Homeschooling’s 

Invisible Children

3 Children of Ryan Rechtzigel and Angela Stewart

A 5-year-old girl was imprisoned, starved, and physically abused by her parents, Ryan Rechtzigel and Angela Stewart. The girl was homeschooled. The girl’s siblings, ages 2 and 7 months, were not reported to be abused. The girl had been removed from her parents’ home when she was 6 months old due to their methamphetamine use. […]

Natalie Finn, and 4 siblings

Natalie Jasmine Finn, age 16, was imprisoned, tortured, and starved to death by her parents, Nicole Marie Finn and Joseph Michael Finn II. Natalie’s 15-year-old brother and 14-year-old sister were also starved, imprisoned, and tortured. An older brother, Alexander Kendal Finn (age 23), and another 15-year-old sibling were not reported to be abused. Natalie was […]

3 Children of Joshua and Brandi Weyant

Three children (JTW, a 6-year-old boy; SRB, a 5-year-old girl; and HRW, a 4-year-old girl) were imprisoned, starved, and beaten by their adoptive parents, Joshua Ross Weyant and Brandi Jene Weyant. The children were homeschooled. Five other children who lived in the home, including a 17-year-old girl, were not reported to be abused. JTW and […]

5 Children of Donell Barron and Rikki Hart

Five children, ages 14, 8, 6, 5, and 4, were starved and neglected by their parents, Donell Barron and Rikki Hart. The children were homeschooled. According to their website, both Barron and Hart have college degrees and they run investment and healthy eating businesses; Hart works as a birth doula. Based on Barron’s statements to […]

2 Children of Richard and Cynthia Kelly

A boy (b. 2002) was imprisoned, starved, and medically neglected by his adoptive parents, Richard and Cynthia Kelly. His older sister (b. 1997), who was also adopted, was not reported to be abused. The children were homeschooled. The boy, who was reported to have special needs, was kept locked in the basement by the Kellys […]

2 Children of Trisha Meyer

Two children, a 17-year-old boy and a 14-year-old girl, were endangered by their mother, Trisha Meyer. Additional children may have been endangered as well. The children were homeschooled. Meyer allowed “three tigers, a cougar, a skunk and a fox,” as well as several monkeys, to roam freely in her home with the children. The endangerment […]

Girl by Robert Wyatt

A girl (b. 2002) was repeatedly sexually assaulted by her pastor, Robert Duane “Bob” Wyatt, who was also her homeschool teacher. Wyatt, an assistant pastor at Agape Bible Church, began assaulting the girl in 2014, when she was 12. He told her he loved her and planned to leave the country with her when she […]

3 Children of Jessie Tribby and Anna Patterson

Two girls, S.T. (born Jan. 2007) and a younger girl (born Dec. 2007), were beaten by their father, Jessie Tribby, and their stepmother Anna Mae Patterson. The girls were homeschooled. The couple’s biological child (born Jan. 2016) was not reported to be abused. Tribby and Patterson married in July 2015. Between July and December, Patterson […]

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 […]

14 Children of Daniel and Jenise Spurgeon

At least 11 children (9 girls and 2 boys, born between 1997 and 2008) were physically and sexually abused by their adoptive/foster parents, Daniel Wayne Spurgeon and Jenise Rae Spurgeon. The children were homeschooled (though at least some had attended school as late as 2008). The Spurgeons’ three biological children (two boys and a girl, […]