather Wood. Without their swift actions and professionalism, we would not have a suspect in custody today and our family on the path to recovery. We would like to thank all the Denver Media outlets for their assistance and cooperation in soliciting the public's assistance in identifying and apprehending the suspect in this unprovoked attack on our beloved father and grandfather. The Withers family would like to thank the individual or individuals from the bottom of our hearts who came forward and provided crucial information to the authorities.
We would also like to express our appreciation to the King Soopers Security Department for their incredible, diligent efforts to find clear images of the suspect which ultimately lead to his arrest. To Dean's extended family at King Soopers, which includes the employees and customers, thank you very, very much for your positive thoughts and prayers, they ultimately lead to a positive outcome to this senseless crime. We also appreciate the outpouring of compassion and concern from the general public, our friends, and our colleagues; thank you very much for all your emotional support. Your kind words, thoughts, and prayers have helped us through this difficult and emotionally trying time. The strength of our family's love and the love of our friends, and our new found friends, has made us strong enough to endure this test of our faith.
Dean Withers is a very dedicated and faithful employee of the Kroger Corporation; he has worked at Store 62 for fourteen (14) years. He doesn't think of his time at the store as a job, he thinks of it as an extended visit with his family and friends. He goes out of his way to ensure that everyone is treated as a member of his own family and treats them with dignity and respect. Although Dean is a post World War II veteran of the Navy, his life experiences did not help him to understand what happened early on Monday morning. As always, he was his cordial self, and had kind words to say to his attacker; which makes this situation even harder to understand for all of us.
Dean's condition is still listed as serious, but we anticipate he will move from IMU sometime today. He is currently resting comfortably in the hospital and is looking forward to returning to work, where he often shares a smile and a laugh with his co-workers and valued customers.
Once again, we would like to thank everyone who has helped us through this ordeal and hope you understand that we wish to return to our quiet, peaceful lives despite all the attention this event has generated. I'm sure once Dean has completely recovered, he would be happy to share his story with you over a cup of coffee, if you're lucky, he might even show you his scar.
