Tonight I thought I’d do a list of kids who were living in foster homes when they vanished:
Everlyse Cabrera, age 2, missing from North Las Vegas, Nevada on June 10, 2006. Her foster parents have been the focus of the investigation in her disappearance, and Everlyse’s parents settled a lawsuit with the state of Nevada over the state’s alleged negligent supervision of the little girl.
Marlon Devine Santos, 5 months, missing from Worcester, Massachusetts on November 5, 1998. His foster parents (who didn’t report him missing for days) are suspects in his case, which is being looked at as a homicide. The foster father was later convicted of sexually abusing another child and sentenced to prison.
Michael Anthony Hughes, age 6, missing from Choctow, Oklahoma on September 12, 1994. He was living in a pre-adoptive foster home when he was abducted from his school by his psychotic dad, Franklin Delano Floyd, who is now on death row in another case. It’s one of Charley’s most complicated and sordid cases.
Hasanni Jamil Campbell, 5, missing from Oakland, California on August 10, 2009. He has mild cerebral palsy and wore foot braces. He was living in kinship foster care with his aunt and her boyfriend. The foster parents were arrested for Hasanni’s murder eighteen days after his disappearance, but released shortly thereafter for lack of evidence. They have since split up, but remain suspects in his case.
Patrick Kennedy Alford Jr., 7, missing from Brooklyn, New York since November 28, 2002. Patrick, who didn’t speak Spanish, had been living for about a week with a foster mother who didn’t speak English. She claims he ran away. There were accusations that Patrick’s mom took him, something she vigorously denies.
Yuan Xia Wang, 12, missing from Lincolnia, Virginia on October 21, 1998. She’d arrived in the US illegally in August, was caught at the airport and placed in a foster home while the authorities tried to decide what to do with her. She vanished from there, but it’s not clear whether she ran away or what.
Marble Ace Arvidson, 17, missing from Brattleboro, Vermont since August 27, 2011. A special needs child with some apparent mental health issues, he’d been living in foster care throughout his teens. His life was going pretty well though when he mysteriously vanished. This may be a lost/injured missing case, since he vanished just before a flood devastated the area.
Jamie Rochelle Grisim, 16, disappeared on December 7, 1971 from Vancouver, Washington. She vanished without a trace walking home from school and may have been the victim of a serial killer. Jamie and her sister had been in foster care since they were very young.
Christie Lynn Farni, 6, missing from Medford, Oregon since December 14, 1978. She’d been placed in foster care just a few days before because of alleged physical abuse at home. She testified about the abuse before a grand jury on the morning of her disappearance. Christie’s biological parents and half-brother are all dead now. The authorities looked into the idea that some member of her family took her; some of her surviving relatives have accused her foster parents.
Carlos Pacheco, 1, and his sister Hazel Bracamontes, 3, missing from Watsonville, California since May 2, 2005. Kidnapped by their father from their foster home.
Jade Arell Flores, 2, missing from San Jose, California since July 10, 2008. Kidnapped by her father from her foster home, where she’d been living most of her life. Her foster parents had adopted her older sister and planned to adopt Jade as well.
Justin Phillip Harris, 13, missing from Casper, Wyoming since February 14, 2004. He took several psychiatric medications at the time of his disappearance, had emotional and behavioral problems and functioned at the level of someone half his age. His mother had willingly turned him over to the state and he went through several unsuccessful foster care placements before moving to a group home for troubled boys, where he was doing well before he vanished in the middle of the night.
Bryan Andrew Hayes, 13, missing from Jacksonville, Florida since February 10, 2005 with his friend, 12-year-old Mark Anthony Degner. Mark wasn’t a foster child, but Bryan had grown up in foster care and was living in a therapeutic group home at the time of his disappearance. Both boys had bipolar disorder and other problems. They ran away, but due to their level of functioning the police believe they’re at risk and possibly came to harm.
Joel Lopez Jr., 12, and his brother Mario Lopez, 6, missing from Livingston, California since March 8, 2005. They were living together in a foster home and were last seen playing basketball at a local playground. The boys may be with their biological parents, who seem to have disappeared at the same time they did. Their two sisters, who were also in foster care, are not missing.
Jonathon Steven Arciniega, 2, and his sister Laura Isabel Arciniega, 6, missing from Los Angeles, California since August 30, 2003. They were abducted by their biological parents and may be in Mexico, Venezuela or Colombia. Jonathon and Laura’s father is the prime suspect in the murder of his two-month-old baby, who died of Shaken Baby Syndrome.
Darron Glass, 10, missing from Atlanta, Georgia since September 14, 1980. An orphan, he may or may not have had a history as a chronic runaway. He may have been a victim of the Atlanta Child Killer, but if he was, he was the only one whose body was never found.
Tavish Sutton, 1 month, missing from Atlanta, Georgia since March 9, 1993. He was abducted from his hospital room where he was recovering from minor surgery. His mother had schizophrenia and was in a psychiatric hospital at the time. Tavish had been in his foster home since he was a week old and the authorities planned to terminate parental rights; the mom had already lost her rights to her other three children. The authorities believe Tavish was taken by a local woman who wanted a baby to raise.
Yashima Grandberry, 4, missing from Los Angeles, California since July 2, 2009. Her mother abducted her during a supervised visitation with a social worker.
Brittany Warden, 15, missing from New Braunfels, Texas since November 27, 2009. Classified as a runaway.
Joliet Elizabeth Cedano, 4 months, missing from Palmdale, California since September 11, 2006. She was in a park with her foster mom when she was abducted by a man at the behest of her biological mother. The kidnapper was arrested, but Joliet and her mother remain at large and may be in Mexico.
Brittany Renee Williams, 7, missing from Richmond, Virginia since August 18, 2000. Her mother had died of AIDS and her father was in prison, so Brittany, who also had AIDS, lived with a guardian. Her guardian claimed she gave Brittany to some friends to take care of. The story turned out to be false. Obviously, there is suspicion of foul play. But the cops think she must have died either way, because she hasn’t had access to her AIDS meds since her disappearance.
Cheryl Wyant, 13, missing from Rohnert Park, California on May 1, 1978. She was in a car accident, went to ER, walked out of the hospital and vanished. She lived in a group home at the time of her disappearance and had previously lived in foster care in Washington state.
Shanta Marie Johnson, 3, missing from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina since July 19, 1992. Her foster mom, who was in the process of adopting her, said she was kidnapped from the mall. The police believe Shanta’s foster mother murdered her, but no charges have been filed.
Kamelia Maria Spencer, 2, missing from Palmdale, California since December 20, 1999. Abducted by her biological father and grandmother. The abductors are considered armed and dangerous.
Lucia Oliveros-Suarez, 14, missing from Hyattsville, Maryland since July 14, 2006. She called her foster parents later that month, but no one’s heard from her since then. Classified as a runaway.
Amber Elizabeth Cates, 16, missing from Maury County, Tennessee since April 11, 2004. Classified as a runaway, but the police are also investigating other theories since it’s been so long ago that she vanished and no one has heard from her.
Rilya Shenise Wilson, 3, missing from Miami, Florida since January 18, 2001. Disappearance not reported for 18 months. Rilya’s disappearance, and Florida’s Department of Children and Families’s failure to notice it, resulted in a major scandal and shakeup of the DCF. They now think her foster mom, Geralyn Graham, killed her. Graham was supposed to go to trial last fall for the murder. And then in March. And now in July.
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