CO CO - Edward, 9, & Austin Bryant, 7, Colorado Springs, 2001-2003

[TxMomma]

Thank you for the welcome. I am quite curious as my friend lived quite close to Linda Bryant and the 5 kids in Texas. BTW, I've lived here for over 48 years and there is no Callisburg Christian Academy where LB said one of the missing boys was going to graduate in June 2011. I also read in MSM where there may be a third child missing who was adopted the same year as Austin & Edward. Her biological daughter's husband was killed in a head-on auto accident here at Christmas time a year ago. Very sad.

 

[tlcya]

Glad to have you join us here TxMomma.

 

[TxMomma]

Here's a thought. The bio daughter & her husband (now deceased) were the foster parents to the boys who reported discrepancies about Austin's disappearance to the police in January 2011. Because these boys knew Austin & about his abuse, that tells me the daughter & hubby must have lived close by to Linda & Edward. Surely the daughter asked questions about where Austin was at & what happened to him? Why doesn't she step forward?

 

[SilkySifaka]

Here's a thought. The bio daughter & her husband (now deceased) were the foster parents to the boys who reported discrepancies about Austin's disappearance to the police in January 2011. Because these boys knew Austin & about his abuse, that tells me the daughter & hubby must have lived close by to Linda & Edward. Surely the daughter asked questions about where Austin was at & what happened to him? Why doesn't she step forward?

She may have but just not made public yet.

This whole case is disgusting. The "mom" is willing to plead to manslaughter..oh so kind of her. so the husband can keep making money off the other 5 kids and keep abusing them too

 

[PoppyH]

She may have but just not made public yet.

This whole case is disgusting. The "mom" is willing to plead to manslaughter..oh so kind of her. so the husband can keep making money off the other 5 kids and keep abusing them too

Hi! Do you have a link?? For the mom willing to plea?? Thanks. I have a hard time finding updates

 

[TxMomma]

http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/27154903/detail.html

Towards end of article

"…She mentioned manslaughter charges and offered that she would take all charges so that Edward Bryant was not incarcerated so he could keep the children they still had," Otto wrote.

 

[TxMomma]

She may have but just not made public yet.

This whole case is disgusting. The "mom" is willing to plead to manslaughter..oh so kind of her. so the husband can keep making money off the other 5 kids and keep abusing them too

That's true but what bothers me is the fact that the daughter was a grown married woman with her own children plus foster children when the kid was being abused/missing. Why didn't she report the abuse/disappearance way back when it occured? What would have stopped her? Money? Fear? Ostrich Syndrome?

That woman is delusional if she thinks anybody in that family is keeping those kids!

 

[PoppyH]

http://images.bimedia.net/documents/abuse+kids+affidavit.pdf


Arrest Papers

 

[TxMomma]

The affidavit says the daughter was told the boys were institutionalized & she had no idea her mother was still collecting money for them.

 

[Missizzy]

As a mother and as an advocate for adoptive families, this is heartbreaking. I see that we have thread in Missing Children but I think this should also be in Crimes in the News, possibly with the parents' names in the header. How utterly tragic. The fact that this family continued to accept adoption assistance for years after the boys' deaths or murders makes me furious. The parents are an abomination if these allegations prove true. In this case, adoption is most assuredly a factor.


http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/artic.../10/state/n061252S99.DTL&feed=rss.news_nation

Deputies review tips about missing adopted boys

"Deputies hunting for two brothers who disappeared years ago were checking out tips from the public Friday and planned to search again outside the adopted boys' former home near the Colorado foothills on Saturday. A hot line received up to a dozen tips by Friday afternoon after El Paso County Sheriff Terry Maketa appealed a day earlier for the public's help to find Austin Eugene Bryant and Edward Dylan Bryant.

Investigators say the boys, biological brothers, apparently had disappeared by 2003 when the family lived in Monument, just north of Colorado Springs. Austin would have been 7 and Edward 11 at the time. Law enforcement officers weren't alerted until January...."

and

"....The boys' adoptive parents, Edward Bryant, 58, and Linda Bryant, 54, were arrested on charges of receiving nearly $175,000 in government payments to support the boys, even though they weren't living with the couple for most of the decade. They're being held in the El Paso County jail on charges including theft, forgery and falsified documents. Bail was set at $1 million for each.

They haven't been charged in the boys' disappearances. It was unclear whether they have attorneys...."

more at link

 

[Missizzy]

I just did some calculations concerning the AAP (adoption assistance). If the children were not with the family for approximately 8 years that the parents received the AAP, that comes up to about $800-900/month per child. Depending on the state that placed the children with the Bryants, that was a typical "specialized rate" at the time of their placement. A basic rate is equal to a basic foster care amount--at the time, $300-500/month. If my assumptions are correct, these children had a reasonably high level of need.

If a family needs more funds for treatment, respite, property repair, or in home services, they can formally request it and even ask for a state fair hearing to be awarded it. If the children were too much for them to handle, DHS would have removed them. Sometimes, however, that's far harder than it should be. I've had families beg to have a challenging child removed for months before it happens as there are so few homes available. That is courting disaster as it puts the child in danger and the family in crisis.

There's just so so much wrong here and I happen to know far more than I wish I did.

 

[revampz]

These boys were merely adopted for money. they are disguisting these people. We have seen some horrible abuse cases on here, but to adopt children for money and then abuse and kill them, when the adoption waiting lists are huge!!! I want to know how they did get to adopt so many kids in the first place, were they foster kids first???? I would also be looking into how the other kids are/have been treated, and the lot taken of them and no more money ever given to them. I really think these 2 boys are dead.

 

[MorenoI]

http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/27154903/detail.html

Towards end of article

"…She mentioned manslaughter charges and offered that she would take all charges so that Edward Bryant was not incarcerated so he could keep the children they still had," Otto wrote.

Ummm I'm sure that will happen! They need to investigate the remaining children, they must have been abused also.

 

[suzier]

The math isn't working for me:

9 adopted children
2 missing children
5 in custody at time of arrest

Has there been anything said about another pair of kids and thier whereabouts???

 

[krista]

suzier,

It appears that at least one of the children, James, has sinced moved from the home. According to the article, about half of these children are adults/would be adults now.

 

[PoppyH]

The math isn't working for me:

9 adopted children
2 missing children
5 in custody at time of arrest

Has there been anything said about another pair of kids and thier whereabouts???

2 are missing

5 still living with them when arrested

1 living away from home{James}

1 is in jail

 

[SilkySifaka]

2 are missing

5 still living with them when arrested

1 living away from home{James}

1 is in jail

This is where nature and nurture shows how much nurture has to do with it..I am not surprised at all that 1 is in jail, its takes a lot of strength of character to get through that sort of abuse (and it must have been horrific if it killed two) and not be such a mess that you commit some crime or other be it drugs or burglary or even worse.

They should be charged for destroying the life of the one in jail too. Sure he made his choice but how in heck do you learn to make good choices with people like that. People do but many end up with little to no self esteem which leads to bad choices directed to self or externally.

 

[TxMomma]

The 5 children still in the home are all minors. The full sibling of the missing boys who was interviewed in the affidavidt (not James) is a minor. I don't know why they didn't redact his name.

 

[elepher50]

According to the affidavit, Austin was starved, a stun gun was used on him, he was locked in a trunk for days and was wrapped tightly in a blanket “like a burrito” and left on the floor for extended periods of time.

The Bryants allegedly beat him and refused him food so that he ate out of garbage cans to survive at times.

http://www.dentonrc.com/sharedcontent/dws/drc/localnews/stories/DRC_bryant_0312.1d6a8fb15.html

El Paso County Sheriff’s Lt. Lari Sevene said Friday that the current owners of a house where the family lived from 1999 to 2005 have allowed deputies to search the house and property for signs of the boys or what happened to them.

Where are these two boys - there appears to be a fair amount of land around the house where they were living at the time.

 

[TxMomma]

http://www.gazette.com/news/boys-114403-child-process.html


"Those who work in child welfare believe nothing could have been done to change the course of events" :banghead: