Homeschooling’s 

Invisible Children

Ana Loera and three siblings

  Ana Loera, age 11 (b. 2007, also identified as Anna Loera), was physically abused, medically neglected, and murdered by her adoptive parents, Rafael and Maribel Loera. At the time of her death, she lived with her sisters, K. (b. 2009) and L. (b. 2016),  and her brother R. (b. 2011), who were also reported […]

Chaskah Davis Smith, and 1 sibling

Chaskah Davis Smith, age 11, was murdered by his grandmother, Stephanie Marie Davis. Chaskah (b. 2011) and his half brother L. (b. 2013) were starved and physically abused by Davis for several years prior to Chaskah’s death. Davis’s husband, Thomas Desharnais, knew about the abuse but did nothing to stop it. Chaskah and L. were […]

11 Children of Machelle Hobson

Seven children, ages 15 to 3, were starved, imprisoned, and physically and sexually abused by their adoptive mother, Machelle Hobson (pictured left). The children were homeschooled. Hobson’s four adult biological children were not reported to be abused; her sons Logan and Ryan Hackney (pictured center and right) knew about the abuse but did nothing to […]

Sanaa Cunningham

Sanaa Cunningham (pictured right with her siblings), age 7, died as a result of abuse and neglect by her father, Germayne Cunningham, and her stepmother Lisa Cunningham. Sanaa was homeschooled. Sanaa’s biological parents, Germayne Cunningham and Sylvia Norwood, married in 2007. Cunningham was a police detective. Their first daughter X. was born in 2007 and […]

Kyle and Emily Gerhart

Kyle Gerhart, age 17, and Emily Gerhart, age 12, were shot to death by their mother, Lisa Gerhart, as part of a murder-suicide. The children had been homeschooled for at least eight years and were active in their local theater community. Kyle worked at the local ice cream parlor and Emily had been a lead […]

Amber Nicklas

Amber Rose Nicklas, age 13 months, was abducted from her foster parents in Norwalk, California in September 2003 by three of her teenage biological aunts. Though two of the girls were caught, the third managed to escape with Amber, who was missing for seven years. Amber was raised by a loving Romany family in Arizona […]

2 daughters of Johann and Kimery Jorg

Two girls, ages 13 and 11, were abused by their adoptive parents, Johann and Kimery Jorg. Both girls were made to sleep outside using a bucket for a bathroom, and they were not allowed to wear clothes. They were forced to run barefoot in the heat for hours and beaten with a wooden paddle as […]

Michaela and Caleb Parker

Kimu (left) and Blair Parker starved and medically neglected their three children, Michaela (age 11), Caleb (age 9), and Zion (age 3). The children were homeschooled. The Parkers were fundamentalist naturopaths who practiced homebirths and shunned vaccines and medical checkups. The children were fed a vegan diet and the Parkers set time limits for the […]

Travis Embrey

In May 2004, Robert Lynn Embrey and Bonnie Gail Embrey abducted their grandson, Travis Embrey, and traveled with him from California to Arizona. The couple were Travis’s guardians and fled with him because they objected to allowing the boy court ordered visits with his mother. Travis was recovered in August 2006 at age 11. During his abduction, Travis […]

Trenay Cheire Duchane, and 1 sibling

Trenay Duchane, age 12, died after being punched to unconsciousness, beaten with an electrical cord and a broomstick, and scalded to death by her stepmother, Reiko Troupe, as punishment for not cleaning her room. Her 9-year-old sister Treshae was also beaten and burned in an attempt to save Trenay. The girls’ father, Jeffrey Duchane Jr., […]