2 children of Erin and Jennifer Pickel
Erin and Jennifer Pickel abused and imprisoned two of their five children, a 15-year-old boy and a 13-year-old girl, starting in 2008. There were also two younger children and one child over 18 in the home. All the children were homeschooled. The children, who were both adopted (the boy in 2005 and the girl in […]
3 children of Lev Dzyuba
Three of Lev Dzyuba’s children, ages 15, 10, and 8, were starved and imprisoned for months by their father and his sisters Alina Dzyuba and Natalia Mellon. The children were adopted from Ukraine in 2012. According to the children’s maternal aunt, their mother Larisa died shortly after the adoption, and they were subsequently homeschooled by […]
Christopher Smithburg
Christopher Smithburg, adopted from the Philippines at age 8, was physically abused by his mother, Susan Smithburg. Christopher, his 17-year-old brother, and his 10-year old sister were homeschooled. Christopher got into trouble in school, and was ultimately sent to a boarding school and then homeschooled. His mother put an alarm on his bedroom door, and her use […]
Lauren Kavanaugh, and 5 siblings
Lauren Kavanaugh, also known as Lauren Calhoun, was freed at age 8 from a six-year imprisonment in a closet where she was systematically tortured, raped, and starved by her mother and stepfather, Barbara and Kenneth Atkinson. The Atkinsons’ other children, who ranged in age from 22 months to 10 years, were also neglected; they did […]
3 children of Eraca Dawn Craig and Christian Jessica Deanda
Three children—an 8-year-old girl and two boys, ages 5 and 3—were abused, imprisoned, and starved by their parents, Eraca Dawn Craig (left) and Christian Jessica Deanda, who were domestic partners. The children were homeschooled. The girl had been chained to the wall with shackles around her ankles and a collar around her neck, reportedly to […]
Shane Graham and 10 Siblings
Shane Graham, age 11, disappeared in 1999 or 2000. He had autism, Down’s Syndrome, and sickle-cell anemia. His adoptive mother, Judith Leekin, is believed to have murdered him and buried him in the yard of one of her houses, although his body has not been found. Leekin also abused 10 other adopted special needs children. Leekin adopted eleven […]
Minnet and Jasmine Bowman and Sister
Minnet (age 9) and Jasmine (age 7) Bowman were murdered in 2006 by their adoptive mother, Renee Bowman, their bodies stored in her basement freezer. The murders were discovered two years later when their then-7-year-old sister jumped out of a second-story window to escape imprisonment in her room. She was found by authorities with open […]
Colin David Jones
Paramedics responding to a 911 call on Christmas Eve about an “unresponsive” child found that 6-year-old child had physical injuries that suggested foul play. The child was taken to the regional hospital and then airlifted elsewhere for care, where he died four days later in spite of efforts to save his life, and the five […]
5 Children of Wanda Sue Larson and Dorian Harper
Wanda Sue Larson and Dorian Harper were arrested on child abuse charges after they handcuffed their 11-year-old foster son to the porch in November in his underwear with a dead chicken tied around his neck. The foster child and four other adopted children, aged 8, 9, 13, and 14, were removed from the home, which […]
Hannah, Noah, Mollie, and Josiah Carroll
On September 21, 1992, six year old Hannah Carroll died of severe bleach burns, which covered one third of her body and were left untreated for three days. Hannah, who had Down syndrome, was one of ten special needs children adopted by Kathleen and Timothy Carroll, a fundamentalist Christian homeschooling couple. In the three months […]
