By Eva Ruth Moravec - Express-News
The father of a woman strangled in an apartment near Alamo Heights in 2009 says he always suspected her ex-boyfriend played a role in her death, but it took DNA from a bloodied towel for San Antonio police to arrest him Saturday morning.
Jon Thomas Ford, 41, remains in Bexar County Jail on one count of murder in connection with the Jan. 1, 2009, death of Dana Clair Edwards, 32. Ford's bond is set at $100,000.
“It really doesn't bring closure; I think we're a long way from being through,” said Darrell Edwards, who, along with his wife, discovered his youngest child murdered in her apartment about 24 hours after she was killed.
“We were very aware when we found our daughter's body that our lives would change forever,” he said Sunday.
Edwards said he suspected Ford, who dated Edwards for 2.5 years and was “absolutely” welcomed into the family — attended family dinners, parties, even went on vacation with the Edwardses — all along.
Ford secured a lawyer almost immediately after the slaying, the victim's father said, and never made contact with the family again. While he didn't attend the memorial service for the woman he's suspected of killing, Ford's parents did, said Edwards, who remembers shaking their hands in a receiving line.
But it wasn't until Dec. 9 that investigators got a report on DNA pulled off a bloody towel that covered the slain woman's head. Two days later, officials obtained a search warrant for Ford's DNA, which was found to match evidence on the towel.
“There were no signs of him being violent when they were dating,” Edwards said, adding the couple broke up in October 2008. “It was certainly not our thought that Thomas Ford could have done this, but as the facts have come out, we believe it.”
The Edwards family also believes Ford killed their daughter's beloved Jack Russell terrier, Grit, which was found in Olmos Creek about a week after the slaying. Officials determined Grit died of blunt force trauma. A second dog, a rescued mutt named Toby, now lives with the Edwards.
He said he plans to attend the trial and will testify if called upon.
“When you lose your daughter, your fishing buddy, your best friend; you don't like the loss,” he said. “You know that nothing's ever going to replace it or make you feel better about it.”
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