There have been 18 officers killed on duty throughout the history of the Kansas City, Kansas, Police Department. The most recent is Detective Brad Lancaster, but before him was Sgt. Rick Asten.
"He was going in to cover four hours for a sergeant that was sick and in that four-hour time he died," said Margie Hunter, Asten's widow who has since remarried.
Memories and feelings returned with the news of Lancaster's death. Hunter said, "It's brought back a lot of the nightmares of it, you know. My heart aches for those little kids and her, what I know she's going to go through."
In her home, Hunter has a memorial to Asten and his service with his cap, badge and the American flag.
She says she misses him even though it's been almost 20 years since he lost his life on June 11, 1998.
"It's not something that goes away. You think it'll get better in time. It never goes away. I think of him every single day," Hunter said.
When asked if she would have ever wanted him to give up his badge, Hunter replied, "Oh no. That's what he wanted to do more than anything. He died doing something he loved. That was an awesome sacrifice he made and I know he made it willingly. If he had to do it over again, he would've done what he did."
Hunter plans to attend the funeral for Lancaster and the viewing, which will be in the same church where Asten's ceremony was held.
"We were just surrounded by love when we were there and the show of police officers. I forget how many hundreds of police officers were there but they lined from the church all the way out. What a show of brotherhood. He truly was one of their own," she said.
In closing, she wanted to express her gratitude to KCKPD and the support they provide for widows like herself and Jamie Lancaster.
Hunter ended, "I couldn't say enough good about those boys in blue, especially Kansas City, Kansas."
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Dia Wall can be reached at dia.wall@kshb.com.
