Serah Bellar (b. 2003) was physically and sexually abused by her family members. Several of her siblings were also abused. Serah was homeschooled. Serah’s parents, Robert and Deborah Bellar, had 18 biological children and 1 adopted child. The family may have espoused Quiverfull ideology; Deborah Bellar told law enforcement that “God would give her all the children she was meant… Read more »
Brandon Gray, age 14, was starved to death by his mother, Terra Wells, and several other family members. Brandon’s 12-year-old sister K. was also starved and physically abused. The other eight children in the home were not reported to be abused. All ten children were homeschooled. Brandon lived with three generations of his family: his grandmother Yvette Charleston, his mother… Read more »
Nora* (b. 2010) was starved and tortured by her father, Jason Carroll, and her stepmother Jacqueline Barbour. The household also included Nora’s stepbrother and her half-brother. Nora was homeschooled. Barbour and Carroll isolated Nora from family members; Carroll’s mother R. last saw Nora in person in August 2016. Carroll and Barbour claimed that Nora had “behavioral issues” beginning in February… Read more »
Five children–Noah* (b. 2005), Elijah*, James* (b. 2009), William*, and Ella* (b. 2014)–were imprisoned and tortured by their adoptive parents, Robert and Stephanie Duncan. The children were homeschooled. The Duncans moved into their home around 2009. They began fostering the children shortly thereafter. Three of the children were half-siblings and the other two were half-siblings. At some point the children… Read more »
Three children–Rose* (b.c. 2010), Mason* (b.c. 2012), and Sophie* (b. 2013)–were starved, tortured, and imprisoned by their adoptive parents, Joseph and Jennifer Wolfthal. The children were homeschooled. The Wolfthals adopted the children in 2014. Jennifer Wolfthal had spent eight years as a 4th grade public school teacher before resigning in order to homeschool her adopted children and become a children’s… Read more »
Josie Ann Abney, age 10, was starved to death by her parents, Randall and Susan Abney. Josie was homeschooled. Josie was born in 2010 and adopted by the Abneys in 2013. She was the first of “12 or 13 children” that the Abneys fostered. According to her obituary, “Josie was a cute little redhead who was full of life and… Read more »
An 8-year-old boy, H., was imprisoned by his parents, Kelley and Daniel Davis. The boy and his five sisters (ranging in age from 10 to infancy) were homeschooled. Beginning at least in March 2020, H. was kept locked in a dark room with boards over the window and door overnight or, according to his parents, “when he misbehaved.” The only… Read more »
A 6-year-old boy, G., was starved and imprisoned by his grandmother, Esmeralda Lira, and her boyfriend Jose Balderas. Two other children who lived in the home, a 7-year-old girl and a 4-year-old boy, were not reported to be abused. G. was being educated at home due to pandemic-related school closures. G. told officials that the abuse began shortly after he… Read more »
Two children–Heather “Sophie” Gray (b. 2006) and Jonathan Gray–died in the custody of their adoptive parents, Michael and Shirley Gray. Three other adopted children–M., a boy born in 2005; L., a girl born c. 2007; and T., a boy born in 2009–were imprisoned, starved, and abused by the Grays. The Grays’ adult children, Anthony “Bubba” and Carolyn Gray, lived with… Read more »
A 12-year-old boy, R., was starved, imprisoned, and tortured by his father, Christopher Crets, and his stepmother Nicole Crets. The boy was homeschooled. The other children who lived in the home were not reported to be abused. Christopher Crets had prior felony convictions for statutory rape and drug trafficking. R. was pulled from school to be homeschooled in early February… Read more »