KS KS - Adam Herrman, 11, Towanda, 1999

[ibyoungr]

From the CNN link from ibyoungr's post

http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/01/05/...ing/index.html


"'Adam had been placed in the Herrmans' care when he was about 2, Murphy said in a phone interview. He had been named Irvin Groeninger III when he was born on June 8, 1987, Murphy said, and it was not clear when his name was changed.

His biological parents relinquished their rights as parents about two decades ago, and Adam and his siblings were put in different foster homes, CNN affiliate KWCH reported.

"I thought what I was doing for them was in the best interest of the children and evidently it wasn't," Irvin Groeninger told KWCH. "If he was still in my custody this would have never happened.

Adam's sister, Tiffany Broadfoot, 22, said she last saw her brother about 14 years ago at a birthday party.

A year or two later, he sent her a Christmas card, she said. "And that was the end of my contact with him," she told KWCH."'




--->>>I am wondering where his biological mother is, it makes no mention of her in the quoted part above. Quote from above -> "I" and "IF he was still in 'MY' custody this would have never happened.

I am guessing there is a big bunch more to this story - involving the bio mom. What a handsome boy, I surely hope he is still alive and happy somewhere.

.

The bio mom admits to not being a good mother and her and the bio-dad divorced. The children went to foster care. The bio mom now lives in Colorado and works at Walmart.

 

[JaneInOz]

I did read- I was agreeing. In the Rainwalker case, the family kept collecting $$$ from the state even after everyine knew he was missing. He was treated terribly, as it is alleged that Adam was.

I am fortunate in that of my 3 friends who are adopted, two were treated very, very well, and the third was treated as best as her family (she was adopted by a bio relative) could manage given their mental problems- she was never abused. I am thankful they were all adopted by people who really love them.

The most vulnerable are being preyed upon and it is so terrible. I just don't understand it.

Yes....There are many lovely adoption stories where the adopted child is loved cherished, treated like a princess (oh that would me) lol
But sadly there are all too many horror ones, but they just don't get the publicity that is needed to open up peoples eyes to what goes on A LOT in the adoption world...

I suppose It is a little Similar to Cases like Caylee Anthony And Madeleine McCann - such high profile High Media cases when there are other lovely little children abused and or murdered that get a corner snippet in the news...

Adoption and indeed Foster Care needs a really solid shake up, there is far too much room for abuse and murder of children.....

 

[azmama]

Oh my, what a heartbreaking story I can not imagine a little boys life not meaning enough to anyone that no one knew until now. How truly sad.

Ugh, I can't watch the video, I just can't.

 

[JaneInOz]

http://www.individual.com/story.php?story=94229740

SNIPPED

The last time Groeninger saw his son was when the boy was about 18 months old -- about 20 years ago. He and Adam's mother divorced, and Adam and his siblings ended up in state custody................................
..........................snipped..........................................Adam's biological mother, Gerri George, is 46 and works as a Wal-Mart cashier in Colorado.

She said her son was born at St. Francis Hospital in Wichita and that he went into state custody at about age 2.

"I had been a little bit not exactly a good parent," she said, adding she had left a bruise on an older child. Still, she said, she did her best to give her children a good home.

She last saw her son when he was about 4.

She last got a picture of him -- mailed by his adoptive mother -- in 1993. He was 6.

On the back was his new name: Adam Joseph Herrman.

She said Broadfoot called her a couple weeks ago to tell her Adam was missing.

"She just said, 'Mom, don't have a heart attack... but one of your kids came up missing, and they said there's no record of him.' "

Then Friday, a Butler County investigator asked her to give a DNA sample "in case they do find a clue or a hint of him, that they can do a comparison to make sure it is him," she said.

She said investigators told her "they do not have a single clue" about what happened to Adam.

Now, she is raising two children, one 7 and one 9.

And she wishes Adam and the other children had remained with her. "I always have," she said.

Every holiday, she starts and ends the day crying over the children whose custody she lost, she said.

"I still cry, because I miss them."

So she left a bruise on her Older child and LOST Custody OF ALL her children.....

As i said there are some really HUGE Issues of ripping children from their biological families and shoving them in foster care / adopting them out in Kansas... Im trying to locate a link which has a LOT of stories regarding this...

Unfortunately in many cases they take the child when they shouldn't...And then there are the chronically abused children that Child Welfare keep on going back to time and time again and NEVER remove the child (Baby P is just one that springs to mind)

Why is it so backward ?

Damn sure that this little Boy Adam would be far better off with his bio parents and them getting some Parenting / Anger Management help classes than lying DEAD Somewhere which I guarantee he is

What have we learnt , after all, from the most recent Case of Caylee Anthony, not reported for 31 days - end result she is dead...People who don't report their children missing do so for a reason...

 

[Sprout]

I read about this just now. How in the heck could they not report him missing????

 

[Piglitsmum]

http://www.kansas.com/news/story/652772.html

Lots of pointers here and warning signs of abuse spotted, and reported here, by members of the adoptive family - :furious: Shocking that no-one reported the abuse, and accepted the (allegedly abusive) adoptive mom's say on the child being handed back to the State...

I read another article which states that no remains have been found in the former home, but that searches will be ongoing elsewhere. Meanwhile, an age progressed photo of Adam is being prepared - I hardly think it worth the bother, in this sad instance...

 

[SuziQ]

http://www.kansas.com/news/story/652772.html

Lots of pointers here and warning signs of abuse spotted, and reported here, by members of the adoptive family - :furious: Shocking that no-one reported the abuse, and accepted the (allegedly abusive) adoptive mom's say on the child being handed back to the State...

I read another article which states that no remains have been found in the former home, but that searches will be ongoing elsewhere. Meanwhile, an age progressed photo of Adam is being prepared - I hardly think it worth the bother, in this sad instance...

Everyone who knew about the abuse and never reported it needs to be charged with accessory. These people disgust me.

 

[believe09]

Is there any follow-up to what authorities found when they dug up the floor?

Clearly they were still taking the child as a deduction, even after he "disappeared", imo.

Are these people in custody yet?

 

[believe09]

"He was a problem child. He ran away frequently to the point of exasperation," Eisenbise said. "My clients feel very guilty that the last time he left they didn't make an attempt to locate him. Every other time, the police were called or he wandered back. They assumed he found one of his siblings or went back to his biological parents."

Sorry for the back to back posts, but the above statement enrages me...by all means let us blame a minor child for the fact that he is missing-clearly it could not be the fault of the ADULTS who had custody of him, Mr. Eisenbise??? A ludicrous statement, imo...:furious::furious:

 

[SuziQ]

Is there any follow-up to what authorities found when they dug up the floor?

Clearly they were still taking the child as a deduction, even after he "disappeared", imo.

Are these people in custody yet?

In the presser LE said in that search a big question was answered, but they were not prepared to share that at this time. The parents are officially POI's but no arrests have been made.

 

[SuziQ]

"He was a problem child. He ran away frequently to the point of exasperation," Eisenbise said. "My clients feel very guilty that the last time he left they didn't make an attempt to locate him. Every other time, the police were called or he wandered back. They assumed he found one of his siblings or went back to his biological parents."

Sorry for the back to back posts, but the above statement enrages me...by all means let us blame a minor child for the fact that he is missing-clearly it could not be the fault of the ADULTS who had custody of him, Mr. Eisenbise??? A ludicrous statement, imo...:furious::furious:

And by all accounts the child was well behaved with no history of problems or running away.

 

[Mr. E]

http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/01/05/kansas.boy.missing/index.html

This is confusing, but it seems that these parents kept this boy as a foster child, then possibly adopted him, but the child hasn't been seen since 1999! He was 11 or 12 at the time. The parents believed he was either with his biological parents or homeless. Give me a break.

There's a pic of him in the article.

 

[The_Woof]

Sorry for the back to back posts, but the above statement enrages me...by all means let us blame a minor child for the fact that he is missing-clearly it could not be the fault of the ADULTS who had custody of him,

It's almost like a kind of Munchousens syndrome. I adopt a child that has been abused, am shocked that he/she has emotional problems and then abuse them more. THEN I tell everybody what a bad kid they were. :furious:

http://www.ksla.com/Global/story.asp?S=9494242
Here's another child and I know of another one in the same area who didn't make the news because he didn't die.

The problem is, adoptive parents are screened and it would be very difficult to employ enough workers to keep close tabs on every adopted child until they turn 18. Part of the problem is the child welfare system is underfunded, IMO. It's a catch 22, CPS is blamed when things like this happen, but when they storm in for very little reason, they are blamed. Menwhile NO ONE trusts CPS and doesn't want to fund an institution they view as corrupt/ineffective.

 

[raeann]

Adam Herrman has just recently been reported missing from Butler County, Kansas. Please merge this thread if one has been started elsewhere that I did not find.

This child has just been reported missing, but has been missing for 10 YEARS. There is information at the following site:
http://www.truecrimereport.com/index.php?page=1

There is additional and more updated info. at Kansas.com which a site for the Wichita Eagle newspaper, and I believe CNN has also picked up on the story. Those here at WS could be very helpful in looking for information and getting this young man's picture out there. His adoptive parents now claim that he ran away when he was 11 or 12 years old. However, they never reported it at the time and told their own relatives that he had been taken into state custody. Their own relatives also report that they observed numerous instances of abuse of this child, including an older brother's report who was a biological child of this couple.

 

[brad]

http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/01/05/kansas.boy.missing/index.html

Sheriff: Parents didn't report boy missing for a decade


Authorities in Kansas are looking for a boy who disappeared about a decade ago, but was not reported missing until a few weeks ago.
"We don't know what happened to Adam Herrman past '99, when he was last seen," Butler County Sheriff Craig Murphy said at a news conference in El Dorado.
"Is he alive, is he dead? That one I can't answer because we don't know," he added.
Adam was 11 or 12 when he was last seen, Murphy said. At the time, he was living in a mobile home park in Towanda, a small town in southern Kansas, with his adoptive parents, Doug and Valerie Herrman. The couple did not report him missing, Murphy said.
A few weeks ago, a person notified Sedgwick County Exploited and Missing Children's Unit of a "concern" regarding Adam, Murphy said.

(MORE AT LINK)

 

[brad]

this is just beyond comprehension to me...why adopt him??

 

[KindraLore]

This article states last time he was seen was Super Bowl Sunday in 1999, where he was chained to a bathtub.

http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7013613800

 

[raeann]

http://www.individual.com/story.php?story=94229740


As i said there are some really HUGE Issues of ripping children from their biological families and shoving them in foster care / adopting them out in Kansas... Im trying to locate a link which has a LOT of stories regarding this...

Unfortunately in many cases they take the child when they shouldn't...And then there are the chronically abused children that Child Welfare keep on going back to time and time again and NEVER remove the child (Baby P is just one that springs to mind)

Why is it so backward ?

Please do not hurl insults at people that you do not know. I am sure you would not want others to do this to you. Kansas is NOT backward in any way, we are well educated, intelligent, and some of the most kind and caring people you could ever hope to meet. Just as, I am sure, are the people of your own state. There are stories similar to this in EVERY state and country, sadly. The LE who are working this case are not BACKWARD, and neither are the people from the community who are doing everything possible to help find answers about Adam.

 

[SuziQ]

Please do not hurl insults at people that you do not know. I am sure you would not want others to do this to you. Kansas is NOT backward in any way, we are well educated, intelligent, and some of the most kind and caring people you could ever hope to meet. Just as, I am sure, are the people of your own state. There are stories similar to this in EVERY state and country, sadly. The LE who are working this case are not BACKWARD, and neither are the people from the community who are doing everything possible to help find answers about Adam.

I don't think she was hurling insults at the entire state of KS. She was pointing out that in her knowledge the adoption system in KS has flaws. Yes, these problems occur in every state, but KS is mentioned because KS is where this case is from.

 

[Sheromom]

Oh my; I am sure that this little guy is no longer with us. I hope they can find enough evidence to put those "parents" away for life!