In 2000, Edward and Linda Bryant adopted two foster children, Austin and Edward Bryant. Both children were classified as special needs and the Bryants received government subsidies for their care. Over the years, the Bryants took additional foster children and adopted seven other children. In 2011, a young man who had know the Bryant children as neighbors as a kid notified authorities that Austin and Edward, who were biological brothers, hadn’t been seen for years. Officials found that there was no trace of either boy after 2003, when Austin was withdrawn from his Christian school to be homeschooled. The Bryants first dissembled and then claimed that the brothers had run away. Edward (the adoptive father) said that Edward had run away in 2001 (at age 9) and Austin in 2003 (at age 7) while Linda said both had run away in 2003 (at age 11 and 7). The couple never reported that the boys were missing, and continued to receive government subsidies for the boys until their absence came to light in 2011. It was also alleged that at least one of the boys had been abused, being denied food, beaten, locked in a trunk, and possibly even tased. No trace of either boy has been found, and while the case is still open it seems likely that the boys are deceased.
Date: 2001, 2003
Location: Monument, Colorado
