Before Shelley Lowe became a “person of interest” in the disappearance of 6-year-old Aaroné Thompson – and before she later died of heart disease – Lowe was friends with a woman named Leah Marion.
Marion, in her first public comments on the case, describes a long friendship with Lowe that soured over personal disputes and Marion’s concern about what she believed were Lowe’s criminal habits.
She came to believe, for instance, that Lowe was involved in identity theft and, ultimately, in the disappearance of the little girl.
“She is not innocent by a long shot,” said Marion, who is also Aaroné’s aunt, the sister of the girl’s mother, Lynette Thompson.
Lowe died on May 12. Lowe’s live-in boyfriend and Aaroné’s father, Aaron Thompson, is still a person of interest in the case. A grand jury has been convened and is hearing witnesses for possible criminal charges. Police believe the girl was murdered before she was reported missing in October.
Marion said she met Lowe when the two were teenagers in Cleveland in 1990 in the Job Corps. Over the years, they kept in touch.
“We stayed on the phone for hours, talking about what we wanted,” Marion said.
In 1994, Lowe called Marion, who was living in a Denver apartment complex for single mothers.
“Look out your window,” Marion said Lowe told her on the phone.
Lowe was in the parking lot with Eric Williams, her boyfriend and the father of one of her kids.
“She figured she could depend on me,” Marion said.
“Lot of twists and turns”
In the years that followed, the two remained friends, but Marion became leery of Lowe and Williams, who had a criminal record. She said she learned that Lowe was involved with an identity theft ring.
Family friend Sam Riddle said he is repulsed by accusations against Lowe while she is “laying on a block of ice somewhere.”
Riddle said he heard about the identity theft allegations after police found suspicious documents in her home, although he said they could have been made by Williams. Police found, among other things, fake driver’s licenses and identification for Lowe. But had police found evidence tying Lowe to any crime, they would have charged her, Riddle said.
Williams, in prison for an escape conviction after pleading guilty to crack cocaine charges, told Aurora police that Lowe had described to him how she had been doing something with Aaroné that caused the girl to bleed, according to a document obtained by The Denver Post.
According to Williams, Lowe told him Aaroné stopped breathing in a bathtub and Lowe and Aaron Thompson buried her in a field, the document states.
Marion knew Lowe before she ever knew she had a sister.
In 1997, Marion received a phone call from her natural mother’s attorney. That was when she learned about her sister, Lynette Thompson, who she hadn’t seen since childhood because the two were adopted by different families.
That year, Lowe traveled with Marion to Michigan to meet her sister. When she met Lynette, her sister was considering leaving Aaron Thompson, Marion said. Eager to help, she agreed to bring Lynette and her children home with her to Denver.
“Technically, we were still strangers,” Marion said. “We clashed. There were too many kids in the house.”
Marion said she doesn’t know how Lowe ever met Lynette’s husband, Aaron Thompson.
“There’s a lot of twists and turns,” she said.
One day in Denver, Marion said she got a call from one of Lynette’s daughters, who was calling from the bus station. When Marion got there, she picked up her niece and saw Aaron Thompson, who had also traveled by bus to Denver. The next thing she knew, he was living with Lowe.
“That was my sister’s husband,” Marion said. “She (Lowe) came between two … sisters.”
Since then, Lynette hasn’t spoken with her, Marion said.
Attended Lowe’s funeral
In December 2000, one of Lynette’s sons showed up at Lowe and Aaron Thompson’s house, Marion said. Lowe wanted Marion to keep the boy at her house, but she refused, she said.
Infuriated, Lowe cursed at her and told her she would regret it, Marion said. The next evening, Marion’s sport utility vehicle was set on fire, she said. The case was never solved, but Marion said she told firefighters she believed Lowe carried out her threat.
The incident destroyed their friendship, Marion said.
When Aaroné was reported missing, a combination of circumstances made Marion suspicious of Lowe’s involvement, including Williams’ statement.
Marion attended Lowe’s funeral and said she couldn’t stop thinking about Aaroné, who she believes is buried somewhere and deserves a similarly beautiful service.
Staff writer Kirk Mitchell can be reached at 303-820-1206 or kmitchell@denverpost.com.
