KS – Unidentified Child Remains found buried in backyard in Rose Hill, Sept. 11, 2024

[tlcya]

Police were called at 7:29 p.m. Tuesday about a barricaded adult threatening to harm themselves in the 1400 block of North Meeker Court. Two other adults and two children were inside as well.
[snip]
The same people have been listed as the owners of the property since at least 2019, according to the earliest available year online under Butler County’s tax information

A child’s remains were found buried in a Rose Hill backyard. How police discovered them

“The state of decomposition would suggest that the individual had been there for probably a couple of years.”

www.yahoo.com

So at the time of the disturbance call there were three adults in the house, including the distressed barricader, and two minor children.

 

[tlcya]

Chief Parlier couldn’t confirm whether the current owners were living in the home at the time of death or if the child was connected to the owners. The owners do live in the house currently; it is not being rented out, and police confirmed children are living in the home.

“We have suspicions, but until the autopsy comes back based on the state of decomposition, there was not an immediate identifiable way to identify the individual,” said Chief Parlier.

https://www.ksn.com/news/local/its-unsettling-and-scary-childs-remains-found-buried-in-rose-hill-backyard-investigation-underway/

Community gathers, questions abound after discovery of child’s remains in Rose Hill yard

Despite the child’s identity and manner of death not being known, the news of a child’s death in the community is a tragedy that drove faith leaders and others to gather Thursday night for a candlelight vigil.

www.kwch.com

(this link offers no new info but does show an ariel view of the backyard in question as it's opening image in the video that accompanies the article)

 

[notafighter]

I don't want to ask too many questions because this is a very new investigation and LE is likely very overwhelmed by all this. Imagine answering a call regarding someone threatening to harm themselves and now you have a child homicide that went undiscovered for years on your hands. Unimaginable.

from ‘Mind-blowing’: Rose Hill community shocked after child’s remains found buried in backyard
“Rose Hill is a small town and like I said, I have been here a long time and we’re all pretty close,” said Rose Hill business owner Tyler McCune. Rose Hill has a population of about 4,000 people.

from Child remains found in backyard of Rose Hill residence - Butler County Times-Gazette

“We didn’t go to that house looking for a homicide, we didn’t we go to that house expecting a homicide,” said Chief Parlier. “Those threads present themselves and then you have to pull on those threads and ask the next question, and sometimes things come up. That’s how we ended up where we’re at.”

After requesting search warrants and subpoenas to the home, the Rose Hill PD, along with the Butler County Sheriff’s Office, brought cadaver-trained K9’s to the home’s location, who indicated to a few different locations in the backyard.

Once the Sheriff’s Office began digging, human remains were found around 4:30pm. According to the Rose Hill PD, the size of the remains indicates that they belong to a child under the age of 10 years old. Due to the state of decomposition, the exact age and gender cannot be identified as of yet, but authorities did disclose that the homicide could have happened about three years ago.

“There is speculation on social media that it’s Adam Hermann, and I can definitively say that it is not,” said Chief Parlier. “I saw people going down that road and I hate to give anybody false hope.”

 

[ChatteringBirds]

There is speculation on social media that it’s Adam Hermann,

I think they misspelled "Adam Herrman."
Also a horrifically tragic case.

 

[LadyL]

Log into Facebook

Intetsting post 15 hours ago by DP. (Remember this is just FYI material and we cannot discuss.)

what FB was it? it says 'content not available' for me

 

[tlcya]

yeah, I couldn't get the one upthread to open either. But I did find an interesting comment by CJW made yestrday under this post from KCWH 12news.

https://www.facebook.com/kwchnews/posts/pfbid0a3JHTo1bD5Tp8dh6a4AvBQAtK4oV7VNyC11jHFVZ4DtBQFK1242tsV5436e98AZml

 

[tlcya]

also interesting comments by LB and responded to by ML under this article (currently there are 17 responses to LBs comment)

https://www.facebook.com/KAKEnews/posts/pfbid02drEFyLJQ2czFbQWzvxsYAVJmj9w2EWaiV8nSgg87q8sDYosimEK1VxziTo3nD8pVl

 

[LadyL]

yeah, I couldn't get the one upthread to open either. But I did find an interesting comment by CJW made yestrday under this post from KCWH 12news.

https://www.facebook.com/kwchnews/posts/pfbid0a3JHTo1bD5Tp8dh6a4AvBQAtK4oV7VNyC11jHFVZ4DtBQFK1242tsV5436e98AZml

also interesting comments by LB and responded to by ML under this article (currently there are 17 responses to LBs comment)

https://www.facebook.com/KAKEnews/posts/pfbid02drEFyLJQ2czFbQWzvxsYAVJmj9w2EWaiV8nSgg87q8sDYosimEK1VxziTo3nD8pVl

those both say no longer available for me

 

[aimeea]

those both say no longer available for me

I think something is happening to the links when they're shared here. You can go to the KWCH 12 and KAKE News pages and find the posts that correspond with the time stamps (really annoying to have to do that, however).

 

[LadyL]

I think something is happening to the links when they're shared here. You can go to the KWCH 12 and KAKE News pages and find the posts that correspond with the time stamps (really annoying to have to do that, however).

I just realized all three were FB links. I'm Canadian and we are banned from accessing or sharing news links on FB. It's ridiculous but FB wanted fees to post Canadian news content and our gov't said no or something ... I'm not completely sure but it's unfortunate for us.

 

[tlcya]

nothing new except the adult who had the mental health issue that stemmed this investigation is an adult female. She was hospitalized and is reported to be in serious but stable condition.

 

[tlcya]

WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) – The Kansas Department of Children and Families has denied KSN’s request for any records relating to a case in Rose Hill where a child’s remains were found buried in the backyard.
https://www.ksn.com/news/local/kansas-dcf-denies-records-request-in-case-where-childs-remains-found/

 

[tlcya]

WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) – The Kansas Department of Children and Families has denied KSN’s request for any records relating to a case in Rose Hill where a child’s remains were found buried in the backyard.
https://www.ksn.com/news/local/kansas-dcf-denies-records-request-in-case-where-childs-remains-found/

 

[GRT]

WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) – The Kansas Department of Children and Families has denied KSN’s request for any records relating to a case in Rose Hill where a child’s remains were found buried in the backyard.
https://www.ksn.com/news/local/kansas-dcf-denies-records-request-in-case-where-childs-remains-found/

That sounds ominous.

They didn't specify, but if KSN was seeking records related to the address where the child was found, it suggests there were either prior reports of abuse or the family was a foster family.

But, either way, did no one report a child missing a few years ago?

 

[tlcya]

That sounds ominous.

They didn't specify, but if KSN was seeking records related to the address where the child was found, it suggests there were either prior reports of abuse or the family was a foster family.

But, either way, did no one report a child missing a few years ago?

They were indeed seeking information related to the address. and yes, per LE no missing person report was ever made regarding the "suspected" victim. It is odd to me that they worded it like that. Made me think they have an idea who the remains belong to. Maybe divulged to them by the adult female who was barricaded in the home prompting the initial response which then led to the body.

 

[kccorona]

https://www.ksn.com/news/biological-mother-of-three-placed-in-rose-hill-home-says-childs-remains-are-her-daughter/

Christa Helm told KSN’s Derek Lytle she gave DNA to investigators last Friday, to help confirm the identity of the child.

Rose Hill Police Chief Taylor Parlier said Friday, the Sedgwick County Forensic Science Center said results of the autopsy could be done by mid-next week. He confirmed that Helm is the biological mother of three children who lived at the home.

Helm relinquished custody of three of her daughters in late 2018. She said she struggled when her kids were younger, spent time in jail, and dealt with substance use. In 2017, she says her kids were taken from her, and she became homeless. The three children were taken out of her care and adopted into the Rose Hill family’s home in 2019. Helm said when she saw the discovery of the child’s remains at the home last week, her heart dropped.

No words are sufficient for this kind of news. It’s a whole other level of terrible when kids have already experienced the trauma of removal from their bio family, and then go on to experience even worse in what is supposed to be their safe landing space.

 

[notafighter]

from the same article:
“How does nobody know this child is missing?” she said. “Why was DCF not checking up on her?”
My thoughts exactly. I am not well-versed in how the Kansas Department for Children and Families works, but an adopted child vanishing for 5 years without any observation by child welfare services feels like some sort of negligence. How can a child just disappear like that with nobody noticing? Were the children not enrolled in school? Perhaps they had been in "online schooling" like poor Malinda Hoagland. I'm just so shocked at how this is all unfolding. It really sounds like nobody had any idea such horrors had even occurred. My heart breaks for this poor baby, and for her siblings. May justice be swift.
Helm says she wants answers to how someone could bury a child in the backyard, especially with other children in the home.
“They had to be playing in that backyard, where their sister was, and they had no idea, and if they did, how and why,” Helm said.
Helm said if it is her daughter, she hopes to one day give her a proper funeral and burial.

 

[perfectingpink]

what FB was it? it says 'content not available' for me

KCTV5 News
Not sure this will work but I shall post it anyway.

Log into Facebook

Log into Facebook to start sharing and connecting with your friends, family, and people you know.

www.facebook.com

 

[LadyL]

KCTV5 News
Not sure this will work but I shall post it anyway.

Log into Facebook

Log into Facebook to start sharing and connecting with your friends, family, and people you know.

www.facebook.com

no I realized after that comment that the reason I can't see them is because I'm in Canada and our gov't won't pay Meta to post news links so Meta banned us from seeing news posts

but thank you anyway

 

[Aurora90]

no I realized after that comment that the reason I can't see them is because I'm in Canada and our gov't won't pay Meta to post news links so Meta banned us from seeing news posts

but thank you anyway

VPN's used to work but not anymore it appears. Darn. Canada really be putting up a media wall. I remember something like this when I was in China, and I couldn't get onto Facebook. This sucks.

USA folks, please update with info when possible, thank you all so much! (while still adhering to WS rules and regulations of course)

Much appreciated. This is a sad outcome, and I am praying for the other children involved. They will need lots of support moving forward.