JAN 23, 2020
BCPD continues search for missing siblings
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Battle Creek Police officers have been trying to track down 7-year-old Bentley Dunkelberger and 9-year-old Karley Dunkelberger after being contacted by Children’s Protective Services, according to Sgt. Chad Fickle.
“This all started to come about late last week,” Fickle said. “There were some concerns because the children hadn’t been in school, and we had attempted a couple of welfare checks at the residence with no luck.”
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“No one involved in the investigation has seen the children since the ninth and appointments with Health and Human Services that were scheduled after that were canceled by the family,” Fickle said.
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“Drug use, some mental health issues within the family, nothing to indicate there’s been previous abuse towards the children,” Fickle said. “But the fact that the family is unable or unwilling to follow the simple instructions that were laid out to maintain their family is concerning.”
Court documents show there is a pending child neglect case concerning the two children.
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“Everybody sees the news, and these usually end one of two ways,” Fickle said. “They’re either found fine and it’s blown way out of proportion or it’s catastrophically different.”
