Mark Ashford is one of the thousands of Hildalgo county residents waking up today faced with the daunting task of cleaning up after last night's epic hail storm. A storm that not only left widespread damage to hundreds of homes and vehicles throughout the metro area, but also has left Ashford emotionally compromied as he struggles to deal with an unwanted groping perpetrated by an as yet unknown assailant in his own home.
Ashford recounts details of his experience. "I can't quite explain how it could have even happened. I just remember the lights suddenly went off and everything turned pitch black. There I was on my divan all alone and vulnerable in the living room as the sound of hail pummeled the roof and the cars on the street. The wind howled like a freight train and was absolutely deafening. My first thought was that I needed to find a light," Ashford recalls. "So I got up and was immediately startled when I heard a window shatter in the bedroom. Hail was hitting the house like it was being fired from a machine gun and I feared more glass would soon break. Just then as I was feeling my way along the hallway toward the kitchen a hand that was not my own suddenly reached through the darkness and began aggressively fumbling around for my junk. I swung around wildly in surprise and panic, but without a light source I couldn't see who or what it was if I had wanted to. I was literally blind. As I tried to put some distance between me and my attacker, I lost my balance and fell head first into a door."
Unable to hear anything over the din of the driving hail downpour just outside, Ashford said that he regained his footing. Both arms outstretched, he then clumsily hurried down the hall knocking over and breaking various items in his path. He confessed that he was extremely worried that whomever had groped him was still close by and wasn't finished with him yet. Terror swept over him and only after what seemed like an hour of searching, a flashlight was mercifully found in a kitchen drawer. A frantic room by room search ensued, but ultimately turned up nothing causing Ashford to question his perception of reality. "I searched the whole house. All I found was broken glass all over the place and what looked like a fabulous set of boot prints in the hail leading away from my bedroom window," Ashford said. "I can't be sure though and now I don't know what to believe. Did I imagine the whole thing? Am I going out of my mind?"
Ashford has few answers and between the unsolicited groping not to mention the sheer magnatude of property damage, emotions are running very hot today. He admits that he will almost certainly look back on last night with lingering doubt not just about the identity of whom the groper might have been, but about his own sanity. Ashford also expressed a grave concern over the potential return of this intruder he has dubbed The Hail Storm Groper, if indeed such a person truly exists. One thing is clear. After less than a day since the incident, Ashford has been left feeling dirty, used and violated in a way that he won't soon be able to overcome and will most likely be living in fear for the foreseeable future. "I'm just going to go and take a shower now, ok?"
