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'I'M POWERLESS'
DAISY Coleman's tragic mom felt "ignored" by police as they investigated her daughter's death, desperate texts sent just weeks before she took her own life reveal.
Melinda Coleman, 58, shot herself in a copycat suicide at her home in Missouri on Sunday after struggling to cope with her 23-year-old daughter's death in August.
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Daisy, who appeared in the Netflix series Audrie & Daisy which focused on a number of high school rape cases, also fatally shot herself in Denver, Colorado, after dealing with a stalker and trauma from her alleged assault.
Cops from Lakewood Police Department were said to be investigating her harassment case, but texts sent by Melinda to The Sun show she felt they were 'jerking her around', leaving her feeling "powerless".
One message, sent to The Sun on October 12, reads: "The detective was busy in court all week last week. Then told me Thursday he would call me today. He only works mon-thurs 8-4.
"I sent two messages asking what time and he ignored me. I sent email to him, sergeant and pr person now.
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"It's so awful they way they treat me. It hurts enough without them jerking me around."
The Sun can reveal Melinda feared Daisy had been raped again shortly before her death and contacted a local hospital to investigate herself, as she felt the police weren't doing enough to help.
In another text, she branded the situation "very frustrating" and also confided in friends and family that she was struggling to get the answers she so desperately needed.
When contacted by The Sun, John Romero, the public information officer for the Lakewood police in Colorado, called Melinda's death "heartbreaking."
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He added: "I can’t imagine what the family is going through right now," but refused to comment further on any ongoing investigation regarding Daisy's alleged stalker.
Romero previously revealed Daisy filed a harassment report on the day she died, August 4, and, while police carried out a welfare check earlier in the day, they had deemed her not to be a risk to herself.
The Sun can reveal the family knew of the man's first name and confirmed he was a former acquaintance of Daisy's, but it is not known whether police ever questioned him.
He was said to have gained access to her apartment building and tormented her from outside her door, while also bombarding her with messages on a number of apps after she blocked his number.
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A source said: "There was a lot going which Daisy never fully spoke about and Melinda was trying to piece everything together in her final days, she didn't feel fully supported.
"Melinda had been let down by the police so many times in the past and she just had no faith left in them so she began doing her own detective work.
"She was desperate for answers but ended up being faced with more questions and really didn't know who to trust when it came to those who Daisy surrounded herself with in Denver."
In another text message obtained by The Sun, Melinda described some of those causing upset as "vultures picking at her bones," after revealing Daisy's tattooing equipment and sketchbooks were also stolen from the shop she worked at shortly after her death.
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Melinda, who also lost her husband Michael and son Tristan in two separate car accidents some years ago, shared old posts from Daisy's account before her own suicide as she was overwhelmed by grief.
"There aren’t enough I love yous I could have said when I was holding your cold, broken, dead body," her last public Facebook post read on Sunday.
"I held you like a baby anyway, my baby.
"The baby I held when you first came into this world.
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"It has always been my greatest honor and joy to be your mother and best friend. Mama bear!"
Before her own death, Melinda told The Sun her daughter's suicide was a result of a "perfect storm" as she was dealing with the stalker and doctors had recently told her she couldn't have children, likely as a result of her earlier sexual assault.
The family faced a fierce backlash after she alleged that she was raped aged 14 by high school football player Matthew Barnett in her hometown of Albany in Missouri.
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Barnett claimed that the sex was consensual and he was not ultimately charged with sexual assault.
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However, he did plead guilty to endangering the welfare of a child after he supplied Daisy with booze and left her in "sub-freezing" temperatures outside her house on the night of the alleged assault.
An additional charge against another boy who allegedly filmed a sexual encounter between Daisy and Barnett was also later dropped.