Suffer the Little Children

On April 5, 2017, a concerned resident of an apartment building in Braham, Minnesota called 911 after hearing screaming from the apartment below. When police responded, they found 2-month-old Eli Arispe Hentges dead in his playpen. Eli’s mother, 24-year-old Shy Ann Hentges, was interviewed by investigators, but her story changed when Eli’s autopsy revealed his tiny skull had been fractured. This i...

On the morning of February 18, 2020, EMS responded to a home in East Peoria, Illinois on a report of a child in cardiac arrest. At the scene, they found 4-year-old Tate Thurman unresponsive with multiple injuries, including bruises covering his little body from head to toe. Lesli Ann Jett, the live-in girlfriend of Tate’s father, told police that Tate had been injured when he slipped in some water...

A few weeks ago, in episode 65, I told you the story of two-year-old Lucas Call, who died from blunt force trauma in 2018. His foster mother, Lisa Jo Vanderlinden, took a plea agreement that amounted to a slap on the wrist and was released after just nine months in county jail. After I released that episode, I heard from a lot of listeners who expressed sympathy for and outrage on behalf of Lucas’...

On April 2 of this year, Breanna Micciolo dropped off her six-year-old son, Corey, at his father’s house in Barnegat, New Jersey for their scheduled visitation. She expected to pick him up that afternoon, but instead, she got a phone call from Corey’s father saying they were headed to the hospital. By the time Breanna figured out what was happening, the police were on her doorstep with the worst n...

If you follow the podcast or the blog on social media, you’ve probably seen my many posts about two-year-old James Biel. I covered James’s story in episode 26 of this podcast, as well as in a detailed blog article in August of 2020. During a contentious custody battle between James’s mother, Kara Witkowski, and his father, Thomas Biel, Kara missed a court appearance due to an error on her attorney...

In last week’s episode, I told you the story of 17-year-old Meghan Bomford, who died in Calgary, Alberta on October 18, 2016 when the Jeep she was riding in lost control and rolled over several times. The vehicle was driven by her father, whose blood alcohol content was three times the legal limit. He was severely injured in the crash, as was Meghan’s 16-year-old friend, Kelsey Nelson. Meghan’s fa...

On October 18, 2016, when the news emerged of a fatal single-car crash on McKnight Boulevard, the community of Calgary, Alberta came together in grief and horror to mourn the death of 17-year-old Meghan Bomford and to pray for the recovery of her father, Shaun, and her best friend, Kelsey, who were also in the vehicle. Shaun received much less sympathy when it was revealed that his blood alcohol w...

In 2017, Lucas Call and his baby sister were removed from their biological mother’s custody, in part because she had a learning disability and was unjustly deemed an unfit mother. They were placed in the care of a woman who had previously fostered upwards of 40 children. She was also a trained nurse who worked with the county government’s child abuse investigation team. Sixteen months later, in Au...

When a neighbor called 911 to report loud arguing on the evening of April 11, 2019, police in Wichita, Kansas responded to the mobile home expecting to break up a domestic dispute. After speaking with the couple, officers learned there were two young children inside and received permission from the couple to check on them. Instead of finding two little ones sleeping peacefully, the officers walked...

In last week’s episode, I told you the tragic story of 15-year-old Alex Radita, who succumbed on May 7, 2013 to an infection caused by untreated diabetes and starvation at the hands of his parents. Alex’s death was essentially long-term medical neglect and torture by his parents, Emil and Rodica Radita, Romanian immigrants who evidently believed that God, not medicine, would heal their son. Despit...

On May 7, 2013, police and paramedics responded to a home in Calgary, Alberta on a report of a teenager not breathing, but nothing could have prepared them for what they were about to see. 15-year-old Alex Radita, who was dead well before his father called 911, weighed only 37 pounds. He was literally nothing but skin and bones, and his body was covered with necrotizing ulcers, including one so de...

In the first three episodes in my series on Munchausen syndrome by proxy, I searched for answers about this commonly misunderstood form of child abuse while I discussed multiple cases of children harmed or even killed by mothers who sought attention for themselves and thrived on drama, heedless of the damage they did to their children. During my search, I came out with more questions than answers!...

Over the last two episodes, I told you the story of five-year-old Garnett Spears, whose mother was convicted of his 2014 murder by sodium poisoning. Garnett’s entire life was filled with medical procedures, treatments, medications, even surgeries he didn’t need, all thanks to his mother’s pathological need for attention.  In this episode, the third in my series about Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy,...

Most of us have heard of Munchausen syndrome by proxy thanks to its prevalence in popular culture, including TV, movies, books, and, of course, news articles, but what is it exactly? Is it a crime, a cry for help, a mental disorder, or something else entirely?  In part one of this series, I told you what studies and experts have to say about this commonly misunderstood condition. I also told you t...

Most of us have heard of Munchausen syndrome by proxy thanks to its prevalence in popular culture, including TV, movies, books, and, of course, news articles, but what is it exactly? Is it a crime, a cry for help, a mental disorder, or something else entirely?  For the first time, to raise awareness of this insidious form of child abuse, I will cover Munchausen syndrome by proxy as a broad topic s...

Four-year-old Samiah Downing was visiting with her father and his girlfriend in Adelanto, California in December of 2012 when police received a report from a witness that something very bad had happened to Samiah. Police interviewed the couple, and within hours, authorities received information that led them to a shallow grave in the California desert, where they discovered Samiah’s body with unim...

Four-year-old Samiah Downing was visiting with her father and his girlfriend in Adelanto, California in December of 2012 when police received a report from a witness that something very bad had happened to Samiah. Police interviewed the couple, and within hours, authorities received information that led them to a shallow grave in the California desert, where they discovered Samiah’s body with unim...

On March 11, 2014, a young woman and her older boyfriend entered the emergency room in Cullman, Alabama, carrying the lifeless body of her one-year-old son, Hoss Benham, who they said had drowned in the bathtub of their mobile home. Hoss’s injuries did not match up with the couple’s story, and after the results of an autopsy were released, both would face multiple charges, including capital murder...

On May 25, 2017, two-year-old Maddilyn-Rose Stokes was rushed to the hospital in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, unresponsive and suffering from infected third-degree burns that had been inflicted in the family’s bathtub five days prior. Her parents, Shane Stokes and Nicole Moore, had not sought medical care for their little girl’s worsening condition, calling emergency services only when she sto...

Last week, I began telling you the story of 2-year-old Damian Sutton, who spent six days on life support after dying in Children’s Hospital in Detroit from a head injury incurred while in the care of a man pretending to be his mother’s boyfriend. After the man, Ronald DiMambro Jr., was convicted of Damian’s murder, a Brady violation led to Ron being granted a second trial. In this episode, I’ll te...

In episode 49, I told you the story of 20-month-old Quortney Kley, who was sexually abused and murdered on February 25, 1997 by her mother’s boyfriend, Cayce Williams. After an unthinkable nine year court process, Williams finally accepted a plea agreement in 2006, pleading guilty to murder and predatory criminal sexual assault in exchange for a 48-year prison sentence. However, due to a glitch in...

On August 21, 2013, 26-year-old Ronald DiMambro Jr. called 911 to summon an ambulance to his family’s lavish home in Washington Township, Michigan. Ronald said a little boy in his care, 2-year-old Damian Sutton, was having an asthma attack, but later that evening, after giving a detective multiple versions of his story, Ron confessed to shaking the toddler and was charged with felony child abuse....

In episode 50, I began telling you the story of a three-year-old girl named Poppie Van der Merwe, whose utterly preventable death shocked the nation of South Africa. After multiple reports that Poppie and her five-year-old brother were being abused, social services became involved, but the family moved to avoid the investigation. Three weeks later, Poppie was dead, and in this episode, I’ll go ove...

In this episode, I cover my first ever South African case, that of three-year-old Poppie Van der Merwe. Poppie and her five-year-old brother were frequently seen by teachers, doctors, neighbors, and others with bruises and other injuries. When social services became involved, her mother and stepfather moved the family overnight to avoid the investigation, and the physical abuse escalated exponenti...

On February 25, 1997, 23-year-old Cayce Williams entered the emergency room at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Elgin, Illinois, carrying the lifeless body of his girlfriend’s 20-month-old daughter, Quortney Kley. Medical staff immediately called police, who arrested Cayce the same evening. Cayce was charged with several felony counts of murder, as well as predatory criminal sexual assault.  Nine long yea...