Many people can point to one person who changed their life in some way. Maybe that person was a spouse or a best friend. In Jay Souliaís case, a potential client named Shannon Ireland changed his life ñ and focus ñ forever.Soulia was born in Omaha, Neb., to a military family. While his father served in the United States Air Force, Soulia and his family lived in Hawaii, California and Colorado. ìMy dad used to teach engineering at the Air Force Academy from 1970 to 1976,î he said. ìI was here when Doherty High School first opened up in 1974.î Soulia attended Doherty for a year before his family moved to San Diego, where he graduated from Mt. Carmel High School in 1978.For the next couple years, Soulia spent his time doing odd jobs and traveling the country. ìI did all kinds of things, and then I decided to get my act together,î he said. In 1981, he followed in his fatherís footsteps and joined the Air Force. He initially served at Aviano Air Base in Italy, where he had top-secret clearance in the communications field. ìWe handled a lot of highly classified material that we delivered and transmitted,î he said. Soulia assisted in the recovery process of Brig. Gen. James L. Dozier, the deputy chief of staff at†NATOís Southern European land forces headquarters kidnapped by the leftist†Italian†Red Brigades†Marxist terrorist group in December 1981.After Souliaís dad retired from the military, he worked in the public sector for a while before starting his own defense contracting company ñ Infotec Development Inc. in Colorado Springs. After four years in the Air Force, Soulia went to work for his dad. ìIt was a secret facility right here in Colorado Springs,î he said. ìHe (dad) eventually sold it and is now living the dream.îIn 1986, Soulia moved from Colorado Springs to Falcon and decided to attend Executive Security International in Aspen, Colo., with hopes of becoming a bodyguard.Early on as a bodyguard, Soulia received a phone call from a woman who wanted to hire him for her client. ìI get this call from this supposed agent out in New York City named Janet Bandy,î he said. ìShe was representing Elite Modeling and a young and upcoming star by the name of Shannon Ireland ñ the niece of Donald Trump and the half-sister of the real swimsuit model Kathy Ireland.î The agent told Soulia the teen modelís father had sent her to the Ireland Estate at The Broadmoor. With promises of a $300,000 contract, Soulia agreed to the job. When more than six months passed and Soulia hadnít received his contract, he became suspicious.Soulia contacted Betsy Acree, the squad coordinator for the Colorado Springs Spirit football team (now defunct). Ireland was the teamís head cheerleader. ìI said, ëYou know there is something fishy here,íî he said. ìI donít think Shannon Ireland is Shannon Ireland.î Acree informed him that Irelandís application listed Harrison High School on it. ìBut supposedly Shannon Ireland has never lived in Colorado Springs before,î he said. With pictures in hand, Soulia went in search of answers at Harrison High School.The staff at Harrison viewed photos of Ireland, and one teacher recognized the face in one photo as Charles James Daugherty. ìI finally found him in the 1983 yearbook, and that was the first year they (Harrison) ever had a male cheerleader on the squad,î Soulia said. He then made multiple calls to parents of students, as well as the local police, revealing Daughertyís exploitations.The more Soulia began to dig, the quicker he realized he was not the first person Daugherty had scammed. He discovered a lengthy criminal history that dated back to 1983; plus a list of at least eight known aliases, including that of Cheyen Weatherly, a name Daugherty used when he posed as a junior/cheerleader at Coronado High School. The story made national news after school officials realized Weatherly was a 26-year-old black male.Soulia continued to track Daugherty for the next several years, but his job changed from full-time bodyguard to full-time father. ìI had two small kids, got divorced and I had to stop being a bodyguard because we traveled, and assignments were a minimum 30 days.î Soulia had to find another way to make a living while raising a family.In 1994, he started his own firewood business in Falcon. ìIt started out as a hobby, really, and I was getting big piles of split firewood in my yard,î Soulia said. ìPeople would swing by and ask me how much for the firewood.î He found his new business hard work. ìWhen I first started the business I didnít know they had log splitters so I did everything by hand,î he said. ìI used to be up until 2 oíclock in the morning splitting firewood and throwing it in my driveway so I could make my deliveries the next day.î For the next 13 years, Soulia made chopping and selling firewood his main source of income; however, he said he ìalways had an interest in private investigation.îAfter completing The Private Investigators Academy of the Rockies in 2004, Soulia began his own private investigation business ñ Life Force Investigations. Soulia said he feels his involvement with Daugherty led him to his present career. ìYes,î he said. ìYea, I think he is the one that drove me to it.îSoulia has spent more than 20 years tracking Daugherty and continues to check up on him every six months or so, he said. ìIíve been keeping tabs on him and keeping all his police records and everything else because I always thought this would be a great movie,î he said. ìIt would be a great story, but you have to write the book first.îSo, Souliaís research and records on Daugherty spawned an e-book released last year. The book shares the details of Daughertyís stint as Shannon Ireland as well as his other aliases. He has hopes of turning the book into a movie. Until then, he said he will continue to keep an eye on Daugherty to see what he (or she) might come up with next.
