How Could You? Hall of Shame- Ariyanna Pivachek-child death-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 Riverview, Florida, 9-year-old foster child, Ariyanna Pivachek, was found dead at the bottom of a pond at a birthday party of a foster family that was considering adopting her. Ariyanna was autistic.

 

“Ariyanna Pivachek, a foster child, was attending the party at 11159 Golden Silence Drive with seven other foster children when she disappeared about 3 p.m., Hillsborough County sheriff’s officials said.

 

Eight adults who were also at the party noticed she was gone and searched nearby areas themselves before calling 911 at 3:30 p.m., deputies said.

 

About 50 sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to search for Pivachek, including canine units, a helicopter and the sheriff’s dive team. Authorities also placed a reverse-911 call to area residents, hoping someone might know the child’s whereabouts.

 

Deputies found her about 45 minutes later. She was 15 feet from the shore of a small pond directly behind the house she was visiting, in water about 6 feet deep, deputies said. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

 

“We are really saddened at the outcome,” said sheriff’s spokesman Larry McKinnon.

 

Residents at the home, in the sprawling Fronterra section of the Summerfield subdivision, declined to speak with a reporter Saturday night. Several cars blocked the street in front of the two-story tan stucco home and numerous people could be seen inside, some visibly shaken.

 

An open garage door revealed numerous children’s toys.

 

Neighbors say the residents who are renting the home care for special-needs children.

 

The Sheriff’s Office said the family was considering adopting Ariyanna.

 

“When I saw the dive team putting their gear on, I said, ‘I pray this is not where they find her,’ ” said Patricia Smith, 70, a neighbor.

 

Smith was sitting in her office Saturday afternoon when she saw several adults bolt out of the house where the party was being held, running to search for Ariyanna in every direction. Minutes later, deputies began to arrive and clogged the narrow subdivision block.

 

Just after 7 p.m., the news of Ariyanna’s death began to trickle through the community.

 

“I asked a deputy had they found her,” Smith said. “He just whispered, ‘Yes.’ ”

Autistic girl, 11, found in pond after wandering from party in Riverview

[Tampa Bay Times 4/8/12 by Robbyn Mitchell]

 

““They noticed her missing almost right away, the pond is only 50 feet from the back door,” McKinnon said. “She was gone only a few minutes.”

 

Pivachek reportedly was picked up at her foster home on Greenview Drive in Brandon by a family who was considering her adoption. She was taken the family’s Riverview home in a Summerfield subdivision, where she was reported to be discovered missing at around 3:10 p.m.”

Autistic Foster Child Mourned After Fatal Fall in Pond

[Brandon Patch 4/9/12 by Linda Chion Kenney]

 

REFORM Puzzle Piece

 

 

 

 

Update: Marie ” Cherubin, 59, has spent her days learning the language of children who cannot speak. Children with Down syndrome, Fragile X syndrome and autism.

 

Children like Arriyanna Pivacek, an energetic 10-year-old with autism who would sing and hum and squeak and chirp from the moment she woke up until the moment she went to sleep.

 

The house is quieter now.

 

Arriyanna drowned Saturday afternoon in a small neighborhood pond after wandering away from a birthday party at the home of a family that had been trying to adopt her.

 

It took eight adults at the party and about 50 sheriff’s deputies, including canine units, a helicopter and a dive team, more than three hours to find her. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

 

“She’s gone,” Cherubin said, tears welling beneath her glasses Monday afternoon. “And it hurts. It hurts so bad.”

 

The Hillsborough County Medical Examiner’s Office performed an autopsy Sunday. According to that report, Arriyanna died beneath 5 feet of water in an accidental drowning.

 

The would-be adoptive mother at 11159 Golden Silence Drive, where Saturday’s party was held, declined to comment Monday.

 

But Cherubin said the woman “loved that little girl with her whole heart.”

 

Arriyanna had been in the woman’s care before, according to Hillsborough Kids Inc.’s records. She was Arriyanna’s foster mother when the girl was a newborn in July 2001.

 

“(Arriyanna) began her life with her, and she ended her life with her,” Cherubin said. “It’s heartbreaking.”

 

Cherubin said she took care of Arriyanna for about a year. She has four other special needs foster children in her home, all boys. Arriyanna was her “beautiful little girl.”

 

Every day, Cherubin would dress her, brush her hair in front of the mirror, walk her to the bus, hum along to the child’s ever-changing song.

 

“She was so full of life,” Cherubin said. “Everybody she meets falls in love with her.”

 

Though the autism hampered her ability to use words, Arriyanna was a vocal child. She mimicked noises and gestures to communicate what she wanted.

 

“I knew all her sounds,” Cherubin said. “I knew which were her footsteps coming down the hall. She was only quiet when she went to sleep.”

 

Cherubin said she was not at the birthday party on Saturday when the girl disappeared.

 

When she got the frantic call from the adoptive mother, Cherubin said she thought Arriyanna may have wandered off to take a nap; that’s why no one could hear her singing.

 

Neither Cherubin nor the prospective adoptive family has faced disciplinary action in the past, according to Department of Children and Families records. Hillsborough Kids Inc. lauded the would-be adoptive family as one of the agency’s most dedicated and well-trained medical foster families.

 

But even the most well-cared-for children can fall through the cracks. Throughout the investigation, several agencies have misreported Arriyanna’s age and the spelling of her name. Records maintained by the state differed from a birth certificate, which differed from the Medical Examiner’s report, which differed from the case worker’s report kept by Cherubin.

 

This, officials said, is likely due to human error.

 

As DCF continues to investigate the circumstances surrounding the drowning, Hillsborough Kids is working with both foster families to provide crisis and grief counseling.

 

“Right now, we’re focused on caring for the families and ensuring their wellbeing,” said Hillsborough Kids spokeswoman Jeanine Bedell.

 

The organization also will handle funeral arrangements. It will be a private service, open only to Arriyanna’s family and friends.”

Foster mother mourns death of drowned autistic girl in Riverview

[Tampa Bay Times 4/10/12 by Marissa Land]