How Could You? Hall of Shame-Austin and Edward Bryant case UPDATED

This will be an archive of heinous actions by those involved in child welfare, foster care and adoption. We forewarn you that these are deeply disturbing stories that may involve sex abuse, murder, kidnapping and other horrendous actions.

From Texas and Colorado, a heinous story is emerging about adoptive parents Edward and Linda Bryant,aged 54 and 58. It is believed that they have 8 children, and it is known that 2 of them have been missing for up to 10 years. There is no word yet on the identities of the other possible 6 or where they are either.

“Sheriff’s officials made a public plea for information that might lead them to the missing children. Austin Eugene Bryant was last seen between 2003 and 2005, when he was between seven and nine; Edward Dylan Bryant went missing as early as 2001 when he was nine.”

They lived near Monument, Colorado from 1999 to 2005. They moved to Texas and lived in 2 Dallas Suburbs of Denton and Gainesville.

“Sheriff’s detectives began investigating after receiving a Jan. 22 report about Austin’s suspicious disappearance more than five years earlier. In the course of their probe, investigators discovered Edward also went missing while living in El Paso County, the sheriff’s office said.”

There have been no missing reports filed.

Extradited: “Linda Bryant, 54, and Edward Bryant, 58, were recently arrested in Texas and extradited to the El Paso County jail. Both are being held on suspicion of two counts of felony theft, conspiracy and multiple counts of forgery and attempt to influence a public official, the sheriff’s office said.

Where the idea that there may be 8 kids comes from: “In documents from a 2007 bankruptcy filing, the couple listed a total of $126,125 in adoption monies as part of their income for 2005-2006, the Associated Press reported. They listed eight sons, ages 7 to 15, and an 87-year-old mother as dependents.”

Children of Couple Accused of Welfare Fraud Missing For Years
[The Gazette 3/9/11 by Lance Benzel]

“Police in Colorado said Edward and Linda had not told authorities how or why Austin and Dylan mysteriously vanished from the family home.

Both Mr and Mrs Bryant are in jail on $1 million bail each, although they have not yet been charged with the disappearance of the children.”

“Website WFAA.com spoke to a neighbour of Edward Bryant in Texas, who said he had seen two boys working in the couple’s yard.”

“Downey has lived next door to Bryant for the past year-and-a-half.

He added: ‘He had some boys here and it was kind of neat; they would always make a habit of really getting out and taking care of the yard on weekends.’

Police are now undertaking a massive search to try and locate Austin and Edward who would be 15 and 18-years-old by now.

Lt. Lari Sevene from El Paso County Sheriff’s Department said investigators are working with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children to digitally age the boys’ photos to try and recreate how they might look today.”

Parents Claim Adopted Boys Welfare Money Even Though They Have Missing for 10 Years
[The Daily Mail 3/10/11]

Update: “One of the boys reportedly was shocked with a Taser, deprived of food and abused in other horrific ways.”

“According to legal documents, the brothers were put into foster care with Linda and Edward Bryant in the late 1990s; in March 2000, the Bryants adopted the boys and a third sibling, David, who has been accounted for.”

“According to the arrest affidavit, one document indicated that Edward Dylan Bryant was attending a school in Texas, where the family moved in 2005. The school doesn’t exist, the affidavit says.”

Most of this article completely gives the Colorado child protection system a pass on screening, training, and monitoring foster families.

“Those who work in child welfare believe nothing could have been done to change the course of events.”

That statement gets Rally’s Stamp of Disapproval .

http://www.gazette.com/news/boys-114403-child-process.html
[The Gazette 3/11/11 by Barbara Cotter]

Update 2: Colorado law explained: “Under Colorado’s current system, social workers aren’t allowed to check on children once they’ve been adopted unless there is an allegation of abuse or neglect — even in cases such as the Bryants where the children have been identified as having “special needs” and the parents are eligible for government subsidies….The only requirement for families that receive subsidies for adopted children is that they complete a monthly “roster” of children in their care and annually file a document showing that each child is receiving an education.”

Total amount received by El Paso County: “The total bill, as calculated by El Paso County detectives, stands at $174,816.82. They were paid $891.87 per month for the care of each of the boys now missing and presumed dead.”

More about where they lived in Colorado: “According to property records, they purchased a home in the 4300 block of Sandstone Drive in 1987. In 1999, they bought a second home a little farther west, in the 18000 block of Granite Circle.

The two missing boys and a third child — all three of whom were biological brothers — came into the Bryant home as foster children in the late 1990s.”

About adoptions: “In March 2000, Edward and Linda Bryant formally adopted the three.

Ultimately, Edward and Linda Bryant apparently adopted nine children and had at least one biological child, according to El Paso County sheriff’s Lt. Lari Sevene.”

Texas documentation: “According to documents, they claimed that they had eight children living with them — the ages of two of them match the ages the missing children would have been at the time — and that they were receiving $5,486.11 a month in adoption subsidies.”

How abuse came to light: “The brothers and their sister had been placed as foster children in 2003 with Tammy Falgout — identified by investigators as the biological daughter of Edward and Linda Bryant. As a result, the pair came to know Austin, and they decided to go to police out of suspicions about what ultimately happened to him.

They alleged signs of abuse on the boy — black eyes and welts — and alleged that he was at times locked in a trunk in the garage, denied food and rolled in blankets so tightly that he could not move. They also told investigators that Austin claimed to have been zapped with a stun gun.

From there, investigators traveled to Fort Campbell, Ky., to interview another young man who had been adopted by Edward and Linda Bryant, and he ultimately confirmed that Austin had been locked in a trunk and “often ate out of the garbage can because he was hungry.”

He also said two other things that helped detectives focus their investigation — that he moved into the Bryant home in 2001 and never saw the now- missing Edward and that he last saw Austin alive sometime in 2003.

Finally, he “confirmed that his mother had solicited his help in asking him to find a friend to pose as Austin for an upcoming Department of Human Services inspection or visit. Mr. Bryant said that he never asked his friend because the visit was canceled.””

Record falsification: “After being confronted in Texas, Edward and Linda Bryant — who were living in separate homes — claimed the missing boys had run away in Colorado. Linda Bryant did acknowledge that she had falsified records to keep receiving the subsidy checks, even going so far as to fabricate a record for Edward for a nonexistent school.”

Search for Adopted Boys Uncovers Subsidy Lapses
[The Denver Post 3/14/11 by Kevin Vaughan]

Update 3: “The adoptive parents of two missing Colorado boys were charged on Thursday with collecting $175,000 in government benefits for the learning disabled children, even though the boys were not living with them and have not been seen for years.”

New information about who brought this case to light: “Sevene[of El Paso County Sheriff’s Office]said the investigation began when a relative, Bryan Pennington, realized the boys had vanished, and took his suspicions to police.

Pennington told investigators he witnessed the Bryants mistreating Austin, according to the arrest warrant affidavit.

“During this time, he (Pennington) regularly and repeatedly observed Austin Bryant … being physically abused by Edward and Linda Bryant,” the affidavit said.

Pennington also told police he saw Austin bound with blankets like “a mummy” and frequently saw the boy with black eyes and cuts on his face.

Austin told Pennington he was kept in a trunk in the garage, and showed him welts on his torso he said were marks from a Taser his parents used on him.

Another adopted son of the Bryants, now a soldier in the U.S. Army, was contacted by detectives and told them Austin was frequently spanked by his parents, may have been handcuffed, and was denied food.

“Austin often ate out of the garbage can because he was hungry,” according to the affidavit.”
Parents of missing Colorado boys charged with taking benefits
[WHNT19 3/17/11 by Keith Coffman]

Update 4: Linda Bryant waived her right to a pre-trial hearing on April 12, 2011.Her trial has been set for October 3, 2011. Her husband will have a separate hearing.

Portraits of what  Edward and Austin Bryant would look like today at ages 18 and 15 were released on April 19, 2011.

The Daily Docket
[Sidebar Blog of The Gazette 4/12/11 by John Ennslin]

Updated portraits of missing Colo. boys released
[Houston Chronicle 4/19/11 by Associated Press]

Update 5: “The father of two adopted boys who went missing from a Monument- area home in the early 2000s made a brief court appearance Friday in what investigators believe could be a double homicide, but remains a welfare fraud case.

Edward Bryant – who appeared in an El Paso County jail jumpsuit – was due for a preliminary hearing, but it was postponed to give more time for attorneys on both sides to prepare arguments.

Calling it a “complex case” with extensive discovery, 4th Judicial District Judge Timothy J. Schutz set a Sept. 8 court date and instructed attorneys to be ready to agree on a new date for the hearing.
Preliminary hearings are held to determine if prosecutors have enough evidence to justify criminal charges.

Bryant, 58, and his wife, Linda Bryant, 54, were arrested in Texas last March, accused of collecting $175,000 in public funds to support Austin and Edward Dylan Bryant long after the boys went missing from their Monument home, around 2003.

The couple claimed the boys ran away in Colorado, but authorities suspect foul play. No charges have been filed related to the boys’ disappearance, which remains under investigation as a potential double homicide.

If alive, Edward would be 18 and Austin would be 15.

Linda Bryant waived her right to a preliminary hearing in April and is due to be tried beginning Oct. 3.

Police said a witness told investigators that Austin Bryant had been abused by his adoptive parents with a stun gun.”

Monument boys’ disappearance remains welfare fraud case
[The Colorado Springs Gazette 6/17/11 by Lance Bezel]

“Edward Bryant appeared in court Oct. 27 for an arraignment hearing during at which time an April 23″, 2012 trial was scheduled.

“His defense attorney requested that a trial date be set outside the time frame of a speedy trial. Due to the request Bryant did not enter a plea.

Bryant’s attorney said his client will enter a not guilty plea at a later date. Once a defendant enters a not guilty plea the prosecution has six months to bring them to a trial date.”

“The elder Bryants told authorities that the boys ran away but have given conflicting dates as to when. Austin is believed to have been 7-years-old at the time of his disappearance and Edward Jr. was 9. There has been no paper trail on either boy since late 2003.”

“Edward Bryant has been charged with two counts of felony theft, conspiracy, 19 counts of attempting to influence a public official, 19 counts of offering a false instrument for recording and 19 counts of forgery. His bond remains at $1 million.

Linda Bryant was scheduled to begin to stand trial Oct. 3 however in late September her trial was moved to Feb. 21, 2012.

Edward Bryant is scheduled for another arraignment hearing Dec. 8 and pretrial readiness April 19. His trial is expected to last a week.”

Edward Bryant trial scheduled for April
[Our Tri Lakes News 10/27/11 by Lisa Collacott]

Update 6: “A former Monument woman accused of pocketing more than $150,000 in welfare support while for years concealing the disappearance of two adopted boys was sentenced Friday to 42 years in prison.

Linda K. Bryant, 55, is unlikely “to see or even breathe free air again,” prosecutor Jennifer Viehmann said, calling it an appropriate fate, but adding that it doesn’t address the case’s central mystery.

“This case will never truly be over until we find these two boys,” she said.

The fate of Edward Dylan Bryant and Austin Bryant remains unknown despite efforts by El Paso County Sheriff’s deputies, who searched an area near Monument with cadaver dogs, went over aerial photography to look for soil disruptions and widely circulated age-progression photos.

Linda Bryant’s estranged husband, Edward Bryant, 58, faces an April 30 trial on similar welfare fraud charges. Neither was charged in the boys’ disappearances – but rather for a decade-spanning ruse in which they allegedly collected adoption support checks while falsely telling authorities the boys remained in their care.

The couple moved to Texas in 2005, shortly after authorities believe Austin went missing.

The El Paso County Sheriff’s Office investigated after receiving a call from a former neighbor of the Bryants who questioned their explanation about the boys’ disappearance.

The couple were estranged and living in separate Texas towns when they were arrested in March 2011.

At the time, Linda Bryant was living with five adopted children, who are now in the custody of a Texas child protective agency.

The missing boys were adopted in 2000, according to testimony at Friday’s hearing. The oldest, Edward Dylan Bryant, was last seen in 2001; Austin Bryant went missing as late as 2005. Each would have been 9 at the time.

Linda Bryant provided a variety of explanations for their disappearances, prosecutor J. Christian Lampe told the court.

Some of her relatives were told that Edward had gone to Arizona to help care for her 82-year-old father. Others were told he had been sent to a boot camp for bad behavior. One relative testified at the sentencing that Linda Bryant told her Austin was sent to an insane asylum in Colorado.

El Paso County sheriff’s deputy William Otto, the lead detective, told the court that another relative had lodged a complaint over Edward’s disappearance with the El Paso County Department of Human Services.

The detective said that “for some reason” a case worker was never sent.

Prosecutors say Linda Bryant was ready for a visit. One of her adopted children told investigators she asked him to have a friend come over and pretend to be Edward if a case worker ever came by.

DHS couldn’t be reached for comment because the sentencing ended after regular business hours. The agency generally declines to discuss investigations.

The Bryants left Colorado for Texas within two months of when authorities believe the second boy disappeared, Lampe said in court Friday.

In her Gainesville, Tex., home Linda Bryant hung color photographs printed from the Internet, telling the other adopted children they were Austin and Edward.

As a sheriff’s detective searched the residence, she told him: “This is the kind of thing that ends up on Nancy Grace,” a reference to a television program focused on sensational crime stories.

Bryant lived in a gated community in Texas, near a lake and a golf course — leading to Lampe’s charge she favored money over her children.

Bryant’s attorneys, Sarah Christiansen and Tom Hammond, and were unavailable for comment Friday.

Linda Bryant faced between 4 and 648 years in prison – an unusually wide sentencing range due to the number of counts, 56, to which she pleaded guilty.

In handing down his sentence, 4th Judicial District Judge Timothy J. Schutz rejected the prosecution’s call for a “triple-digit sentence,” saying it would exceed the penalty for many homicide sentences in El Paso County.

At the same time, he told Bryant her crime was more severe than similar financial crimes because it required a systematic lie about missing children.

Schutz said her crime threatened to erode public support for adoption programs that help the community’s “most vulnerable citizens.”

The foster parents who properly care for such children, he said, “do some of the most important and difficult work that we ask of members of society.”

Adoptive mom of missing boys gets 42 years for welfare fraud
[The Gazette 3/23/12 by Lance Benzel]

REFORM Puzzle Pieces

This case shows that there needs to be face-to-face postplacement checks after adopting from foster care. It is much too easy to adopt and move out of state and continue to receive state money. How many other forgotten angels are there?

Edward Bryant, 58, pleaded guilty Thursday to five felony counts in a hearing before 4th Judicial District Judge Timothy J. Schutz. Nineteen other counts were dismissed.

Bryant will remain in El Paso County jail pending his May 4 sentencing. The boys – Austin and Edward Bryant Jr. – remain missing.

Bryant’s estranged wife, Linda Bryant, was sentenced last month to 42 years in prison after pleading guilty to similar charges.
Prosecutor Jennifer Viehman said in court Thursday that prosecutors believe she played a bigger role in the ruse to make others believe the boys were still living with her – going so far as forge evidence of one boy’s schooling and to hang on her wall phony pictures of them from the Internet.

The scheme to defraud the Colorado Department of Human Services also involved falsifying monthly reports to the agency.

Neither of the Bryants was directly charged in the boys’ disappearance – and the fate of the boys remains an unresolved mystery.

The boys – who were biological brothers – were adopted in 2000 and are believed to have gone missing from the couple’s Monument-area home between 2001 and 2005. They disappeared separately, at a time when each was under 10 years old.

The El Paso County Sheriff’s Office’s search for the missing children more closely resembled a homicide probe – involving cadaver-sniffing dogs and a search for shallow graves in the foothills around the couple’s former home on Granite Circle.

The Sheriff’s Office began investigating in 2011 after receiving a call from a former neighbor of the Bryants who questioned their explanation about the boys’ disappearance.

The Bryants were estranged and living in separate Texas towns when they were arrested in March 2011 on the welfare fraud charges.

At the time, Linda Bryant was living with five other adopted children, who are now in the custody of a Texas child protective agency.

The couple left Monument for Texas in 2005, within two months of when authorities believe the second boy went missing.

Linda Bryant, who was initially charged with 154 felonies, pleaded guilty to 56 counts.”