Fla. investigating failure to report missing-child case
(Published Tuesday, June 19, 2007 10:36:54 AM CST)
A d v e r t i s e m e n t
Associated Press
TAMPA, Fla. - The Florida Department of Children and Families is investigating why a 2-year-old girl in state foster care wasn't reported missing for four months, only to become part of the bizarre discoveries at a rented home in Wisconsin last week.
"We've asked the inspector general to investigate this," DCF spokesman Al Zimmerman said Monday. "Obviously, something was not done correctly and we're not happy. We plan to find out what went wrong, how it went wrong and who is responsible."
Wisconsin police found Courtney Alisa Clark safe in a home in Portage on Thursday.
The following day police found a malnourished and scalded 11-year-old boy in a closet at the home, and they unearthed from the backyard the body of a 36-year-old woman presumed to be his mother. She appears to have been strangled and also suffered physical abuse, according to Columbia County (Wis.) Medical Examiner Marc Playman.
The mother of Courtney, another woman and a man were taken into custody as Wisconsin authorities investigated the case.
Lake County Sheriff's Detective Jim Vachon had been looking for Courtney since she was reported missing by a child custody caseworker on Jan. 25. Vachon said the state contractor responsible for the girl's case, the Safe Children Coalition of Pinellas County, had known since Oct. 3 that Courtney's mother, Candace Clark, took the girl from a foster family without court approval.
"Children that are in state custody need to be seen at a minimum once every 30 days," said Andy Ritter, a spokesman for the agency's Suncoast regional office in Tampa.
Vachon got a tip in the case last week and his call to authorities in Portage triggered the discovery of the injured boy and the woman's body.
A spokeswoman for the Safe Children Coalition did not immediately return calls Monday.
"It was upsetting they didn't notify us sooner," Vachon said Monday. "I never did get a real clear answer on that. They were a little bit difficult to deal with."
Telephone listings for the former foster family were disconnected Monday. They could not be reached for comment.
In Wisconsin, police arrested Clark, 23, and Michaela S. Clerc, 20, after going to the Portage home Thursday. They arrested Sisk, 25, on Friday at a Milwaukee bus depot.
The three are scheduled to appear in court Wednesday.
