MUNCIE, IN — The Saylor family has not given up on finding their adopted daughter, Ella, who has been missing since Jan. 3, 2024.
But Philip and Elizabeth Saylor are setting out to change — after their own experiences of what they say was a series of mistreatment and unfair allegations from Indiana’s Department of Child Services in the wake of their adopted daughter’s struggles — how the system treats foster families in a similar position.
The Saylors have recently filed a federal lawsuit against DCS.
“This lawsuit is about accountability,” Elizabeth Saylor said. “It’s awful that it’s come to this, but there has to be some accountability. The system needs an overhaul and everyone knows it, but nothing changes.”
The civil lawsuit lists 14 counts against Adam Krupp, director of the Indiana DCS; Krista Garrett, director of the Delaware County division of DCS; and Kelly Broyles, supervisor and a family case manager for the Delaware County division of DCS. Seven other defendants are named, including those in Grant County DCS, family case managers and supervisors, and foster care specialists.
A DCS spokesman declined to comment about the situation or the lawsuit.
“There are a lot of good caseworkers out there,” Elizabeth Saylor said. “They care about kids. They work hard to help families. Unfortunately, not the one who was assigned to Ella.”
The first time she ran away, adoptive daughter Ella’s friends told Elizabeth Saylor that Ella had stolen a cell phone, had made several Snapchat accounts and was talking with grown men. She was found intoxicated in Indianapolis in September 2023, the lawsuit says. She told police she had been sexually active with two men.
She was taken to Riley Children’s Hospital, the lawsuit says, “where she made false allegations against the Saylors, asserting that the Saylors were making ‘mean’ comments to her and were very emotionally demeaning to her. Delaware County DCS has an open assessment which quickly turned into an assessment about abuse and neglect of (Ella) and the other children in the home.”
During her many years in foster care, Ella had been diagnosed with several mental health issues, the lawsuit said, and was in therapy for years. As part of the Saylors’ court fight against DCS, Ella’s therapist wrote a letter defending the parents.
After a trial that included testimony from Ella and some of the other children, a judge ruled that Ella be returned to the Saylors’ home, the lawsuit said.
A new foster home, a new escape
During Ella’s second attempt to run away, police returned her after an absence of three days. A cell phone had been given to her at school, which her parents did not know. That’s how she became acquainted with men online, they said.
The phone was removed, and one day later, Ella accused the Saylors of abuse, they said in an interview and in the lawsuit. She was immediately removed from the home, despite her previously documented history of lying about foster parents. DCS interviewed the minor children at home and removed one young boy 12 days before his formal adoption, and an infant girl, who was Ella’s and younger sister Emma’s biological sister.
“We were never even told what the allegations were,” Elizabeth Saylor said.
The Saylors hired a lawyer to persuade a judge to order the young boy returned, which happened three months later. But Elizabeth Saylor said they never learned where the infant girl was taken, nor was she returned to their care.
The Saylors maintain that Ella was wrongfully removed on Oct. 29, 2023, and placed in a foster home out of town, with parents who bought Ella a phone and placed her in a public school. DCS did not let the Saylors see Ella until Nov. 30, 2023. “Yet,” Elizabeth Saylor said, “DCS policy states the first visit should take place within 48 hours of removal.”
Ellizabeth Saylor also thought the caseworker should have informed the temporary foster family about Ella’s cell phone habits and her earlier problems with public schools. And when Ella finally was returned to the Saylors on Feb. 2, 2024, she ran away the next day.
She is missing still.
What has happened since
Anderson attorney Dorothy Ferguson filed the lawsuit on behalf of the Saylors.
“It’s important to file the lawsuit because families and children deserve to be treated with fairness, dignity, and according to the law,” she said. “This family did not deserve to be treated in the manner it was. In fact, they went above and beyond by caring for foster children, and ultimately adopting them despite the trauma they experienced within the child welfare system.”
Lawsuit allegations include that DCS employees:
“Reliving our trauma through hundreds of documents has been exhausting and emotionally draining, but this lawsuit is necessary to bring the actions of DCS to light,” Elizabeth Saylor said.
The lawsuit, which calls for a jury trial, lays out the Saylor family’s requests for compensatory damages for the loss of the Saylor’s child and sibling, an infant who was never returned and violation of the Saylors’ fundamental Constitutional rights.
It also calls for requiring DCS to adopt policies to prevent wrongful detention, loss or disappearance of children in state custody. It also asks for attorney fees and costs.
“The hope is three-fold,” Ferguson said. “First, bring justice and relief for the Saylor family and other families that have been directly impacted by the department’s actions.”
“Second,” she said, “to spark systemic change that will protect children and families in the future. We want to ensure that parental rights are respected, and that foster, adoptive and biological parents, alike, are supported, not punished, for stepping in love to care for children.
“Third, to bring awareness to Ella’s situation in that she is still missing, so she knows she is deeply loved and missed, and to help draw more attention to finding her.”
“Ultimately,” Ferguson said, “the case is about creating a child welfare system that prioritizes the best interest of children, and strengthens, rather than undermines, families.”
‘DCS destroyed these kids and this family’
“Since the last update regarding Ella Saylor, there have been few new leads and tips regarding Saylor’s whereabouts,” said Muncie police detective Mariah Copeland, who has been assigned to the Saylor case.
But the Muncie Police Department recently received a tip from an out-of-state agency, which Copeland said is being investigated.
Copeland said several local, state and federal agencies are helping the Muncie Police Department to “ensure every avenue is explored and provide additional resources.”
“We took the family to San Francisco for vacation to escape the tension, but we found ourselves checking out the homeless on the streets to see if Ella might be there,” Elizabeth Saylor said. “We can’t get away from it.”
A Facebook posting is monitored and reposted by Saylor’s sister and cousin nearly every day, taking some pressure off Elizabeth and Phillip to do so.
“Today, social media extends to every edge of the world and plays a big role in sharing information,” Copeland said. “I encourage anyone who comes across any information that may relate to Saylor to report it to their local police agency.”
“That said,” Copeland said, “social media can also open up adults and children to individuals online who don’t have the best intentions. We encourage everyone to be cautious when communicating online and to monitor their children’s usage.”
Meanwhile, the children are afraid that their “mentally unstable” sister might return home and hurt them, the lawsuit says.
“DCS destroyed these kids and this family,” the attorney wrote in the lawsuit. “Every child they adopted were from our overburdened child welfare system. Most of them had spent years in foster care and were considered hard to place.”
Life is different for the Saylor family of four adopted children — three boys and one girl — without big sister Ella there, Elizabeth Saylor said. But the children are starting to forget.
Except just last week, during kindergarten orientation with the family, seemingly out of nowhere, the Saylors’ 5-year-old son asked, “Where’s Ella?” during a family building blocks exercise.
All four children and the parents have been participating in therapy. Phil now takes blood pressure medicine; Elizabeth is prescribed medicine for her high anxiety.
The 9-year-old girl, Ella’s biological sister, has nightmares still and asks to sleep with her parents. The Saylors’ 9-year-old son dreams that Ella has died. Their 13-year-old son was picked on at school and on the bus about his missing sister. He is being home-schooled this year.
“We’re traumatized,” Elizabeth said. “It follows us.”
This article originally appeared on Muncie Star Press: Adoptive parents of runaway Muncie girl sue DCS over how case was handled, pushing for change
Reporting by Terry Nelson / Muncie Star Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
