LA - Lacey Fletcher 36, GRAPHIC, disabled, found dead, on couch for years, Jan'22 *Parents arrested*

[Marysmith]

So now the parent's claim she developed some form of Asperger's in the 9th grade? I have never heard of that happening. But wait, I thought it was autism? IMO, they are throwing fake diagnosis out there to see what will stick. I can guess why she was home schooled and it was to hide abuse. Moo.

Louisiana parents insisted it was daughter's decision to stay on couch Parents of autistic Louisiana woman insisted it was her decision to remain on couch | Daily Mail Online via Home | Daily Mail Online

I saw that too and have never heard of that either. Asperger’s is on the autism spectrum.
If your 16 year old wanted to stay on the couch all the time and use it as a toilet wouldn’t you get help?! Like what kind of a sorry excuse is that?
Still don’t get how they couldn’t have been arrested for some kind of neglect or abuse in January…

 

[SuziQ]

I see, I didn’t realise its so common to home school kids in the USA. It’s almost non existent here and only allowed in special circumstances which are checked by the authorities. Nobody really can pull a child from school otherwise child welfare authorities will be knocking very fast.

This doesn't apply to all home schoolers, but an alarming amount of kids are pulled out of school to hide abuse going on at home.

 

[passionflower]

You make a good point- why was nobody checking up on her? It is like she was invisible--

No friends? No grandparents? Aunts cousins? And when I read about the rodent droppings! Oh my word! Then pictures in front of a beautiful Christmas tree in what year!

 

[passionflower]

I am wondering if her issues were from abuse. Those photos show what appears to be a happy, active and mobile girl. Their story just isn't adding up. My mind is going in several different directions...

I agree what made her go into a shell? They have allot of explaining. She’s very social in the photos joined in with no melt downs!

 

[passionflower]

The parents also said she ate half a sandwich and cheetoes on January 2nd. That must be untruthful as well.

Wasn’t in her autopsy report. In those conditions did she even have teeth to chew? Her body was rotting

 

[FlossyMay]

No friends? No grandparents? Aunts cousins? And when I read about the rodent droppings! Oh my word! Then pictures in front of a beautiful Christmas tree in what year!

What's this about rodent droppings? I must have missed that.

 

[nao]

Moo...maybe paranoid schizophrenic? That can start later in life.....moo

 

[FlossyMay]

They should have been arrested that same day. I'm pissed off that they were out there making up stupid excuses this whole time when they should have been sitting in jail.

 

[EllaRenee]

So now the parent's claim she developed some form of Asperger's in the 9th grade? I have never heard of that happening. But wait, I thought it was autism? IMO, they are throwing fake diagnosis out there to see what will stick. I can guess why she was home schooled and it was to hide abuse. Moo.

Louisiana parents insisted it was daughter's decision to stay on couch Parents of autistic Louisiana woman insisted it was her decision to remain on couch | Daily Mail Online via Home | Daily Mail Online

Long time lurker here and my first time commenting in a thread. This was a story I regretted learning about and the more I read, the more heartbroken I am for this young woman. I'm the parent of a high functioning autistic daughter - who was originally diagnosed with Asperger's when she was in 7th grade, and over time the diagnosis became high functioning autism. She didn't develop it in 7th grade, but that was when we were finally able to get something "official" in terms of understanding some of her issues. Getting a diagnosis is a process...and for some, it's not very clear cut.

So, I'm wondering whether or not Lacey ever actually had an official autism or Asperger's diagnosis from a licensed medical professional - it's not clear in the news reports that I've read. If she had severe social anxiety - did they try to get medication and/or counseling for her so that she could still live a functional life? It doesn't appear that way...I have absolutely no understanding of her parents' complete failure to get services or help for Lacey, and for themselves, if they felt overwhelmed. I, too, think they may just be throwing diagnoses out there to see what will stick.

Regardless, whether or not she had autism is almost irrelevant - because it in no way excuses the situation that her parents allowed/created/tolerated. It defies all decency. If anything, an autism diagnosis makes them appear to be even more depraved and neglectful!

It's just MOO, but it seems that there is something else as others have said, something more sinister here, like long term abuse, that they were trying to hide. Would like to add: the Daily Mail in the quoted link claims that she was 'severely autistic' - but in the FB group photos, she was participating in team sports and smiling in the photos - that doesn't ring true for someone who is 'severely' autistic. I had been thinking maybe she was non verbal, etc. but now that I've seen those photos, I'm even more suspicious of the parents. There's a reason they kept her from being seen by a doctor all those years, and it's not because she CHOSE to sit on a couch and slowly starve to death in her own filth. I suspect they were afraid of WHAT she would tell a doctor...

I'm just so sorry for Lacey. These people are monsters.

 

[tlcya]

@EllaRenee Welcome to Websleuths, excellent first post. Look forward to reading more of your thoughts in future.

 

[Nickieca]

so this man says he saw her 5 or 6 years ago..

“Neighbors the WBRZ Investigative Unit spoke to did not even know Lacey had died until we told them.
‘I asked him one day a couple of years ago because I hadn't seen her,’ Robert Blades said. ‘Yeah, she still stays here.’
Blades said he used to see Lacey outside, but that stopped about five or six years ago. Blades was in disbelief that her parents could have kept such an awful secret.

Makes you wonder if he's just mistaken and it wasn't her or he's remembered the years wrong...and it was actually around 2010....also where did he see her, and what she was doing?. ...the population of Slaughter is just under 1000, so it's surprising a young girl could just disappear without people questioning it....esp if the parents were regular church goers.

 

[Electric Sheep]

I am wondering if it could have been brain damage from a beating that caused the immobility and inability to speak.

 

[SuziQ]

Long time lurker here and my first time commenting in a thread. This was a story I regretted learning about and the more I read, the more heartbroken I am for this young woman. I'm the parent of a high functioning autistic daughter - who was originally diagnosed with Asperger's when she was in 7th grade, and over time the diagnosis became high functioning autism. She didn't develop it in 7th grade, but that was when we were finally able to get something "official" in terms of understanding some of her issues. Getting a diagnosis is a process...and for some, it's not very clear cut.

So, I'm wondering whether or not Lacey ever actually had an official autism or Asperger's diagnosis from a licensed medical professional - it's not clear in the news reports that I've read. If she had severe social anxiety - did they try to get medication and/or counseling for her so that she could still live a functional life? It doesn't appear that way...I have absolutely no understanding of her parents' complete failure to get services or help for Lacey, and for themselves, if they felt overwhelmed. I, too, think they may just be throwing diagnoses out there to see what will stick.

Regardless, whether or not she had autism is almost irrelevant - because it in no way excuses the situation that her parents allowed/created/tolerated. It defies all decency. If anything, an autism diagnosis makes them appear to be even more depraved and neglectful!

It's just MOO, but it seems that there is something else as others have said, something more sinister here, like long term abuse, that they were trying to hide. Would like to add: the Daily Mail in the quoted link claims that she was 'severely autistic' - but in the FB group photos, she was participating in team sports and smiling in the photos - that doesn't ring true for someone who is 'severely' autistic. I had been thinking maybe she was non verbal, etc. but now that I've seen those photos, I'm even more suspicious of the parents. There's a reason they kept her from being seen by a doctor all those years, and it's not because she CHOSE to sit on a couch and slowly starve to death in her own filth. I suspect they were afraid of WHAT she would tell a doctor...

I'm just so sorry for Lacey. These people are monsters.

Great first post! Welcome to WS.

 

[SuziQ]

so this man says he saw her 5 or 6 years ago..

“Neighbors the WBRZ Investigative Unit spoke to did not even know Lacey had died until we told them.
‘I asked him one day a couple of years ago because I hadn't seen her,’ Robert Blades said. ‘Yeah, she still stays here.’
Blades said he used to see Lacey outside, but that stopped about five or six years ago. Blades was in disbelief that her parents could have kept such an awful secret.

Makes you wonder if he's just mistaken and it wasn't her or he's remembered the years wrong...and it was actually around 2010....also where did he see her, and what she was doing?. ...the population of Slaughter is just under 1000, so it's surprising a young girl could just disappear without people questioning it....esp if the parents were regular church goers.

I wonder how long the parent's had been going to this church? Surely, they would have noticed Lacey being absent? And why didn't her parent's ask the church for help? A church is a great resource when times are tough.

 

[Marysmith]

so this man says he saw her 5 or 6 years ago..

“Neighbors the WBRZ Investigative Unit spoke to did not even know Lacey had died until we told them.
‘I asked him one day a couple of years ago because I hadn't seen her,’ Robert Blades said. ‘Yeah, she still stays here.’
Blades said he used to see Lacey outside, but that stopped about five or six years ago. Blades was in disbelief that her parents could have kept such an awful secret.

Makes you wonder if he's just mistaken and it wasn't her or he's remembered the years wrong...and it was actually around 2010....also where did he see her, and what she was doing?. ...the population of Slaughter is just under 1000, so it's surprising a young girl could just disappear without people questioning it....esp if the parents were regular church goers.

I wondered too if 5 to 6 years ago is really actually accurate. It’s easy to mistake time.

 

[airportwoman]

Long time lurker here and my first time commenting in a thread. This was a story I regretted learning about and the more I read, the more heartbroken I am for this young woman. I'm the parent of a high functioning autistic daughter - who was originally diagnosed with Asperger's when she was in 7th grade, and over time the diagnosis became high functioning autism. She didn't develop it in 7th grade, but that was when we were finally able to get something "official" in terms of understanding some of her issues. Getting a diagnosis is a process...and for some, it's not very clear cut.

So, I'm wondering whether or not Lacey ever actually had an official autism or Asperger's diagnosis from a licensed medical professional - it's not clear in the news reports that I've read. If she had severe social anxiety - did they try to get medication and/or counseling for her so that she could still live a functional life? It doesn't appear that way...I have absolutely no understanding of her parents' complete failure to get services or help for Lacey, and for themselves, if they felt overwhelmed. I, too, think they may just be throwing diagnoses out there to see what will stick.

Regardless, whether or not she had autism is almost irrelevant - because it in no way excuses the situation that her parents allowed/created/tolerated. It defies all decency. If anything, an autism diagnosis makes them appear to be even more depraved and neglectful!

It's just MOO, but it seems that there is something else as others have said, something more sinister here, like long term abuse, that they were trying to hide. Would like to add: the Daily Mail in the quoted link claims that she was 'severely autistic' - but in the FB group photos, she was participating in team sports and smiling in the photos - that doesn't ring true for someone who is 'severely' autistic. I had been thinking maybe she was non verbal, etc. but now that I've seen those photos, I'm even more suspicious of the parents. There's a reason they kept her from being seen by a doctor all those years, and it's not because she CHOSE to sit on a couch and slowly starve to death in her own filth. I suspect they were afraid of WHAT she would tell a doctor...

I'm just so sorry for Lacey. These people are monsters.

I know a little about this myself, due to my own extended family. Asperger's and other high-functioning autism conditions, where the child is, for instance, able to go to regular school, can be very difficult to correctly diagnose in females, especially before puberty.

 

[bombardier]

A couple more photos/information here.
Grand Jury indicts parents after disabled daughter left to die on couch for 12 years

Fletcher’s friends from grade school reached out to Unfiltered with Kiran and wanted to make it known that Lacey was not someone who stayed to herself always. She had friends, had a life, played sports with her friends and was ‘normal.’

One friend in particular said she could remember Lacey always emailing her music videos she loved and the Disney rides. “She loved music, especially Country music!! Loved Disney world! Talked about it all of the time!!! She would send us emails all the time about how much she loved it and would send us videos of all the rides she loved! We have emails from her up until 2014,” said her friend Tina Head.
I looked back at [her mother's FB] page one time and the last time she had posted a picture of her was back in 2011, I believe.

Another friend, Allison Falcon said, “We went to a small, private school with Lacey from kindergarten to 9th grade. Lacey was far from nonverbal and immobile during those years. While she did have some learning differences, which was later diagnosed as autism, she had friends, played on a volleyball team and bowling league, had slumber parties, loved going to Disney, and most of all loved music, especially country music and Mariah Carey. She had an outstanding memory and could recite so many facts.”

 

[bombardier]

This is so odd to me and I'm having a hard time seeing a possibility where childhood abuse/neglect does NOT factor in. All the 'reasons' they're bringing up about LIS, being nonverbal etc, are all BS, and I agree that if they're lying about that then they're likely lying about everything here.
We have a social, talkative, active young girl who had some anxiety/learning difficulties and was later diagnosed with ASD. Why pull her out of school?? She seemed to have been benefiting heavily from the social aspect of school, and now with an actual diagnosis, would have qualified for academic help and accommodations. NO medical professional is going to say "your child has an ASD diagnosis, so it would be best to change their entire school environment and socially isolate them to maybe?? lessen their anxiety".
I'm wondering if the parents were embarrassed of her, for whatever reason, and encouraged her to stay inside, to such a point that she got severely depressed and ended up on that couch. If evidence of active abuse comes out, I would believe it too.

 

[Eloise]

A couple more photos/information here.
Grand Jury indicts parents after disabled daughter left to die on couch for 12 years

Fletcher’s friends from grade school reached out to Unfiltered with Kiran and wanted to make it known that Lacey was not someone who stayed to herself always. She had friends, had a life, played sports with her friends and was ‘normal.’

One friend in particular said she could remember Lacey always emailing her music videos she loved and the Disney rides. “She loved music, especially Country music!! Loved Disney world! Talked about it all of the time!!! She would send us emails all the time about how much she loved it and would send us videos of all the rides she loved! We have emails from her up until 2014,” said her friend Tina Head.
I looked back at [her mother's FB] page one time and the last time she had posted a picture of her was back in 2011, I believe.

Another friend, Allison Falcon said, “We went to a small, private school with Lacey from kindergarten to 9th grade. Lacey was far from nonverbal and immobile during those years. While she did have some learning differences, which was later diagnosed as autism, she had friends, played on a volleyball team and bowling league, had slumber parties, loved going to Disney, and most of all loved music, especially country music and Mariah Carey. She had an outstanding memory and could recite so many facts.”

this is not a person with severe autism! ASD, sure. But not 'can't leave the house, can't talk, can't function' levels of severe autism. This just makes it sooo much worse and it was already the worst thing I've read for a while. I was wondering if maybe the parents were similarly disabled (despite their jobs and community standing) and they just literally didn't know what to do but I was giving them too much credit.

So now the parent's claim she developed some form of Asperger's in the 9th grade? I have never heard of that happening. But wait, I thought it was autism? IMO, they are throwing fake diagnosis out there to see what will stick. I can guess why she was home schooled and it was to hide abuse. Moo.

Louisiana parents insisted it was daughter's decision to stay on couch Parents of autistic Louisiana woman insisted it was her decision to remain on couch | Daily Mail Online via Home | Daily Mail Online

It's not unusual for girls and women to take a lot longer to be diagnosed. Girls and women present a little differently, tend to have fewer verbal communication problems, and are 'better' at masking (ie 'acting' like a neurotypical person based on observation). So it becoming obvious during adolescence and getting a late diagnosis (compared to preschooler boys) is pretty normal for ASD in females. Also Asperger's used to be classified as a separate but related condition; with the DSM-5 it was removed as a separate diagnosis and it's now just on the ASD spectrum. There are good reasons for that, including the fact that Asperger, the guy who the condition was named after, was a Nazi collaborator. But you'll hear of people diagnosed prior to that change still referring to it as Asperger's, as that's how they still identify. I agree the home schooling was probably a ruse to hide abuse.

I am wondering if it could have been brain damage from a beating that caused the immobility and inability to speak.

Such an awful possibility. I really hope that any and all abuse comes to light at trial.

 

[Dotta]

About "nose blindness"

Nose Blindness, Olfactory Fatigue: What Does It Mean?

It is such a shocking and sad case.

RIP Lacey.

At least your schoolmates cared about you and showed you respect.