Patti Fox was not supposed to become a full-time nurse, benefits coordinator and amateur legal researcher for her own child. Yet that is where the Parker mom landed after her 22-year-old daughter, Carissa Aspnes, survived a near-fatal motorcycle crash in Aurora and was left with catastrophic brain injuries. Fox says a little-known federal victims' office helped her family navigate the aftermath, even as she juggles round-the-clock care, staggering medical costs and a push to change how authorities communicate with victims' families.
On the night of March 28, 2025, Aurora police say Aspnes was riding on a motorcycle that collided with a car that had crossed several lanes of traffic after exiting I-225 onto South Parker Road. The motorcycle then hit the median, and Aspnes was rushed into emergency surgery. Doctors described major trauma to the right hemisphere of her brain, and her family says medical bills quickly climbed into the seven figures. According to CBS Colorado, the driver fled the scene, later turned herself in and was charged with leaving the scene of an accident involving serious bodily injury.
How VOICE Stepped In
While Fox scrambled for answers about the investigation and the driver, her search eventually led her to the federal Victims of Immigration Crime Engagement office, known as VOICE. The office is designed to give crime victims and their families access to custody notifications, certain releasable case information and referrals to local services. Immigration and Customs Enforcement describes ICE's VOICE program as a single point of contact for victims seeking releasable immigration and custody information, and it lists services such as DHS-VINE notifications and referrals to victim resources. A Department of Homeland Security announcement, reprinted by the Federal Newswire, outlines the office’s relaunch last spring and reiterates that mission.
Road to Recovery
Aspnes is now in a minimally conscious state, unable to speak, fed through a tube and dependent on a wheelchair. Fox says the family has had to remap nearly every part of their lives to care for her, from housing and work schedules to transportation and therapy. In the process, Fox has become an outspoken advocate, saying the experience exposed painful gaps in how victims and their families are kept informed during both criminal and immigration proceedings.
Legal and Immigration Aftermath
Arapahoe County court dockets show a criminal case against the motorist under case number 2025CR789, according to the Colorado Judicial Branch. CBS Colorado reports that the driver, identified by police as 22-year-old Valeria Bermudez Marcano, fled the scene and later turned herself in, and that, according to ICE and local reporting cited in that piece, she pleaded guilty in January and was ordered to pay $15,000 in restitution. The outlet also reports that ICE says Marcano was removed from the United States in early March. Fox told the station she has forgiven Marcano but remains focused on her daughter’s care and on advocating for changes to victim notification practices and local sanctuary policies.
