Swingin’ D Horse Rescue was named after Danny Elliott, a lieutenant investigator with the Wagoner County Sheriff’s Office. Danny tried for years to talk his wife, Tami Marler, into moving to the country in Wagoner County. He commuted more than an hour-and-a-half round-trip between Tulsa and Wagoner County, every day for years. Because Tami worked and cared for her parents in Tulsa, she resisted the move.
Danny is the “D” in Swingin’ D (so get your mind out of the gutter!)
Danny’s perseverance finally paid off one summer day in 2015, when he drove Tami to look at a gorgeous 11-acre piece of property that would one day be the Swingin’ D. Even after they purchased the ranch, it took a while for Danny to talk Tami into actually moving there and giving up her Tulsa home (two blocks from her parents), but they had a place in Wagoner where he could crash and avoid the long commute. That’s how the ranch came to be known as “The D.” It was mostly Danny’s hangout until he finally talked Tami into taking the leap. He was “swingin’ at the D” if he spent the night there after a long day at work. So, get your mind out of the gutter!
Danny’s Second Dream Job
After working in mortgage banking for several years, Danny made a major life change. Tired of the workaday world and in the midst of the mortgage collapse, he decided to live his second lifelong dream of being a police officer (we’ll talk about the first lifelong dream in a second).
Danny and Tami sacrificed a lot when he left mortgage banking for 19 weeks of law enforcement training and his first job as a school resource officer. After several years in public schools, he took an undercover position with Wagoner County. For months, he hung out in Wagoner County’s finest establishments pretending to drink and drug. (It’s pretty bad when the place is such a dive, they don’t even notice when you pour bottles of beer on the carpets.) Who knew there was a strip club in rural Wagoner County?
Months of Danny posing as a grubby, drug-seeking street rat paid off – landing a dozen drug dealers behind bars.
When the sheriff pulled Danny off the mean streets, he assigned him to one of Wagoner County’s most baffling cold cases – the murder of Broken Arrow High School graduate, Jarret Clark. Danny immersed himself in the case file. He found witnesses that had never been interviewed and discovered evidence that had never been examined. In the ID Channel’s Swamp Murders, Danny describes the investigation that led to three convictions. Other investigators with decades of experience took their shot at solving the case, but it took Danny’s unique perspective and experience to finally bring the killers to justice.
Since that first murder case, Danny has solved multiple murders and other major crimes. He would never accept credit for himself, but it’s clear he has a gift for law enforcement. He definitely made the right call when he decided to chase a lifelong dream.
Danny’s First Dream Job
Soon after Danny and Tami met for the first time at a bank where they both worked in the ’80s, Danny lived his first dream. A gifted singer and songwriter, Danny was the lead singer in a popular Christian rock band. Mullet and all, he built quite a following singing in churches and venues across the country. Tens of thousands of fans still listen to his music through the magic of YouTube!
So now you know. Get your minds out of the gutter! Tami named Swingin’ D after the love of her life – Danny Elliott. After all, Danny’s dream of country living made this mission possible!
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