Adam Herrman's Adoptive Parents Didn't Report Him Missing

[Lizard]

His name is Adam Joseph Herrman.

He came to his foster parents when he was about 2, and a few years later they adopted him and his two younger siblings, says a relative.

And then, in 1999, when he was around 11 or 12, he may have disappeared while living in Towanda, Butler County Sheriff Craig Murphy has said.

Over time, his adoptive parents have told relatives that the state took the boy back or that he ran away, according to the relative, who asked not to be named.

Adam was not reported missing, and investigators have been unable to find evidence that he is alive, Murphy has said.

A 2002 bankruptcy petition filed by Adam's adoptive parents lists him as a son, age 14 -- two to three years after authorities say he may have disappeared.

Law enforcement officers began investigating his possible disappearance after a recent tip to the Wichita-Sedgwick County Exploited and Missing Child Unit, Murphy said.

...

On Friday, Murphy said that investigators "did get an answer that we were looking for" during a search earlier this week of the Towanda mobile home park where Adam lived.

But Murphy stressed that it was only one among a number of answers that investigators are seeking. He wouldn't say more.

Murphy has said that investigators have talked to the boy's parents; he wouldn't say what was said or disclose their names, or the boy's name.

On Wednesday, investigators searched the Pine Ridge mobile home park in south Towanda where the boy lived in 1999.

...

The investigators used loaders to remove lumber and other materials from a vacant lot that is surrounded by a privacy fence.

Investigators also checked a nearby storage shed that appeared to hold mattresses.

The relative said the family lived in Towanda for a relatively short time after moving from Derby. They then moved to Sedgwick.

Monday's news conference is scheduled for 10 a.m. at the sheriff's offices in El Dorado.

http://www.kansascity.com/116/story/962898.html

[joo]

At the beginning of the linked article, they give the boy's name. Later on, they say that investigators did not disclose the boy's name. Apparently they got it from a different source?

[hunnie]

On Friday, Murphy said that investigators "did get an answer that we were looking for" during a search earlier this week of the Towanda mobile home park where Adam lived.


I wonder ...what did they find?.. the boy?..I'm not sure if you adopt a kid, that one would still receive the state payout...(that a foster parent gets.)

one thing for sure something stinks...reminds me of casevil...not reporting a missing child only means....... they most likely were the cause of him disappearing.

I'm sure the other kids know what happened. They'll hang their asses.

[Sister Iroz]

http://i359.photobucket.com/albums/oo35/Special2bme/artmissingboykwch.jpg
(CNN) -- Authorities in Kansas are looking for a boy who disappeared about a decade ago, but was not reported missing until a few weeks ago.
Adam Herrman has not been seen since 1999, when he was 11 or 12.

Adam Herrman has not been seen since 1999, when he was 11 or 12.

"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.

The agency did not immediately return CNN's phone call seeking additional information.

Wichita attorney Warner Eisenbise, who is representing Adam's adoptive parents, said the couple "really rue the fact that they didn't" report the boy missing.

"They feel very guilty" about not doing that, he said in a telephone interview. The couple told him the boy had run away frequently, he said, and they believed him to be either with his biological parents or homeless.

Although the Herrmans did not report him missing, "they were very worried about him," he said.

Authorities have searched the Pine Ridge Mobile Home Park, where the family had lived, and discovered an "answer" to one of their questions, Murphy said, without explaining.

"We did find one of the answers we were looking for, but I am holding that one very tightly," he said.

Eisenbise said authorities also executed a search warrant on December 15 at the Herrmans' home in Derby, a town just outside of Wichita. They took the couple's computer, he said.

Murphy said the couple is cooperating and had not been charged with anything.

Citing a relative, the Wichita Eagle reported the Herrmans had taken Adam into foster care and later adopted him.

Michelle Ponce of the Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services, which oversees adoption and foster care, said she could not release any details regard Adam's case, and could confirm only that he had been in foster care at some point, but was no longer in foster care in 1999.

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.

"He had the cutest little round face, little bitty freckles right up here on the tip of his cheek," she remembered.

"I'm just awestruck as how something like that could actually happen, and how he could be missing as long as he's been and nobody say anything," she said.

Murphy said Adam's name appears on a legal document later than 1999. "We know that he was listed in a legal action as if he was still living at home, and I'm not certain of the date, but it was beyond 1999," he told CNN.

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

[Peeperann]

http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn263/Peeperann/0-2.jpg



(CNN) -- Authorities in Kansas are looking for a boy who disappeared about a decade ago, but was not reported missing until a few weeks ago.
Adam Herrman has not been seen since 1999, when he was 11 or 12.

Adam Herrman has not been seen since 1999, when he was 11 or 12.

"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.

The agency did not immediately return CNN's phone call seeking additional information.

Wichita attorney Warner Eisenbise, who is representing Adam's adoptive parents, said the couple "really rue the fact that they didn't" report the boy missing.

"They feel very guilty" about not doing that, he said in a telephone interview. The couple told him the boy had run away frequently, he said, and they believed him to be either with his biological parents or homeless.

Although the Herrmans did not report him missing, "they were very worried about him," he said.

Authorities have searched the Pine Ridge Mobile Home Park, where the family had lived, and discovered an "answer" to one of their questions, Murphy said, without explaining.

"We did find one of the answers we were looking for, but I am holding that one very tightly," he said.

Eisenbise said authorities also executed a search warrant on December 15 at the Herrmans' home in Derby, a town just outside of Wichita. They took the couple's computer, he said.

Murphy said the couple is cooperating and had not been charged with anything.

Citing a relative, the Wichita Eagle reported the Herrmans had taken Adam into foster care and later adopted him.

Michelle Ponce of the Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services, which oversees adoption and foster care, said she could not release any details regard Adam's case, and could confirm only that he had been in foster care at some point, but was no longer in foster care in 1999.

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.

"He had the cutest little round face, little bitty freckles right up here on the tip of his cheek," she remembered.

"I'm just awestruck as how something like that could actually happen, and how he could be missing as long as he's been and nobody say anything," she said.

Murphy said Adam's name appears on a legal document later than 1999. "We know that he was listed in a legal action as if he was still living at home, and I'm not certain of the date, but it was beyond 1999," he told CNN.

http://www.cnn.com

Holy Hell, did his parents kill him? Why report him missing now? They rue the day they didn't report him missing? Yeah i'll just bet they do........

[nurseronda]

[IMG]Holy Hell, did his parents kill him? Why report him missing now? They rue the day they didn't report him missing? Yeah i'll just bet they do........It would be my guess that they are getting up in age and now believe that if a God does exist, they don't want to be on his bad side when they die.

[mpratt]

Ok, myspace lovers. It was a couple of weeks ago there was a posting (bulletin) for a boy that was found on the side of the road, he was about 10-12 years old. The sketch was made up of all different colors (blue, orange, etc.) on a creme background. I think that he was from the same area. Could that be him. I tried to go back and see who posted it, but after 10 days they are deleted... Just trying to help I guess.. This story is just crazy...

[Jessiesgirl1108]

http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/CRIME/01/05/kansas.boy.missing/art.missing.boy.kwch.jpg

Authorities in Kansas are looking for a boy who disappeared about a decade ago, but was not reported missing until a few weeks ago.


Adam Herrman has not been seen since 1999, when he was 11 or 12.

"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.

The agency did not immediately return CNN's phone call seeking additional information.

Wichita attorney Warner Eisenbise, who is representing Adam's adoptive parents, said the couple "really rue the fact that they didn't" report the boy missing.

"They feel very guilty" about not doing that, he said in a telephone interview. The couple told him the boy had run away frequently, he said, and they believed him to be either with his biological parents or homeless.

Although the Herrmans did not report him missing, "they were very worried about him," he said.

Authorities have searched the Pine Ridge Mobile Home Park, where the family had lived, and discovered an "answer" to one of their questions, Murphy said, without explaining.

"We did find one of the answers we were looking for, but I am holding that one very tightly," he said.

Eisenbise said authorities also executed a search warrant on December 15 at the Herrmans' home in Derby, a town just outside of Wichita. They took the couple's computer, he said.

Murphy said the couple is cooperating and had not been charged with anything.

Citing a relative, the Wichita Eagle reported the Herrmans had taken Adam into foster care and later adopted him.

Michelle Ponce of the Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services, which oversees adoption and foster care, said she could not release any details regard Adam's case, and could confirm only that he had been in foster care at some point, but was no longer in foster care in 1999.

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.

"He had the cutest little round face, little bitty freckles right up here on the tip of his cheek," she remembered.

"I'm just awestruck as how something like that could actually happen, and how he could be missing as long as he's been and nobody say anything," she said.

Murphy said Adam's name appears on a legal document later than 1999. "We know that he was listed in a legal action as if he was still living at home, and I'm not certain of the date, but it was beyond 1999," he told
http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/01/05/kansas.boy.missing/index.html

[weavergroupie]

WTF? These people live in a vacuum or what? How could no one notice that this boy was missing? A child won't just run away for no reason. Something was going on....

[~Absynthe~]

I will never understand how people just forgetabout their missing kids it will be interesting to hear more facts on this case he is probably dead, I hope not but in reality he probably is

[ineedanap]

Ok, what is it with parents not reporting their kids missing? How are they able to get away with this, and for so long? WTF? Does nobody notice when a classmate or family member just disappears? Are we as a society THAT uninvolved? Disgusting.

[Silvahalo]

The investigators used loaders to remove lumber and other materials from a vacant lot that is surrounded by a privacy fence.

Investigators also checked a nearby storage shed that appeared to hold mattresses.


Is this making anyone else nervous? It sounds like they may have found something...a body, maybe. Lord, I hope they didn't kill this poor boy and dispose of his body.

Adam, I'm really hoping you will be found. In my heart I feel you are gone, nevertheless I want you found. If you are alive, I hope you found happiness.

http://i35.tinypic.com/2079q2e.jpg

[Unamused Cat]

Is this making anyone else nervous? It sounds like they may have found something...a body, maybe. Lord, I hope they didn't kill this poor boy and dispose of his body.

I think one or the other parent killed him.

[ineedanap]

A young boy who was not reported missing for nearly 10 years after he disappeared was allegedly abused by his adopted mother before he vanished, several relatives said Tuesday.


http://abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/story?id=6588020&page=1

Of course. We all knew where this was going. Where the hell have the relatives been since 1999?? They didn't report the abuse? They didn't report him missing? And what about the 29 year old brother? He would have been 19 10 years ago, an adult. He's just as culpable for not reporting!

[Sister Iroz]

WICHITA, Kan. — No one claims to know what happened that summer in 1999 when 11-year-old Adam Herrman disappeared from the mobile home park where he lived with his adoptive parents.

But the biggest mystery may be why no one reported him missing until nearly a decade later.

The search for Adam — who would be 21 if he is still alive — has confounded authorities and left family members regretting that they did not do more when they noticed he was gone.

His disappearance finally came to light last week when authorities — acting on a tip to the Sedgwick County Exploited and Missing Children's Unit — searched the empty lot in Towanda where the family's mobile home once stood.

Butler County Sheriff Craig Murphy has refused to say much about the case except that no human remains were found during the search.

The publicity around the search has spawned a flood of tips to the sheriff's office. More tips are expected following Tuesday's release by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children of a computer-enhanced photo showing what Adam might look like today.
Related

*
Stories
o Search Launched for Missing Boy Not Reported for 10 Years

No charges have been brought against his adoptive parents, Valerie and Doug Herrman. Murphy said consideration of any charges would wait so officials can concentrate on the search for Adam. Investigators plan to scour the banks of the Whitewater River just west of the mobile home park on Saturday.

Doug Herrman, who lives in Derby and owns a masonry business, said Tuesday that the family would not comment.

Family attorney Warner Eisenbise said Adam had a history of running away and that the Herrmans feel "very guilty" they did not report him missing. The family assumed he had found one of his siblings or went back to his biological parents, he said.

Asked on NBC's "Today" show Wednesday if his clients had anything to do with Adam's disappearance, Eisenbise replied: "Not at all. Nothing at all."

The boy's biological father, Irvin Groeninger II, also expressed regret. The Indiana trucker was divorced when authorities took Adam and his siblings from their mother's home after alleged abuse. He says he was cleared of any wrongdoing and tried to get custody of his children, but child welfare officials terminated his parental rights.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,477449,00.html

[Sister Iroz]

Butler County Sheriff Craig Murphy said Monday that his office was investigating the case as if it were a death investigation, but said it is possible Herrman is alive. He asked the public for help locating him.

Murphy said the boy's adopted parents, Doug and Valerie Herrman, were considered "people of interest" in the case, though they have not been arrested or charged with a crime.

Through their lawyer, the Herrmans have denied harming the boy. But several immediate family members claim Valerie Herrman mentally and physically abused the boy, at times hitting or slapping him, refusing to feed him and making him sleep in the bathtub without a pillow or blankets.

The Herrmans, who adopted Adam when he was about 2 years old, could not be immediately reached for comment. In an interview with the Wichita Eagle published Wednesday, Valerie Herrman denied that she hit Adam, refused to feed him or kept him chained to the tub, as some of her relatives have alleged.

"They make it sound like I tortured him, but I loved him," she told the newspaper.

On at least two occasions, in 1996 and 1998, police investigated allegations that Adam was abused. Relatives said suspected abuse was reported to child protection officials at least three times, though Adam Herrman continued to live with his adopted family.

Abuse Alleged Against Missing Boy's Adopted Mother

"She would punch him, pull his hair, use wooden spoons to spank him, push him," said Justin Herrman, one of the Herrmans' biological children, who is now 29. "He wasn't allowed to play. She locked him up in the bathroom, made him do housework all day long."

"When she's not acting crazy, my mom is actually a good person," he said. "But when she's in a bad mood, she's a monster."

A spokeswoman for the Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services said state privacy laws prevented her from disclosing whether any alleged abuse had been reported to the office. She said that extensive background checks are done on prospective adoptive parents and that the department investigates allegations of abuse or neglect.

According to local police, the police and Social Rehabilitation Services investigated a report of suspected abuse in 1996. The matter was referred for counseling through Social and Rehabilitative Services, according to the Derby police.

In 1998, police investigated a second suspected abuse call reported by Adam Herrman's school. The investigation showed that his injuries were from playing sports with his siblings, the police said.

The Herrmans' attorney, Warner Eisenbise, said his clients did not harm Adam and were not involved with his disappearance. He said they admitted that they failed to file a police report when Adam disappeared, which is illegal in Kansas, and that they continued to collect state adoption subsidy payments for Adam until he would have turned 18.



http://abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/story?id=6588020&page=1

[RaVen Blackehart]

(CNN) -- Authorities investigating the case of a boy who disappeared in Kansas almost a decade ago plan to search an undisclosed residence Wednesday, the Butler County sheriff said.
An age-progression photo shows what Adam Herrman would like today, as a 21-year-old man.

An age-progression photo shows what Adam Herrman would like today, as a 21-year-old man.
http://i44.tinypic.com/242vaeu.jpg
Sheriff Craig Murphy would not disclose details about the residence or why authorities want to search it.

He said his department will also search on an area of the Whitewater River, in southern Kansas, on Saturday near where Adam Herrman was last seen.

Adam was 11 when he went missing in 1999. He was living in a mobile home park in Towanda, a town about 25 miles northeast of Wichita, with his adoptive parents, Doug and Valerie Herrman, authorities said.

Wichita attorney Warner Eisenbise, who is representing Adam's adoptive parents, said the couple believed Adam had run away and didn't report him missing. They "really rue the fact that they didn't" report him missing, he said Monday.

A few weeks ago, an undisclosed person contacted the Wichita-Sedgwick County Exploited and Missing Child Unit, expressing concern about Adam, the sheriff said.

The Herrmans told Eisenbise that Adam ran away frequently, the attorney said, and they believed he was either with his biological parents or homeless. Although the Herrmans did not report him missing, "they were very worried about him," Eisenbise said.
Don't Miss

* Police: Parents didn't report boy missing for 10 years

In an interview published Tuesday in The Wichita Eagle, Valerie Herrman said Adam ran away in May 1999 after she spanked him with a belt. She said she was upset but doesn't remember why, The Eagle reported.

The couple never reported Adam missing, Valerie Herrman told the paper, because they feared authorities would take Adam and his siblings away because of the spanking.

The couple adopted his two younger siblings as well, according to The Eagle.

"We love him, and we made a terrible mistake" by not reporting him missing, Doug Herrman told The Eagle. The couple said they searched the mobile home park and other areas for two days after Adam left.

"Then we came to the conclusion that the police probably have him, and they're coming to us, probably to get us in trouble," Doug Herrman told the newspaper, but the "police never came."

Authorities have searched an empty lot in the Pine Ridge Mobile Home Park where the family lived. There, police found an "answer" to one of their questions, Murphy said Monday without elaborating.

Eisenbise said that on December 15, authorities also searched the Herrmans' homes in Derby, outside of Wichita, and took the couple's computer, he said.

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children has released an age-progression picture that depicts Adam as he might appear now: a young man with blue eyes and light-colored hair.

Adam had been placed in the Herrmans' care when he was about 2, Murphy said Monday.

He had been named Irvin Groeninger III when he was born 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 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, Adam's biological father, told KWCH. "If he was still in my custody, this would have never happened."

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

"He had the cutest little round face, little-bitty freckles right up here on the tip of his cheek," she told the station.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/01/07/kansas.boy.missing/index.html

[DarkPrincess]

So basically one or both of the parents killed him and then covered it up. There's no other reason for someone not to report their child missing. *cough* Casey Anthony *cough*

[Becca]

Given the fact they had previously been suspected of abuse and they continued to collect state adoption subsidy payments for Adam until he would have turned 18, I'd say yup, he's dead.

[Sister Iroz]

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — South-central Kansas investigators looking for a boy who disappeared nearly a decade ago searched a mobile home Wednesday where the child once lived with his adoptive family.

Authorities would not discuss what they were seeking or might have seized from the rural Sedgwick County home, nor its connection to the 1999 disappearance of 11-year-old Adam Herrman. The disappearance was never reported.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,477861,00.html

[RaVen Blackehart]

By KSNW News

WICHITA, Kansas - The e-mail was sent by Crystal Herrman, verified by those who know her as the biological daughter of Doug and Valerie Herrman.

In her letter, Crystal hints that she and her brother may have been the ones who called authorities last month.

The call began the search for her long lost adopted brother.

"We started this, which was hard against our own parents as we were not adopted," Crystal said. "But we want more than anything to find the truth, answers and justice."

Crystal also talks of Adam being abused.

"We pray every day our parents will come forward," Crystal said. "Do the right thing not only for what they already put Adam through in the past, but to make it right for him now."

Meanwhile, a former relative, who says she remains close to one of Valerie Herrman's sisters, says the sister told her that Valerie recently commented, "They can dig up the whole state of Kansas, they'll never find a body."

While the Herrman's attorney, Warner Eisenbise, admits his clients are worried they could be charged with murder, Eisenbise says there's no evidence to warrant that.

He continues to call the Herrmans good people, who had nothing to do with Adam's disappearance.

Meanwhile, Butler County Sheriff Craig Murphy said Tuesday an intensive search, which will include canines, will be done Saturday in the woods around the Whitewater River area west of Towanda.

"One of the things that we found is a lot of times the woods are a place where stuff is dumped," Murphy said. "When I say stuff, I'm talking about what could be evidence, could be bodies."

The sheriff continues to hope that someone around the county might know Adam's whereabouts. He appeared Tuesday evening on CNN.

"We've searched military records, we've searched social security, birth dates, drivers licenses, we've even looked in the prison systems nationwide," Murphy said on CNN.

The Sheriff also told KSN Tuesday, detectives are preparing a search warrant, but he would not say where it might be executed.



http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28532417/

[RaVen Blackehart]

By ROXANA HEGEMAN
A boy whose disappearance went unreported for 10 years was once taken away from his adoptive parents, then returned days later, Kansas' social services agency said Thursday.

Adam Herrman was in protective custody for two days in 1996 after a report of physical abuse, said Michelle Ponce, spokeswoman for the state Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services. The boy was returned to his adoptive parents, Valerie and Doug Herrman, after authorities reviewed the evidence and found the report unsubstantiated.

"We are doing a thorough review of all our case records involving Adam and his family," Ponce said.

Adam was 11 years old when he disappeared in 1999 from his adoptive parents' mobile home in Towanda. He would be 21 years old now if he is still alive.

His disappearance finally came to light last week when authorities - acting on a tip to the Sedgwick County Exploited and Missing Children's Unit - searched the empty lot in Towanda where the family's mobile home once stood.

No charges have been filed. Butler County Sheriff Craig Murphy said consideration of any charges would wait while officials concentrate on the search.

The Herrmans did not return a message seeking comment Thursday.

The family's attorney, Warner Eisenbise, has said Adam had a history of running away. Eisenbise said his clients thought the boy had done so again when he disappeared in 1999 and felt "very guilty" not reporting it at the time. Eisenbise has said the family had nothing to do with his disappearance, but acknowledged that other charges may be coming in connection with the case.

The Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services confirmed Thursday that the Herrmans continued to receive adoption subsidy payments for Adam after he was missing, but the agency could not immediately determine how much. The department said it was researching the case.

Such subsidies generally are given in situations where the children are difficult to place or in cases in which several siblings are adopted by the same family, she said.

The Herrmans adopted Adam and two of his younger siblings, family members have said.

Families receiving adoption subsidies are required to file a yearly report to verify ongoing legal and financial responsibility for the child, she said.

"If there were a situation in which an individual would knowingly supply false information to the state in order to receive benefits, that is a crime," Ponce said.

http://www.buffalonews.com/260/story/543823.html

[SoUncool]

So who's lying? The daughter, Crystal and Uncle Sam Bush or the parents? I vote the parents.

http://www.kansascity.com/news/local/story/974855.html


Missing Kansas boy's uncle regrets not taking action

WICHITA | One night, about four years before Adam Herrman disappeared from his adoptive parents’ Towanda, Kan., home at age 11, the boy’s uncle did something that still haunts him.

Sam Bush said he was living with the Herrmans at the time in 1995, and found their oldest biological daughter, Crystal, sitting on the stairs of the family’s home. Crystal was crying.

“I can’t take it anymore, what my mom’s doing to Adam,” he remembers her saying. Crystal was 17 or 18 then.

“I said, ‘Crystal, I know what your mom’s doing, but if you turn her in, do you realize the problems you’re going to cause with you and your mom? Let’s hope that it’s going to stop, that she’ll get better,’ ” Bush told The Wichita Eagle.

Over the years, Bush said, he repeatedly saw his older sister, Valerie Herrman, scream and curse in Adam’s face, slap him, strike him with a belt and throw him down. Sometimes, Bush said, he tried to intervene but backed away because he thought it would bring more abuse to Adam.

Valerie Herrman, now 52 and living in Derby, Kan., with her husband, Doug, 54, maintains that she loved Adam and that she is being wrongly accused of abuse.

Doug Herrman says that Bush is lying.

Bush, now 46, said he partly blames the state for the abuse he says Adam suffered.

“They saw the bruises,” but did not permanently remove Adam from his adoptive parents’ home, Bush said.

But Bush said he also blames adults in his family — and “myself because I witnessed so much” and didn’t report it.

“We should have done more. I don’t blame Crystal” or her younger biological brother, Justin. “At the time, they were kids.

“I was the adult the night I went in there and Crystal was sitting on those stairs, and I talked her out of it.”

Crystal, now 31, said Friday that she remembers being upset and having such a conversation with her uncle.

“I waited up to tell him that I was going to turn her in,” said Crystal, who asked that her last name not be used to protect her children’s privacy.

“Sam’s my favorite uncle,” she said, adding that she doesn’t fault him for persuading her not to report her allegations.

“We kept praying it was going to get better,” she said.

Finally, around this past Thanksgiving, Crystal reported her concerns to the state’s child protection agency, uncovering Adam’s 1999 disappearance and triggering an intense law enforcement investigation into what happened to him.

Doug Herrman said Friday that the account given by Bush and his daughter is wrong. He also said Bush didn’t live with them during the period Bush said he did.

“He’d do anything to ruin us,” Doug Herrman said.

“Everybody wants to hear dirt, and I’m sick of it,” Doug Herrman said.

[RaVen Blackehart]

A state senator wants to know if the Kansas social services department had any contact with an 11-year-old boy who went missing a decade ago but whose disappearance wasn't reported until this month.

Adam Herrman disappeared from his home in Towanda in 1999. His disappearance came to life last week when authorities acting on a tip searched the empty lot where his adoptive family's mobile home once sat.

State Sen. Jean Schodorf, the Senate assistant majority leader, said Friday she had asked Don Jordan, secretary of the Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services, to look for any signs that authorities had needed to take Adam out of the home and whether the state played a part in his disappearance by not acting on them.

"We need to ... find out if indeed the state or the system lost this child somewhere," said Schodorf. "It is just a mystery. Maybe everything was done correctly."

Michelle Ponce, spokeswoman for the social services department, said it already was conducting a "very thorough review" and would cooperate with any criminal investigation.

The department and Derby police said they investigated at least two reports of suspected abuse of Adam in 1996 and 1998.

Adam was in protective custody for two days following the 1996 report, but was returned to adoptive parents Valerie and Doug Herrman after authorities determined the report was unsubstantiated, Ponce said.

Schodorf said Adam's adoptive parents withdrew him from a Derby public school and began home-schooling him around the time of his disappearance.

State law requires operators of home schools to provide a name and address but doesn't require records of students who are home-schooled, said Ed Libber, general counsel for the Kansas Department of Education. State records listed a Herrman School with a Derby address as a non-accredited private school in January 1998.

Schodorf said she wasn't pushing for changing the laws to increase scrutiny when children are withdrawn from school.

"I think we've got to piece together this boy's life and then decide if the state needs to change their regulations," she said. "And it's probably too hard to tell now."

http://www.buffalonews.com/260/story/546328.html

[SoUncool]

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,480428,00.html


TOWANDA, Kan. — A county prosecutor says the adoptive parents of an 11-year-old boy who has been missing for nearly a decade are suspects in his disappearance and could face murder charges.

Butler County Attorney Jan Satterfield says no human remains have been found in the search for Adam Herrman, but there's still a chance for first-degree murder charges, with the underlying crime being child abuse.

Satterfield told The Wichita Eagle that although investigators haven't ruled out the possibility that Adam — who would be 21 now — is alive, they have found "no indication that he exists out there."

[Tundratot]

. . .

Adam Herrman literally vanished back in 1999 and authorities say his adoptive parents, Doug and Valerie Herrman, never reported him missing.

In fact, Adam’s disappearance wasn’t discovered until 2008. Now, his adoptive parents have been arrested and stand accused of continuing to accept money for Adam’s care.

The Butler County attorney has charged each of the parents with one count of theft for accepting more than $50,000 in government assistance for Adam’s care after he had gone missing.

. . .

Doug and Valerie Herrman have posted bond and are out of jail.

. . . http://www.ksn.com/news/local/story/Parents-of-Adam-Herrman-charged-with-fraud/w84ouBQDykmR88rE2pDSCg.cspx

Well, at least the obvious charge is finally being made. These scumbags will not get off scott free, and maybe in the meantime they'll find something that can be used to charge them with murder or abuse. Maybe a family member can get them for wrongful death.

[Tundratot]

The father of a boy who hasn't been seen in years hopes investigators can learn the truth about what happened to his son. One day after charges were filed against the adoptive parents of Adam Herrman, his biological father calls it a step in the right direction.

Irvin Groeninger lost custody of Adam Herrman when the boy was just two years-old. Adam went into foster care and was eventually adopted by Doug and Valerie Herrman. Wednesday, authorities charged the Herrman's with a crime, but they say this is only the start.

"This is just the beginning for the Herrman's," said Butler County Attorney Jan Satterfield after charges were filed Wednesday.

. . .

Adam Herrman's biological father now lives in Illinois. He's relieved that something is finally happening with the case.

"It makes me feel good that the case is being reopened to this extent," said Irvin Groeninger, Herrman's biological father. "Maybe we can find out what happened, why he disappeared, why he hasn't been found yet. That way me and the family can get closure as to what happened to him."

For the first time, Butler County authorities are admitting that they believe the boy is dead and that they're seeking a homicide case against Doug and Valerie Herrman.

"If they're guilty, which my thoughts are that they are," Groeninger said. "They know something. They are guilty of something. I'd like to see justice served and I'd like to find out what happened to my son and where he's at because I want to bring him home."

. . . Through their attorney, the Herrman's maintain their innocence of any crime.

"It's very hard," said Groeninger about the case. "I just try to put it to the back of my mind and make it through the day at work and then fall apart when I go home. I wake up every morning hoping something is going to happen and now I'm glad that the case is opening back up."

The Herrman's are scheduled for a first appearance in Butler County District Court on Wednesday. Their attorney says simply that this is only a technical offense and that they will enter not guilty pleas.http://www.kake.com/news/headlines/98081384.html

[JadedPawn]

On Friday, Murphy said that investigators "did get an answer that we were looking for" during a search earlier this week of the Towanda mobile home park where Adam lived.


I wonder ...what did they find?.. the boy?..I'm not sure if you adopt a kid, that one would still receive the state payout...(that a foster parent gets.)

one thing for sure something stinks...reminds me of casevil...not reporting a missing child only means....... they most likely were the cause of him disappearing.

I'm sure the other kids know what happened. They'll hang their asses.
The other kids have prob been living in terror for years. WTH is wrong with people, oh right, I forgot---evil.

[JadedPawn]

http://abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/story?id=6588020&page=1

Once again family services is the hero! I'll sleep better now.

[Aena]

I remember reading about this when it first happened, I had forgotten all about it until now. They should of charged those 2 assholes long ago, at least with theft for accepting all that money for his care, putting him on tax returns, when he had "ran away" I bet he ran real far, as far as they were willing to go to dump his body.

[Tundratot]

A couple of new articles in this case:

http://www.kake.com/news/headlines/99624649.html
. . .
Today, the Herrman's daughter says she believes her parents made a horrible mistake, but that they are not monsters. On the condition that we shield her face and call her only by her first name, Crystal says her parents are good people who simply should not have continued to cash those checks. She says they did not murder Adam Herrman.

"He was a cute kid who was always smiling," Crystal said.

She remembers growing up with Adam Herrman. Her mother wanted more children after her and her brother were born, but the Herrman's couldn't, so they decided to get into foster care.

"They helped a lot of children out. At one time, I remember there was 12 of us, including my parents," Crystal said.

She knows how it looks and what people think. Prosecutors have been public about their belief that the Herrman's murdered Adam, but Crystal has never seen any evidence of that.

"I hear how people think they did it for money, but my dad did very well with his business," explained Crystal. "They were always helping family out. My mom would give her last shirt to anybody."

Crystal had her own doubts about her parents innocence when things began unraveling. After trying to organize a family reunion, she contacted SRS to locate Adam. SRS then said they believed Adam was still with the Herrman's. That prompted the investigation in December, 2008.

Crystal is sometimes questioned about how she can continue to love her parents.

"They don't understand unless they walk in our shoes," she said. "They taught me to cook and drive. They were there for my children when they were born. They babysat all of our children. It's not like you can just have an on and off button for love, you know?"

Crystal hasn't spoken to her parents in a long time. The case has severely affected her family.

"I just keep hanging on to the hope that he is alive and well out there," she said.
. . .

http://www.kansas.com/2010/07/31/1426796/parents-of-missing-boy-appear.html -
The Herrmans appear in court on theft charges. Their finances are discussed. The county is continuing its investigation into Adam's disappearance/probable murder, and expect to take their findings to grand jury in the next couple of months.

[Tundratot]

A preliminary hearing has been moved to Feb. 22 for a couple charged with fraudulently collecting adoption subsidies long after the unreported disappearance of their son in 1999.

. . . The prosecution requested the delay.

. . .

http://www.nebraska.tv/Global/story.asp?S=13986111

This appears to be about the fraud. I wonder if they'll ever get around to charging and trying this pair of asshats for abuse or murder.

[Dakota Valkyrie]

http://i0.simplest-image-hosting.net/168bf183b2abe8bc9188aacc163dd507/-dd-11327.jpg
A subplot in the Adam Herrman mystery — the story of an 11-year-old boy who disappeared in 1999 — is about to reach a climax.

On June 21, Adam's adoptive parents, Valerie and Doug Herrman, will go on trial in Butler County District Court in El Dorado. Each faces a felony theft charge alleging that they collected an adoption subsidy for Adam's care during some of the years after he disappeared.

Even though the trial will draw news coverage, it is Adam's disappearance that has drawn the national attention.

It is his disappearance that has the new sheriff saying he is still determined to find the boy's remains and hold someone accountable.
[...]

In 2009, the prosecutor at the time, Jan Satterfield, said the Herrmans were suspects in his disappearance. Satterfield, who has since been elected to a judgeship, also had said the investigation was being treated as a potential murder case. Since then, no such charges have been filed.

In a recent interview about the case, Butler County Sheriff Kelly Herzet said, "It's still near and dear to my heart, and I want to continue to keep working the case, and I want to get it resolved."

Herzet had been the lead investigator in the case before recently being appointed sheriff, replacing Craig Murphy.

"I want to get people convicted, and I want to find Adam's remains," Herzet said. "I think we owe that to the family ... and to Adam."

Darrin Devinney, who was appointed county attorney earlier this year to succeed Satterfield, said the disappearance remains an "active missing person's investigation."
[...]

The trial, scheduled for three days beginning June 21, will focus on the question of whether the Herrmans engaged in a scheme to continue to receive adoption subsidies for Adam.

Amended charges filed by Satterfield allege that the Herrmans accepted $15,488 from November 2003 until July 8, 2005.

The original felony theft charges accused the couple of collecting $52,800 between May 1, 1999, and July 8, 2005.
[...]

Asked why the charges were amended — involving a shorter time frame and less money — Devinney said the decision was based on the strongest evidence available.

The Herrmans waived their right to a preliminary hearing, so there has been no public preview of the state's evidence.
[...]

Although Satterfield had said that she was considering an effort to take the disappearance evidence to a grand jury, Devinney said he would not be ready to present the case to a grand jury because of unanswered questions in the investigation.

He wouldn't elaborate.

"If it was ready to be filed, we'd file it," he said.
http://www.kansas.com/2011/06/13/1889863/adoptive-parents-of-missing-boy.html

[Tundratot]

The Herrmans pleaded guilty to the charges of wrongfully accepting subsidies for Adam's care after he "disappeared". No details are being revealed about the plea deal, though. The Sheriff is still convinced they know what happened to him. http://www.kansascity.com/2011/06/17/2958320/couple-accepted-subsidy-for-long.html

[Tundratot]

Valerie and Doug Herrman didn’t only steal money from the state by pocketing adoption subsidies for a child who had disappeared.

Their theft involved the abandonment and exploitation of a child, according to a document filed in court by a Butler County judge.

Judge David Ricke cited abandonment and exploitation of the Herrmans’ adopted son — Adam Herrman — as key factors in his intent to impose prison sentences in a theft case against the couple. . . .

Earlier this month, Ricke filed a document in court notifying the Herrmans’ lawyers that he intends to give each a prison sentence instead of “a presumptive sentence of probation.” . . .

In an identical document addressed to each of the defendants, Ricke stated: “This failure to promptly and adequately report the child’s disappearance is contrary to the health, safety and welfare of a child, and constitutes an aggravating factor not normally present in theft or other property crime cases. . .

“The long-term delay in reporting Adam’s disappearance from the home so as to not interfere with the adoption subsidy payments being received by the Herrman household, not only exploited the state’s resources . . . but also exploited and compromised Adam Herrman,” Ricke wrote.

The failure also “reflects the abandonment and neglect of a child in a manner not normally present in a theft offense,” Ricke said.

The judge said he was giving defense attorneys a chance to argue against prison sentences.

http://www.kansas.com/2011/07/19/1939452/judge-intends-to-impose-prison.html#ixzz1SfztlkdW

You go, Judge Ricke! Unfortunately, this may be all the prison these two POS ever get, so make it last.