Trump Administration "Loses" Almost 1500 Children

How does one "lose" a child? The federal government, under Donald Trump, has separated many, many families detained by ICE, but their current tactic is to send the parents home without their children. No kidding. At this point, there are over 1400 children of whom the United States has "lost track", and Jeff Sessions is claiming that the United States is not responsible. That simply isn't so. Whoever has custody of a child is responsible for the child's whereabouts. Just ask the stepmother of Lucas Hernandez, Emily Glass.

Is Donald Trump selling children of immigrants in order to support his family's shopping habits?

Summer And Rusty Page Do Not Get To Take Hostages

Summer and Rusty Page, of California, served as foster parents several years ago to a little girl named Alexandria, whose dad is a member of the Choctaw Nation. He has some relatives in Utah, who are not members of any tribe, but love Alexandria. For years, these relatives have been in court, suing for custody, only to be challenged by Summer and Rusty Page. The Choctaw Nation finally stepped in, and insisted that Indian Child Welfare Act be followed, which meant that Summer and Rusty could not steal a child from a Native American parent.

Instead of wishing Alexandria well and graciously bidding adieu, Summer and Rusty have made quite a scene, with the obvious intent to upset Alexandria as much as possible. Alexandria's attorney requested privacy for Alexandria, but they responded by putting up a Facebook page about this whole matter. They are also conducting "prayer" vigils, quite loudly, in order to attract attention. They really do not seem to understand that as foster parents, their contributions are temporary. Reunification of a family is always best, and for at least three years, they have stood in "God's" way, blocking Alexandria's path to home and family. Many people are also wailing about the Indian Child Welfare Act, demanding repeal! This time, it really isn't as much about bloodline as it is about family support. Alexandria's dad is a member of a family unit who supports him. In the eyes of the law, family is the best place for a child. End of story. After all those noisy public prayers, can't Summer and Rusty Page see that God answered all those crazy-assed petitions to the heavens, giving them the answer he obviously saw fit? Or would they rather pander for contributions in an ongoing to attempt to fanagle another answer from the "Almighty"?

In other news, a foster parent in New York was recently arrested for sex crimes against seven of his foster children.

What Do They Know, Terri Horman?

Now that Kaine and Terri Horman are finally divorced, and more testimony concerning Rudy Sanchez, who cut the grass and did assorted landscaping tasks at the Horman's house, has been aired to the public, I am beginning to see some twisted logic to the speculation that Terri may have benefitted from the death of her husband, prior to the divorce.

Terri Horman's attorneys really want to question this landscaper and find out everything he knows, which is obvious code for "find out everything he told law enforcement after Kyron went missing". During the weeks immediately following the disappearance of Kaine Horman's seven year old son, Kyron, from his school in Portland Oregon in June of 2010, Rudy Sanchez shared with police a story of Terri Horman and her attempts to hire him to kill Kaine! This seemed rather fanciful, to say the least. I wondered if Terri had merely gotten annoyed with Kaine and carelessly wished him dead, out loud, with no regard for who might be within earshot. I also wondered if Rudy wanted his proverbial fifteen minutes of fame. I really couldn't see a motive, anywhere, for Terri to want to kill her husband. Why not just get a divorce, like most people do when irrevocably disenchanted with a spouse?

Recently, amid all the flotsam and jetsam making up the large number of published and shared pages of the Hormans' divorce order, something caught my eye in one of the responses filed by Kaine's attorney in answer to why his concerns about Sanchez's testimony is so important, both to Kaine, personally, and to his continued sole custody of their four year old daughter. In Oregon, the law favors keeping siblings together after a divorce, and Kyron is Terri's stepson. Kaine fathered Kyron with his first wife, Desiree. Terri has no custodial claim to Kyron. She does have a custodial claim to her daughter, but as her daughter is Kyron's sister, she stood a rather good chance of losing primary custody to Kaine, because of the clause in Oregon law favoring siblings remaining together. So it stands to reason that if Terri became a widow, Kyron would live with Desiree, and Terri would get to keep her daughter. Terri also pressured Desiree to sue for custody of Kyron, an arrangement that might have successfully canceled out the endeavor of keeping Kyron and his sister together; but nothing came of it.

What's an angry spouse to do? According to Sanchez, Terri met him at a restaurant, with her infant daughter in tow, and unsuccessfully solicited murder! As the story is told by Sanchez, this conversation took place some six months or so before June 4, when Kyron disappeared. It's a shame Sanchez failed to come forward at the time; so many things could have played out differently. As it happens, Sanchez was uninterested in Terri's proposition, and Terri was left to return to the drawing board. Was there some alternative plan in place, that Terri thought would eliminate the need for family court in Oregon to keep Kyron and his sister together in the event of his father's divorce? Now there actually appears to be a motive, as warped and twisted as it presents itself.

Now, almost four years later, Terri Horman and her band of merry lawyers want to know exactly what Rudy Sanchez told law enforcement, and want to question him during upcoming custody hearing, scheduled on February 10. This information is not terribly important to Kaine and Terri's daughter, as she has been without contact with her mother since June of 2010. Any visitation awarded to Terri will be guided by expert advice concerning this long absence, and whether Terri's counsel gains access to exact quotes from Rudy Sanchez to law enforcement or not, the court will probably err on the side of caution in terms of visitation, especially at first. Sanchez's answers about what he said in June of 2010 will be almost irrelevant. The only purpose to be served here is to give Terri's curiously involved defense attorney (she has, after all, NOT been charged with a crime) a better idea of the origins of allegations made when Kyron disappeared. It is all a thinly veiled attempt to gather information.

Here's an idea that Terri and her attorneys have not considered, if they want to know what the police know: Terri Horman could actually go back to Portland and sit down with the Multnomah County Sheriff's Office and offer to help find Kyron. She could cooperate with them, and tell investigators everything she knows about what happened the day Kyron disappeared. She might even try telling the truth in complete enough fashion to pass a polygraph. Then, information known about the criminal investigation might, by design or by default, become known to Terri and her band of merry lawyers!

Terri Horman's New Welcome Sign

Terri Horman is finally divorced. Rather than mediate an agreement with her ex-husband, Kaine Horman, for shared custody or visitation of their five year old daughter, she avoided court as much as possible over the past three and a half years during which they have been separated, and refused to testify or explain her failed polygraphs in the ongoing missing persons case of her former stepson, Kyron Horman. Kyron disappeared from his school in Portland, Oregon, in 2010, when he was seven, and Terri is the last person reported to have seen him. Rather than assist in the effort to find Kyron, Terri and her parents, Carol and Larry Moulton, who live in Roseburg, Oregon, have opted to stay as far away from any helpful actions as possible.

Now that the divorce is finally final....sort of......custody and visitation still need to be worked out, there is one completely unusual feature in all of this: in addition to never actively seeking out the company of most other people, Terri Horman has never actively sought out the company of her daughter since she and Kaine split. While she failed two polygraphs and her versions (note the plural) of events changed at least half a dozen times concerning the day Kyron disappeared, she has not been charged with any crime; therefore, the restraining order Kaine took out against her should have simply expired, and not been renewed. In almost every domestic violence case involving a restraining or a protective order, (95% of domestic violence victims are women) the victim will be required to fight vigorously for the order, which, if granted, will last for a month or so, during which she will be required to exchange custody of her children with the respondent despite the order. After that, the order will finally expire, if the respondent does not re-offend. Why didn't matters proceed this way in the Horman case? Terri certainly has had the right, from the beginning, to fight the restrictions on seeing her daughter, even if Kaine did not want to see Terri. In a worst case scenario, a court appointed neutral party could have been appointed to assist in the custody exchanges or visitations. Most attorneys recommend this to respondents in Terri Horman's position; why didn't Terri's attorney insist upon it? What could be so terribly all-encompassing to Terri that she would forgo contact with her own daughter? And why would Terri decline any custodial time with her daughter during the child's formative years? Is her daughter no longer welcome in her life?

Speaking of "welcome", Terri Horman and her parents have erected a new sign at their home. During the month of November, Kyron's mother held a vigil in Roseburg, only to find that Terri's mother called the police, because she did not want anyone gathering near or in front of her home carrying signs bearing Kyron's picture. There was no wrongdoing in being close to the Moultons' home, and no one was sanctioned, but there is now a "No Trespassing" sign in front of the house. How incredibly welcoming. It is obviously directed to anyone involved in Kyron's missing persons case; one of his natural parents was the target. But to whom else is it directed? Anyone involved in the effort to find Kyron? Kyron's other parent? If so, how could visitation possibly take place? Extended visits, should Terri ever fight for them and get them, generally take place at the noncustodial parent's residence. Can Kaine even take her there without being accused of trespassing? As Kyron's father, the words, "Terri, where's Kyron?" are more than likely to leave his lips every time he sees her, until she clears up those failed polygraphs and multiple conflicting stories.

Suppose Terri's daughter, herself, wants to know what happened to Kyron? She is, after all, Kyron's sister. The Moultons seem to think that she will never wonder about Kyron. As an only child, Terri apparently doesn't understand the love siblings have for one another. It only makes sense that Kyron's sister will ask about him, one day; and try to find him. Does the "No Trespassing" sign apply to her presence, as well?

Should Foster Parents Handcuff Foster Children?

Perhaps a better question would be: should foster parents handcuff foster children to front porches with dead chickens around their necks? Or should a foster parent who is employed as a registered nurse in a local emergency room handcuff his foster child to a porch with a dead chicken around his neck? Maybe we should all want to know this; should a foster parent who, not only is employed as a social worker, but the supervisor of the social worker fiefdom in her county, as in the "Grand Poobah" of socialworkerdom and Child Protective Services in Union County, South Carolina, handcuff her foster child to a porch with a dead chicken around his neck?

Here's another question, and this one's been asked in Kansas before. There's a foster parent named Noble Rick Pendland who is out on bond in Kansas, awaiting trial for molesting quite a few of the children of whom he had custody over the years. The childrens' natural parents begged Kansas courts to allow the children to come home, or live elsewhere, but Kansas only told the parents who did not want their children raped that they were bad parents for not wanting their children to cohabit with Pendland, and that if they did anything to stop Pendland from sexually exploiting their children, they would be arrested, go to jail, and that their parental rights would be terminated. So should a natural parent be allowed to tell the court not to grant a foster parent permission to have intercourse with a foster child, and should a natural parent be allowed to tell the court that his child should not have to wear handcuffs and dead animals while in foster care?

Your call, folks. Start getting involved with your community and government at your earliest convenience.

 

Christians And Human Trafficking In Kansas

Recently, an official for Child Protective Services in the Wichita, Kansas area, by the name of Diane Bidwell, resigned. She resigned the day an investigation was completed concerning her relationship with a Christian organization called Faithbuilders, which buys and sells white children who have had the misfortune of being snatched from their natural parents. It astounds this blogger to no end that a religious organization is even eligible to serve in this function: they recruit, secure foster placements. There does not appear to be any concern for the child whose parents and extended family are not Christian. In fact, the extended family does not appear to matter to Faithbuilders. The biggest reason for the DCF review is summed up here, by KAKE; "The internal DCF review started after complaints alleging that FaithBuilders -- which provides respite and foster care as well as mentoring for parents facing crises -- had encouraged some parents to place their children into temporary foster care and then sign away their parental rights so the children could be adopted."

Well, well, well. This sounds a little like a case that took place in Haiti, involving an Idaho Christian named Laura Silsby. She thought, since an earthquake in February of 2010 displaced a large number of people, that no one would miss a few children, if she snatched them and brought them, illegally, to the United States. Despite the fact that this is human trafficking, other lovely Christians accompanied her, some of whom were, ironically, from Kansas.

Kansas is filled with German Christian families who, historically had as many children as they could to use as farm hands. If a child disappeared, it was no big deal to the German Christian parents.  If a parent's child gets snatched  by Child Protective Services, they seriously do not understand why it is so important  to the parent to get the child back. Kansas honestly feels that it is okay to grab a child every now and then, terminate a parent's rights, refuse to contact any noncustodial parents or other relatives, and just allow another family to adopt the child, after paying certain fees, of course. This helps Kansas during a sluggish economy. Laura McNish, prosecutor of Marshall County, Kansas, even takes children away from parents who will not agree to testify in ways that serve the interests of the prosecution in unrelated cases. She thinks nothing of it; Marshall County can make money that way. That's how she buys untruthful testimony from witnesses; she threatens children. A recent victim of this game actually lost her virginity while in the care of a teacher from Frankfort High School.

So the results of this investigation will now be kept confidential. We, the people, are not supposed to care too much about what the good Christians of Faithbuilders are doing with OTHER PEOPLES' children. And Diana Bidwell decided to resign, at the very minute the review was completed. Coincidence? "DCF spokeswoman Theresa Freed said in an e-mail that DCF Secretary Phyllis Gilmore decided the results of the review would be "kept confidential because of concerns regarding children in her care and personnel matters." Exactly when did Phyllis Gilmore start to care about the rights of the children in her care? There is no question that she cares about "personel matters", as she covers for people in her employ rather frequently when they err, but concerns regarding the children in her care? Why not just remove all the names of children from the report, and hand it over to the people?
Gilmore has also decided she needs more information.

Lucky for Gilmore, this blog has her covered. In 1996, Washington, D.C. had some problems with it's Child Protective Services agency. Not only were the findings of all the investigations turned over to the lawyers of the children in custody, the whole mess was covered by the Washington Post, and several other newpapers. Here's some more information for Gilmore, should this not be enough: LaShawn A. v. Williams mandated that Child Protective Services in Washington D.C. be placed in receivership from 1996 until around 2001 or 2002. As a by-product of the court ruling, the information, minus the names of the children involved, became public information. This should help Gilmore with her need for "more information."

Of course, federal authorities, along with the Freedom Of Information Act, can also prove very helpful to Phyllis Gilmore, in her desperate need for information. It works like this: the congressmen and senators who desire the results of the above named investigation, in order to protect the children of Kansas, file suit for said information via the Freedom Of Information Act, citing the most recent update of the law. The court then orders the investigation made public, minus the names of any minors involved, and....viola! National and local newspapers print a big story about the whole thing, and Phyllis Gilmore has all the information she needs!
 

Enroll A Child In School With No birth Certificate

Want to know where you can still enroll a child in school with no birth certificate, despite federal law, requiring that a school see a valid birth certificate prior to enrollment? Frankfort, in Frankfort Kansas will do this for you! Actually, you do not necessarily even need to prove that you have legal custody of a child, or that you are, indeed, one of the child's parents in order to enroll! Dean Dalinghaus, the principal at Frankfort, is so bent on harvesting all the dollars he can harvest for enrolling as many children as possible, while providing as little classroom instruction as possible, that he will enroll anyone under four feet tall! He will probably enroll dogs, cats, and parakeets if he can find inactive social security numbers or other identities for them!

I wonder which class Frankfort found for this new student.

Nebraska Amber Alert

A one year old girl named Mystery Bringsplenty has been kidnapped by her aunt, Aimy Dixon, and her aunt's boyfriend, Jesse Morrison, in Chadron, Nebraska. Mystery is Native American, as are her aunt and uncle. They told law enforcement in Nebraska that the Oglala Sioux Tribe had granted them custody of Mystery, but Nebraska law enforcement could find no basis for this, and could not verify this, so they told Dixon and Morrison to file for custody the normal way, in court. Instead of doing that, Dixon sent her ten year old son into Mystery's parents' home through a window to unlock the door and let her and Morrison inside, at which time, they took Mystery from her parents by force. All this just happened this morning. They are said to be headed to the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, in a vehicle described as a 2002 Pontiac Bonneville, bronze, with Nebraska tags: 69E787.

Jesse Morrison and Aimy Dixon

Update: Mystery has been found safe.

 

 

Kansas Cop Forces Mother To Abandon Children

While taking care of some business at the local courthouse here in beautiful Northeast Kansas, an officer came barreling through the hallway, making everyone clear space for him to march a young woman, whom he had just arrested, down the hall. He sat her down, momentarily, on a bench. Then she recognized me, having met me in the past, (this is a small community, and her children are close in age to my children) and called out my name. She explained to me that the police had taken her into custody and had left her children, ages five and seven, by themselves! She wanted me to call her mother on my cell phone and ask her to go watch them...that was all. As I began to oblige, the officer grabbed my arm and snatched my cell phone away from me. While I continued to grasp the cell phone, he hollered, "If you help her, I will arrest you, too!" He stopped me from dialing, but found himself not technically savvy enough to remove the phone number, and he further screamed, "End it!", letting go of both yours truly and the cell phone.

My husband explained to me that earlier in the day, there had been a big drug bust in the area, and quite a few people had been arrested for violating prohibition laws. He was also of the opinion that the officer had put the woman in this position deliberately, so as to force her to choose, when deciding who to call, between her mother and her lawyer. Furthermore, if social services had been sent to her home, and taken the children, the mother could also be charged with child neglect and abandonment, even though the police had taken her into custody. And asking me to call her mother to take care of the children had somehow become criminalized behavior.

What the hell is the matter with everyone in Northeast Kansas? Times were, during my misspent youth, my big mouth and my boozy breath were factors that almost got me arrested, more than once. Now that I am "old"......as per my childrens' descriptions.....and a little more conservative, no one looks at me and thinks "outlaw", these days. But I'm gonna get arrested for calling someone's mother to go babysit her children? Kansas law enforcement, have you lost your minds? Or is this another way you feed the human trafficking market you call a foster care system?
 

About Joaquin Rams; Maybe The Doctor Will Think Twice Next Time

Hera Mcleod, the mother of Prince Mcleod Rams, the toddler who died during his first unsupervised visit to his father, is now suing Dr. Margaret Wang, of Virginia, for twenty million dollars. This does not surprise me, and I think it is good that "Dr." Wang is being called to account for her part in this little boy's death. The Maryland judge in this case, while rude, unprofessional, and completely disinterested in Prince's best interest, did order Joaquin Rams, Prince's father, to present the court with the opinion of a professional mental health expert prior to his custody order. And Rams proceeded to the office of Margaret Wang, Phd., and paid for her services on his own. This is probably where one of the misunderstandings about Rams's mental fitness for unsupervised visitation began; Rams hired Wang and paid her fee; she was therefore biased in Rams's favor. It is a shame that Rams had not simply been sent to a generic court psychologist (Montgomery County Maryland DOES have them) who would not have been inclined toward a bias, but Rams was given the opportunity to pay someone to write a recommendation for him, and Wang did exactly that. She was unconcerned about Rams's history of domestic violence, not worried about the multiple insurance policies he bought on his son, (not FOR his son, ON his son) and obviously determined not to let such trivial matters as two murder investigations deter her creative muse.

No one in court was the slightest bit supportive of Hera Mcleod when she tried to protect her son. Judge Michael Algeo told Ms. Mcleod she was in the wrong to try to protect her son, and refused to look at Mr. Rams's criminal record and the murder investigations. Mcleod presented the facts....it is all in the transcripts. Dr. Wang minimized the problems of domestic violence and sexual violence. She helped to convince Judge Algeo that the concerns of Prince's mother were baseless. Was she expecting some sort of payout from one of the insurance policies? Only the shadow knows.......the idea that a psychologist is willing to recommend a man who wielded a handgun at someone during a domestic violence incident should be unthinkable. But she did it. And shortly thereafter, Prince was pronounced dead because of an excess of water in his lungs. The person Margaret Wang recommended for unsupervised visitation is now in jail with no bond. I think it is very, very good that Hera Mcleod is suing her, even if the whole matter moves very slowly through court for years to come, as these things often do; just to draw public attention to the dangerous practices of this psychologist before another life is needlessly lost.

What should Hera Mcleod have done? I know what I would have done. I went through similar experiences in divorce court. I got divorced in Jefferson County, West Virginia. The judge there had a grudge against any woman who separated from her husband because of domestic violence, and when she heard that I had testified against my husband in court, and that he had been found guilty of domestic violence, she reduced my child support to fifty dollars a month, for three children. She also ordered me to drive my children from Harpers Ferry, West Virginia to Frederick, Maryland during a blizzard. This was in February of 2003. Later on, during a court hearing, my husband's lawyer told the judge he had no idea why I had not taken the children to Frederick, as ordered. When I told the judge that the governors of Maryland and West Virginia had both declared a state of emergency because of the storm, and that police in both states were giving one thousand dollar traffic tickets to anyone who drove in that storm, (do you think my fifty dollars a month in child support would have covered such a fine?) she pretended that she did not know about the blizzard and threatened to hold me in contempt of court. When I told her about the fifty-eight people who had died of carbon monoxide poisoning (see above link) as a result of sitting in their cars in traffic during that storm, she told me that carbon monoxide is not dangerous. At that point, I realized that reasoning with this judge was a waste of time, and I waited for the hearing to end. It ended with the judge reminding me not to go to the police in West Virginia or anywhere should I incur further violence through my husband, and also not to report any maltreatment of the children. Such complaints would be interpreted as custodial interference and treated accordingly. My spouse finally became my former spouse, and also finally ceased any attempts to contact the children or yours truly. Except once: I moved away from the area when I married again, and my former spouse took me to court to contest this move. I was forced to reschedule a blood transfusion for the hearing! Subsequent hearings came and went with no attendance from my former spouse, and he went on to cause three more head-on collisions in Maryland and Virginia traffic and garner at least two more DWI's before his death in 2010. Oh; the judge also told me that my former spouse did NOT have a problem with alcohol. Did not. Worrying about my childrens' safety while riding as passengers as he drove was completely unreasonable of me......where's the eye-rolley when I need it? But Hera Mcleod was young, and had not lost her faith in the judicial system. No mother should be faced with the choice of becoming a "criminal" by defying court orders and getting jailed for contempt of court because she loves her children. Judge Algeo did not leave her any other choice.

This is a picture taken in Frederick, Maryland, in 2003, during the blizzard in which I was ordered by a family law court judge to drive with my children.

Hugh Cranford Goes To Jail

This from one of my gentle commenters: "Hugh is in custody in Topeka. From Shawnee County Court website. 10/03/2012 - Warrant returned, personal service - as to HUGH CRANFORD 10/02/12 . 10/03/2012 - FIRST APPEARANCE: Defendant present and in custody. Arrested on warrant. Bond set at $250,000 PS/CA. Next court date: CAD on 10/11/12 at 2:00 pm in Div 11. SRE First Appearance Form filed. SRE 10/03/2012 - Bond set at $250,000.00/PS

The article in the Topeka Capital Journal does not say how or where he was arrested. Here's a picture of him, without the creepy-looking beard:

 

Forty-three Missing Children In Kansas

Changing Kansas just posted about something that should have everyone who cares about children, especially in the state of Kansas, screaming for clarification. According to the District Attorney's office in Sedgewick County, 370 "children in need of care" have been removed from their parents' custody from July of 2011 to March of 2012; yet, the state of Kansas is claiming that the number is 327. That is a discrepancy of 43 children. Who are these children? What are their names? Is this a typo, or have they been accounted for? Are they missing? Where did they go? I think it's important that we find out immediately. Kansas?

I Wonder If Jeremy Irwin Is Getting Nervous Part Two

A couple of days ago, I posted about the Missouri case of Jeremy Irwin, father of one year old Lisa Irwin, who was reported missing early on October 4. He and Rasleen Raim, the mother of his oldest child, are in a custody battle now, because Rasleen Raim is nervous about the alleged kidnapping, and the ramifications to the safety of her child. I don't blame her at all, but the attorneys for Debbie Bradley and Jeremy Irwin still think a mom should feel secure about her child being in Debbie Bradley's care. Shortly after Ms. Raim filed suit, a Washington judge gave Solomon Metalwala, the father of two year old, missing, Sky Metalwala, custody of Sky's older sister Maile. Now, a Florida judge has reversed a custody decision in the case of Michelle Parker, missing since last month, and Dale Smith's three year old twins. This apparently happened yesterday, after lots of public outcry about Dale Smith, Michelle's fiance and the primary suspect in her diappearance, initially got custody. It is not clear if this happened because of a bad act on the part of the father, more findings about his care of the children, or if evidence concerning the disappearance of the childrens' mom was discovered in his home, but it seems that suspects and defacto suspects in mysterious disappearances of other people are not always seen to make good primary custodians of children. Need I even mention Terri Horman? She does not have custody of any of her children right now, either.

What's likely to happen if custody to Jeremy Irwin's oldest child transfers to the mom? Well....let's see; Debbie Bradley will no longer be able to collect food stamps, using this child as one more member of the household. She no longer has little Lisa, and losing another child would leave her ineligable, which, in turn, means that she would have to get a job. What else would happen...one less deduction at tax time for Mr. Jeremy! ( I hope those unpaid taxes from a couple of years ago are paid, now, Jeremy!) Also, since Jeremy probably makes more money than his son's mother, he will probably have to pay child support. That would certainly be a bummer for Debbie and Jeremy.

What else might happen? A little boy might become reaquainted with his mom. A mom who may very well have been threatened or initmidated by a drunk and criminally inclined Debbie Bradley. He also may finally have a chance to learn about his mother's culture, and who he is. I doubt that Jeremy has gone to any great lengths to explain life outside of his own narrow sphere to any of his children. Also, it is an opportunity for this child to learn another language or two.

Something else might happen, too. It's a something that probably bothers the heck out of John Picerno and Joe Tacobella. It goes straight to the core of why I think Debbie and Jeremy MIGHT (!!) be hiding a few things from law enforcement. Not only have they given several different accounts of what happened on October 4 and admitted that Debbie drinks too much; Debbie and Jeremy have worked incredibly hard to block testimony from both of Lisa's older half brothers. But if they did not live with Debbie or Jeremy, who would stop them from giving statements to the police or testifying? Tacobella has no control over family court in Missouri, and Picerno is a criminal attorney, not a family law specialist.

Taco and Pico can spread as many lies as they wish about the situation. Just as surely as eleven minus eight equals three, both of those little boys will grow up one day. And there is no statute of limitations on murder.

I Wonder If Jeremy Irwin Is Nervous Yet

Solomon Metalwala, the father of two year old Sky Metalwala, missing from Washington since early last month, just won a round in court with his estranged wife, Julia Biryukova, about custody of their daughter, Maile. This is largely because Sky disappeared, allegedly from her car, on her watch. Even if Sky is found alive today, I do not think Julia will ever have primary custody of Sky or his sister again. Not even if she wakes up one morning with a different personality and decides to cooperate with law enforcement and help find Sky.

This reminds me a little of the drama in Kansas City, Missouri, surrounding the disappearance of one year old Lisa Irwin. She was reported missing on October 4, allegedly stolen from her crib. The dog didn't bark, the two other children didn't notice, and Lisa apparently did not become upset and start to cry, (yeah....right!) leaving the admittedly drunken mom undisturbed at the time of the alleged kidnapping. The thing about those two other children is that they both are Lisa's half brothers, meaning that they each have another parent somewhere outside of the situation. And now, the natural mother of Jeremy's son wants custody. I would want custody, too, if I were her; I hope she gets it. Here's the thing.......Debbie Bradley (the drunken mom who lost Lisa in the the first place) and Jeremy Irwin apparently have begun to craft a campaign to subvert all of the negative publicity, both in the media and word of mouth, that their case has garnered, due to their attitudes and lack of cooperation with law enforcement. Their legal representation has even reached for the throat of Rasleen Raim, the mother of Jeremy's son, as she seeks to remove her child from Debbie Bradley's custody. It seems to me that allowing this child to live with his mom would give Jeremy more free time to concentrate on looking for Lisa; he should really welcome her offer. His situation has changed, and it will never be the same again, not even if Lisa is found today.

This also sheds some light on something else Debbie and Jeremy have recently expressed, specifically that they want the vigils that take place near their house for Lisa to stop. Custody issues may be the true reason that Debbie and Jeremy want the vigils for Lisa to stop. Vigils, along with media and public attention in a missing child case keep everyone aware that the child is missing, but it also adds a bit of chaos to the atmosphere. I really think that Debbie and Jeremy know that as long as their daughter is missing, all of the chaos coming from all aspects of the case could be seen as unhealthy by a family law court judge and help Rasleen win her case to modify custody of her son. Also, if Lisa is found to have been the victim of foul play, the nature of the vigils could easily change, and rightfully so. Anyone remember Casey Anthony, and public reaction at her parents' home? I do not think Debbie and Jeremy's neighbors will like a situation like that any more than the Anthonys' neighbors did. Also......it is much harder to carry on any criminal activity while getting lots of attention from an always present, very interested, local public; and that probably comprises at least a small part of Debbie's problem with vigils.

I wonder if Debbie and Jeremy are paying attention to Sky Metalwala's case? The custody ruling in the Metalwala case does not set any legal precedents, but it does contain the key elements of estranged spouses and missing children. This is a sad day for families, when kidnapped siblings must be a consideration in family law court.

Debbie Bradley May Get More Grownup Time

It looks like one of Lisa Irwin's older brothers may have a chance to live with his real mom, Rasleen Raim. This looks like a win-win situation for everyone involved, except, possibly for Lisa. Of course, the only way for Lisa to win here would involve her parents cooperating with law enforcement; and since they have shown nothing but contempt for every attempt to locate Lisa, I don't think Debbie and Jeremy's cooperation will be forthcoming. Here's the thing.....I don't know why John Picerno, Debbie and Jeremy's Missouri criminal defense attorney, is adverse to Lisa's older brother moving out of the Bradley drunkathon. The child would be able to live with away from the media circus surrounding his family's life, and would have an opportunity to become reaquainted with his mom, (if I were a gambler, I would BET there is more to THAT story than we have heard......and I would BET that it involved intimidation on Jeremy's part....but that's just my opinion at the moment) and Debbie would have more "grownup time". Of course, this may be a misnomer, because in my world, "grownup time" usually follows the event of growing up, rather than preceding it, but Debbie and Jeremy do lots of things differently than many of the rest of us would.

John Picerno makes statements to the effect that Rasleen Raim has not seen her child since 2008, then says that it has been six years since 2008, (by my count, it has been three years and some months since 2008) and he completely ignores that many, many absentee FATHERS regain custody or visitation every day after not seeing their children for even longer intervals. It's nothing new, and certainly nothing over which to demonize Rasleen Raim. I honestly believe Raim will at least get visitation. I hope she does not allow Picerno or Tacobella to intimidate her.

One of the ways this could actually help Lisa's whereabouts become known will be if Debbie Bradley is excluded from any court proceedings involving Jeremy Irwin, Rasleen Raim, and their child. Debbie Bradley, after all, is not Irwin's wife, she is merely someone with whom he cohabits, and this should not grant her any custodial rights. If Jeremy must enter a court room all by himself, and speak about his home life, and what he and his girlfriend have to offer a child, after losing a child and admittedly being too drunk to remember what happened at the time, more details might emerge. Details that might never emerge in Debbie Bradley's presence.

Of course, Jeremy will probably have to pay child support. He will have one less deduction at tax time. And, one less child in the Irwin household will probably reduce Debbie's foodstamps and other benefits enough to drive her into the workforce. If Rasleen Raim wins this case, it's win-win.

Lisa Irwin's Family Moves Back, Brother Blake Might Move Out

The mother of Jeremy Irwin's son, Blake, has filed for custody of her son. Hopefully, she will win, and this will get him away from media circus that seems to be following his dad and his dad's girlfriend, Debbie Bradley, ever since their daughter, Lisa, went missing on October 3. This is probably the best way to bring some peace and stability back into this little boy's life, and hopefully remove the influence of Daddio shacking up with a drunken, uneducated woman who is still married to someone else. Seriously.......if any of my children were court ordered to live in a situation such as that, I would have been fighting it, tooth and nail, a long time ago. Also, if this child witnessed anything on the night of October third that could help law enforcement find his sister, testifying might be a lot easier if he lives with his mom, and does not have to live in the situation from which his sister disappeared.

Of course, Debbie and Jeremy's lawyer, Joe Tacopina (or was that Tacobella?) has put a truly crazy spin on this. First of all, he wants us to know that Blake's mom has not seen him in six years. But.....she lost custody of him in 2008. I went over this several times, and no matter how many times I count it up, it adds up to three years, or possibly three years and some months, not six! The next part of the spin is even weirder; Tacobella thinks that child support and custody are the SAME issue! Well.....he says he thinks that. He prolly doesn't really think that, though. He says that Blake's mom can't have Blake because she she owes child support? Guess what, Taco.......A child is not an item in a store, on layaway, that one can only take home after paying the purchase price! Child support, and custody and vistation, are two completely separate things. Whatever happened to the child's best interest?

I sincerely hope Missouri does not force this little boy to stay in a home that was obviously not safe for his little sister. It looks to me like the worst that can happen here is that Debbie Bradley will be down one person in her home when she applies for food stamps and other benefits, and Jeremy will have one less deduction when he does his taxes next year.

Another Monday, Another Cold Case For Terri Horman

It's Monday again, the day that I like to tell Terri Horman, step parent and defacto suspect (her lawyer's words, not mine) in the disappearance of Kyron Horman, who went missing from his school in Portland, Oregon, after a science fair on June 4, 2010, about a cold case from American history that got solved, to everyone's surprise. This one is about someone snatched her own child, in defiance of a court order, and interferred with her son's dad's visitation. Her name is Shannon Wilfong, and she and her mother, Diana Dobbs, actually got away with hiding a child in their Illinois home, only letting him go outside at night, keeping him away from all of his peers and friends, and giving him a crawl space in the wall as a bedroom, for two years!

Shannon and Diana were both charged with custodial interference and obstruction of justice, and both found guilty. Shannon only spent a year in jail, and they were each fined only one thousand dollars......so it looks like a crime against a child is not even as serious as taking a bong hit in Illinois......but the point of this message is this, Terri; that whole situation was stopped by an ANONYMOUS TIP. Someone saw something that did not look right. Is there anything at all going on, that you know about, that may.........ahem.......fit that description? Because, seriously; I don't think you, all by your lonesome, had the time or means to injure or kill anyone on June 4 of 2010. I think something else happened. And I think it was planned, too. If not, it never would have been pulled off so seamlessly, leaving no clues. And I also think that you know your family, extended family, all of their friends, and the rest of your community well enough to assist in the efforts to locate Kyron. Your refusal to say a word that might lead to his return is what makes you look so guilty to the rest of us. Think about it.

News clip about Shannon Wilfong and Diana Dobbs

                                                                          Kyron Horman

Instead Of A Cold Case For Terri Horman

It's Monday, and in response to Terri Horman's refusal to work with police in Portland, Oregon to assist in locating her nine year old stepson, Kyron Horman, who disappeared on June 4, 2010 from Skyline Elementary, I usually post about a cold case that occured some time in this country and was solved at a much later date, after going cold. Not only do I give Terri Horman something to find when she googles her name online to see how famous she is, I give myself a chance to run pictures of Kyron again, in hopes that the right person will see them and recognize him. Today, I am going to do something a little bit different.

Someone I know, who is also hoping to see Kyron found safe and back home with his parents, recently put together some some pictures of how Kyron might look with different hairstyles, hair colors, and with and without glasses. Chances are, if someone is hiding him, Kyron does not look the same as he looked when he went missing. Over the weekend, I posted those "possible" looks on this blog. And now, I've gotton a request to reiterate the idea expressed in those posts with this video, and also a request to reiterate the point made in this post: http://siriunsun.blogspot.com/2011/10/update-on-lisa-irwin.html, specifically, if you work at a clinic, daycare, or school, please check birth certificates, court orders, and all other ID to make certain that the child actually IS the person he is presented as, and that the adult who accompanys him truly has custody. Once again, thankyou, Jonathan.

Debbie And Jeremy Still Want Their Names Cleared

Eleven month old Lisa Irwin is still missing, and her parents, Debbie Bradley and Jeremy Irwin, are still fervently working on clearing their names, even though no one knows, yet, what happened to Lisa! After the dismissal of Cyndy Short, defense attorney, from the "case" (I am not sure what kind of a "case" to call it, no one has actually been charged) Joe Tacopina, other defense attorney, found another attorney local to Kansas City Missouri to assist in......in.........well.......whatever a defense attorney assists in when there is no client charged with a crime. John Picerno will be on the "case" now.

Debbie and Jeremy, when are you gonna stop worrying about what people think and start worrying about your daughter? Your "name" can change, appear in print, remain anonymous, be spoken or not, and become hyphenated when or if you marry, but whatever happens to your name, your child will always be your child! Nothing that comes along in life should ever be more important!

I would say your next step, Debbie and Jeremy, if neither of you is guilty, should be to talk to your sons yourselves. Then, immediately, go to the police station and have them tell the police EVERYTHING they saw and heard during the evening that Lisa disappeared. Remember, each of those boys has an absentee parent, who should be filing for custody right about now. I know that I certainly would not want someone like Debbie Bradley bringing up any child of mine.....she did not even graduate from high school. She has absolutely nothing to offer a child. I am not sure I would want Jeremy around my child either. And each of Lisa's brothers has a different option than you, Jeremy and Debbie. Jeremy, if I were the mother of your son, you would have the legal battle of the century on your hands right now. But all of that aside, what are you doing to bring Lisa home?

Cyndy Short may be out of the picture, and I think that may have been a mistake, Debbie and Jeremy. I think I see supeonas and warrents in your future. It looks to me like this whole situation is still all about you, inasmuch as you both are concerned....or should I say, NOT concerned.

Update On Lisa Irwin

Police still have no leads or information to help lead to Lisa Irwin, or find her kidnapper. Lisa's parents have put out a plea to whoever is responsible, begging for Lisa's safe return. To this, I would add, if you know someone who suddenly has a female infant in their care or custody that was not there before, or if you work in a doctors' office or daycare and suddenly have someone bring in a patient or client who wasn't part of their original family, please insist upon seeing a birth certificate and court order (if applicable) indicating that this person actually has custody. I know, from personal experience in Northeast Kansas, that these steps and precautions are often ignored by professionals, to the detriment of the children and families who depend on them. Here's a case in which routine professionalism can save the day, and a child's life.