Saturday, June 30, 2007

Dahl's wife gives birth to baby son

Kenn Rodriguez News-Bulletin Staff Writer; krodriguez@news-bulletin.com

Los Lunas What started as a terrible week for Alia Dahl of Belen ended on an upbeat note Thursday.

The 19-year-old found out on Saturday, June 23, that her husband, Cpl. Joel Dahl of Los Lunas, had died while serving in Iraq - days before he was to come home and see his son, who Dahl was scheduled to deliver Friday, June 29.

Then early on Wednesday morning of this week, the very pregnant Dahl left her brother's house in Northwest Albuquerque to find her car had been stolen.

"I have plenty of other stuff going in my life," she said Wednesday. "I've got funereal arrangement and the baby coming - lots of stuff to work on. This wasn't one of the things I expected to be working on. It's a real shot in the gut."

But Dahl's story has a happy end. A security officer at Sandia Preparatory School in Northwest Albuquerque found the car Thursday morning, and Dahl, whose baby was overdue and who was to have labor induced Friday, found her water had broken while she was recovering the car. She immediately went to the hospital.

The 19-year-old gave birth to a son, Kaiden Anthony, at 7:32 p.m. Thursday, according to Joel Dahl's surrogate grandmother Hiltrud Ridenour.

"He's doing fine, Alia's doing fine - she's very happy," said Ridenour Friday morning. "We're all very happy. It was a healthy delivery - he's healthy. (Alia said) he looks around and is very alert. He's just a ray of sunshine in these dark days for us."

Ridenour said Alia and her mother, Joyce Driscoll, had asked for privacy Friday. The News-Bulletin did not contact them out of respect for that request.

Albuquerque and Bernalillo County law enforcement agencies had combed the county for Dahl's maroon Honda Civic all Wednesday and Thursday.

While police were searching, Sen. Pete Domenici's office and Bernalillo Sheriff Darren White stepped up efforts to help Dahl.

Domenici, who received a call from Dahl's stepfather, Joe Aragon, said he called White after learning of the theft of Alia Dahl's car.

"We contacted him to see if something could be done," said Domenici in a phone interview Thursday. "It started in a strange way. I talked to her father-in-law. While I talked to him, I said that 'if there was anything I can do, let me know.'"

White said he called Los Lunas Police and, in conjunction with them, organized volunteers from the Albuquerque Police Department and Bernalillo County Sheriff's Department, who took donations and picked up checks all day Wednesday and Thursday.

"Back in 2004, we had a similar effort when a soldier named Jeremiah Jensen was carjacked at gunpoint after coming home from Iraq," White said in a phone interview Wednesday. "We raised money to get him a new truck. When Sen. Domenici asked if we could raise money to help out Mrs. Dahl, I said 'Absolutely.'

"Mrs. Dahl has sacrificed enough. Her life's been turned upside down. The last thing she needs is to deal with something like this."

Calls to White Friday were not retuned by deadline, but White told the Albuquerque Journal that more than $18,000 had been raised within 24 hours and several car dealerships had offered free vehicles.

One dealership, Sun Ranch Motors of Los Lunas, contacted Dahl directly with the offer of a 2001 Chevy Malibu.

Charles Cook, manager of Sun Ranch Motors, said he immediately contacted his general manager about donating the car when he head the story on Wednesday.

"It's the right thing to do," he said.

While police were able to return Dahl's car to her, sentimental items like a CD of wedding music Joel Dahl had recorded for her, a set of sergeant stripes - which Joel Dahl was close to earning - as well as a baby seat and a blanket knitted for little Kaiden by Hiltrud Ridenour were not with the car. Also gone was the overnight bag Alia Dahl had prepared for her pregnancy.

"(Alia said) she was upset about that blanket being lost," Ridenour said. "But I'm making her another one. I already have the same yarn."

Ridenour said Alia and the family had run "the gamut of emotions this week."

"But this is a happy time for her and for all of us, especially since everything went so well for her," Ridenour said. "(Kaiden is) such a miracle baby. With all he and his mother had to go through before born truly, he's truly a little miracle.

"I guess Kaiden was like his dad - he wanted a lot of attention and he got it," she said.

The Los Lunas High School JROTC honored Cpl. Dahl, a former JROTC cadet at LLHS, Friday morning with a road march.

The cadets marched for two hours in honor of Dahl, who was a JROTC cadet for three years before graduating from Los Lunas High in 2001.

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