Girls Gone Part 2

"911 what is your emergency?" 

"I woke up this morning and my front door was open and my two foster daughters are missing. I need help please!"

I could not believe the words coming out of my mouth. I held back a sob as I admitted the girls were missing. I kept hoping it would be a joke and they would pop up. I checked everywhere, even Primero's room. The girls were very clearly not in the house. After I repeated my plea to the city 911 I was told police were on their way to my place. I needed to call the foster agency on-call, but I accidentally called Poison Control. Quickly recognizing my mistake, I hung up and called the right number. I repeated my story again. After promising a call back from one of the case workers, I hung up again and started to get changed. 

"Mommy, I'm so glad I was in your bed and they didn't take me," Love Bug whispered, hugging my legs. I hugged him back and started making him some bacon for breakfast. I paced the floor while waiting for the police to show up. The case worker from CHOR called me back and asked me details about what happened. She said she would notify the county CYS. She also mentioned the girls mom had been trying to get the girls out of my home for some time. My heart sank. I had actually thought we had a good rapport and I was hoping we would work together to get the girls back home. But, obviously, this was not the case. I started to see Shy Girl's criticism as parroting her parents displeasure. 

Roughly 45 minutes after calling 911, three police officers showed up at my house. I let them inside and repeated the story one more time. "I woke up and saw the front door open. My son reported the girls weren't in bed and when I checked their beds were empty." They asked me what I thought had happened. My best guess was Shy Girl took Gerber Baby from her crib and walked out the front door. I had noted she did not take any shoes. She did not take the baby's blanket. She didn't even take her tablet, which I assumed she used to communicate with her parents. They instructed her to walk out and she did around 5:12 am. The police found a neighbor with a camera that faced our place and they saw a small figure leaving our house at that time. 

I took Love Bug to school and warned his teacher what had happened, in case he had a bad day or he got upset. I had spoken to Chica Marie and let her know what had happened. I hated not being able to see her that morning, but I felt better talking to her. I was glad she wasn't home when everything happened, but she feels guilty thinking if she had been here the girls wouldn't have left.

I had called Primero to see if he remembered the code to get into the tablet. He had used it before to make sure messenger was deleted from her tablet. He had slept over at his friend who is a girl but not a girlfriend because they don't use labels but she introduces him as her boyfriend to her family's house. Primero woke up and rushed home to give the police access to the tablet. Before handing it over to the police he saw emails from mom to someone in CYS. A Google search showed this someone was the regional director of CYS. The emails were sent that morning probably right before they took the girls. 

The police were around our house for several hours, finally leaving to write the report and ping the parents cell phones to find them. I had gotten a few calls from the supervisor from CHOR and I called my parents to tell them what had occurred. I also told work I would likely not make it in that day. With nothing else to do, Primero, his friend and I went to brunch. I was crawling out of my skin with anxiety. After brunch we went to Best Buy to get a camera and security system. While there the supervisor called to report the mom had called the boys. There were 4 children total in the family. We had the girls and another CHOR family had the boys. When the mom was talking to the boys they heard a baby cry and the boys asked what baby was crying, The mom hung up the phone. It seemed very likely the girls were with the parents. 

The missing children was reported in the news and few friends reached out, recognizing the girls and worried about what had happened. Chica Marie text me off and on through-out the day asking for updates. Finally, just after lunch it was reported the girls were found safe in Delaware and their parents were apprehended. The girls were not going to be returned to our house, they were going to a different foster home. The school called me, having been advised to what had happened. They let me know CYS had been into school the day before to talk to Shy Girl. I asked CHOR if an investigation was going to happen and they could not tell me.

Friday I was staying with my grandmother because my mom was having chemo and they worried about leaving her all day because she is having some memory issues. The camera on the front porch chimed and Primero answered the door. It was someone from CYS needing to ask questions about allegations. They wanted to speak to me but I would not be home until around 5 and she didn't want to come back at that time. So, this afternoon she came to see me. Apparently, it was reported the baby was left to cry for hours and no one was allowed to comfort her. There was no lock on the bathroom door and it made Shy Girl afraid to use the bathroom. And the baby's foot, which had already been reported with pictures. I had already answered the same questions from the county CYS case worker and gave the same answers. I was so angry to have salt poured into our wounds after having the sanctity of our home violated. The case worker assured me the allegations would be unfounded, but still where is the humanity in all of this? These people came to our home and coaxed the children out of the house while I was sleeping. Did they come into my home? I have no way of knowing. But, our sense of security is shattered. The children won't sleep in their bedroom. Chica Marie wouldn't go into her room for a few days. On Friday, I could not get Love Bug to go to school because he didn't want to leave me. I kept us busy this weekend, but it will take time for us to truly feel safe again.