Suffer the Little Children

In episode 138, I told you the story of two-year-old Stevie Osborn, whose death on December 23, 2019 went all but unreported by the media. Stevie’s mother, Abigail Osborn, and Abbey’s boyfriend, Joseph Chilson, were investigated by the Missouri Department of Social Services Children’s Division, which found by preponderance of evidence that both had committed neglect against Stevie and that Joe had...

On May 30, 2015, first responders arrived at a townhouse in Waterloo, Iowa, where they found four-year-old Gracie Buss unresponsive. Gracie’s mother, Kristi Buss, and her boyfriend, Chad Little, told police and medical staff that Gracie suffered a seizure and fell down the stairs. Tragically, Gracie died after three days on life support. Eighteen months later, both Kristi and Chad were arrested in...

In episodes 5 and 6 of this podcast, I told you the story of 8-year-old Thomas Valva. Thomas and his two brothers were unjustly taken from their mother’s custody in 2017 and spent the next three years living with their father and his girlfriend, both of whom abused, starved, and tortured the boys. On January 17, 2020, Thomas and his 10-year-old brother, Anthony, both of whom were on the autism spe...

(This is a re-edit of an episode released in March, which was taken down shortly after release.) On December 23, 2019, two-year-old Stevie Osborn was rushed to the hospital in Kansas City, Missouri, suffering from bruises all over her body, two skull fractures, and massive bleeding on the brain. After Stevie died during life-saving surgery, her death was ruled a homicide caused by blunt force trau...

Over the last two episodes, I told you the story of Alexavier Pedrin, whose six years were marred by family turmoil, alleged abuse and neglect, and CPS involvement. On February 11, 2023, Alexavier was found dead in his family’s rented home in Medary, Wisconsin with multiple inflicted injuries and Xanax in his system. Three months later, his father’s girlfriend, 31-year-old Josie Dikeman, was final...

In the last episode, I began telling you the story of six-year-old Alexavier Pedrin, whose short life was filled with constant family turmoil and frequent involvement by various CPS agencies in his home state of Wisconsin and others. After Alexavier’s mom went to prison, his father eventually stopped letting her side of the family see their son, allowing the abuse and neglect Alexavier allegedly s...

In 2011, 19-year-old Josie Dikeman was accused of child neglect after her boyfriend’s one-year-old daughter suffered a skull fracture and a brain injury in her care. That charge was dropped. Two years later, she was convicted in a separate child neglect case regarding the same little girl, by then age three, who had been returned from foster care only to become malnourished and suffer fractured ha...

For this episode, I asked my listeners for questions they wanted answered about the podcast, about me, or anything else. Across several platforms, I received a lot of great questions! In this episode, I’ll answer those questions with the help of a special guest – my 18-year-old son, Andrew! This is my first-ever episode devoted to answering listener questions. (Also, bloopers after end credits!) L...

Whenever possible, I like to provide updates on as many past cases I’ve covered as possible. In this episode, I will provide updates on the cases of Frankie Gonzales, Marion Jester-Montoya, Damian Sutton, Zaiden Javonovich, Jaxson Love, Tesslynn O’Cull, Moko Rangitoheriri, Kyon Jones, Giovanni Melton, and Emrik Osuna. This is Case Update Special #11. Links discussed in today’s episode: Episode 19:...

In the last episode, I told you the first part of the story of 15-year-old Jack Edwards and his 13-year-old sister, Jennifer. I told you about the multiple romantic partners and children their father, John Edwards, abused and manipulated over the years, the various complaints against John of domestic violence and stalking, and how, despite all that, he was able to obtain permits and licenses to bo...

Note from Laine: Today, I'm proud to bring to you the first episode of an incredibly important podcast called Nobody Should Believe Me. Novelist Andrea Dunlop is looking for answers. When her older sister was first investigated for Munchausen by Proxy abuse more than a decade ago, it tore her family apart. This catastrophic series of events sent Dunlop on a journey to understand this most taboo fo...

On July 5, 2018, 13-year-old Jennifer Edwards got off the bus and walked eight minutes to get to her home in West Pennant Hills, a suburb of Sydney, Australia. Jenny had no idea that her father, 67-year-old John Edwards, was following her in a car he rented so she wouldn’t recognize him. When Jenny arrived at home, John pulled into the driveway and chased her inside the house with a handgun. Jenny...

On May 15, 2018, police responded to a self-storage facility in Sacramento, California, where, in one of the storage units, sat a box containing a blue plastic barrel, inside which was a duffel bag. In that bag were the remains of a small child who appeared to have been dead for at least two weeks. Police tracked down the couple who left the box in the storage unit, Tyler and Averyauna Anderson of...

In episodes 87 and 88, I told you the story of four-year-old Judah Morgan, who spent the first three-and-a-half years of his life in a foster care kinship placement with his second cousin, Jenna Hullett, and her family. Despite multiple warnings from Jenna and other family members, Judah was returned to his biological parents, Alan Morgan and Mary Yoder, in April of 2021. Six months later, he was...

On March 21, 2020, three-year-old Erykah Taylor arrived at Cook Children’s Hospital in Fort Worth, Texas, unresponsive. Shortly after her arrival, she was pronounced dead. Based on her injuries, which included bone fractures and multiple bruises, police did not believe the story they heard from Tonny Manns, the live-in boyfriend of Erykah’s mother and Erykah’s caretaker at the time she was fatally...

(This episode was originally released on September 29, 2021.) On January 26, 2020, San Antonio mother Sareh Lang was at work when she received the phone call every parent dreads: her three-year-old son, Christian Paz, was being rushed to the hospital, unresponsive. Two days later, Christian was removed from life support and died in his mommy’s arms. Sareh’s boyfriend, Logan Harvill, was charged in...

In last week’s episode, I told you about two-year-old Bradley McGee, who was returned to his biological mother and stepfather, Sheryl and Tom Coe, even though they abandoned him in a shopping mall as an infant and failed to comply with the reunification tasks they were assigned by Florida’s child welfare department, HRS. Bradley died on July 28, 1989 after a potty-training accident led his stepfat...

In 1987, four-month-old Bradley McGee was abandoned at a shopping mall and placed into foster care. He spent most of his life thriving and happy in the Lakeland, Florida home of his foster family. In 1989, despite reports of abuse from multiple family members and others, Bradley was placed back into the custody of his mother and stepfather, Sheryl and Tom Coe. Just two months later, two-year-old B...

In today’s episode, I’ll provide updates on several cases I’ve covered previously on the podcast. The stories I’ll be updating today include those of Keaton Boggs, Kerrigan Rutherford, Maxwell Schollenberger, Nakota Kelly, Scotty McMillan, Caliyah McNabb, and Dawson McKinney. This is Episode 135: Case Update Special #10. Links related to today’s episode: Episode 30: Keaton Boggs - https://www.spre...

My guest on the podcast today is highly esteemed Tarrant County Sheriff’s Investigator Michael Weber, who specializes in investigating cases of medical child abuse, also known as Munchausen syndrome by proxy. Detective Weber is also a member of the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children’s Munchausen by proxy committee alongside international expert on factitious disorders Dr. Marc...

Like I did last week, in this episode, I will provide updates on some of the cases I’ve covered in early episodes of the podcast. The cases discussed in today’s episode include those of AJ Freund, Treyanna Summerville, Sereniti Sutley, Josias Marquez, and Conner and Brinley Snyder, as well as another quick update in the case of Arabella Parker. This is episode 133: Case Update Special #9. Links re...

From time to time, I try to provide updates on the stories I’ve covered in the past. In this episode, you’ll hear updates on the cases of Raylee Browning, Thomas Valva, Alex Hurley, Noah Tomlin, Logan Cline, Amari Boone, Eduardo Posso, and Arabella Parker. This is Episode 132: Case Update Special #8. Links related to today’s episode: Episode 4: Raylee Browning - https://www.spreaker.com/episode/23...

In episodes 76 and 77, I told you the heartbreaking story of two-year-old Dante Mullinix, who died just six days before his third birthday. Tyree Bowie, who was seeing Dante’s mother, Leah Mullinix, told police he thought Dante had choked on animal crackers, but Dante’s death was ruled a homicide caused by traumatic brain injury with strangulation and chest compression. Many believed Tyree was inn...

*This episode was originally released on September 8, 2021.* In episode 76, I told you the story of two-year-old Dante Mullinix of York, Pennsylvania, who died in the hospital on September 15, 2018. Dante’s death was ruled a homicide caused by traumatic brain injury with strangulation and chest compression, but Dante’s head and body were also covered in bruises, and he suffered from an active case...

*This episode was originally released on September 1, 2021.* Two weeks before his third birthday, two-year-old Dante Mullinix was rushed to the hospital, unresponsive. His mother’s boyfriend claimed Dante choked on animal crackers. Several days later, on September 15, 2018, Dante was pronounced dead. His death was ruled a homicide caused by traumatic brain injury with strangulation and chest compr...