Boy Abandoned At Taste of Chicago Festival

UndercoverGator · July 8th, 2006, 06:33 PM

Sad. I hope they find this mother and sever all of her legal parental rights. What type of wacko leaves their kid at a festival for eight days?

Quote:

News Archive
Boy lost at Taste goes unclaimed

July 8, 2006

BY ANNIE SWEENEY AND LISA DONOVAN Staff Reporters

He came in like the more than 70 other children who have been separated from their families at Taste of Chicago this year.

But instead of being found by a frantic parent and whisked away, the 6-year-old boy stayed and stayed inside the "Lost Children" tent, where he "sat patiently" for four hours, according to police reports.

But no one ever came.

That was eight days ago, on June 30 about 2:30 p.m.

"I was surprised. He came in probably halfway through my shift, and when I left" two hours later "he was still there," according to a source at the Taste. "Usually you have parents, kind of frantic coming to get these kids, an hour tops, but no one came."

Since he was found, no one has reported the boy missing or called police to check on his whereabouts, said Monique Bond, Chicago Police Department spokeswoman.

"The only information we have had has been provided by the child,'' Bond said.

The boy remained in the custody of state authorities Friday while police tried to find his mother.

"He'll be confronted with this for the rest of his life,'' said Cook County Public Guardian Robert Harris. "From that perspective, it's a sad thing.''

DCFS had past contact with mom

The boy's mother had contact with authorities in 2003, and records indicate she was overwhelmed and needed help raising the boy, who has spent some time in foster care, according to state child-welfare reports.

The reports say the child was put into foster care in April 2003 after the mother allegedly called authorities to report she had locked herself in a room so she wouldn't hurt him. He was returned to his mother in September 2004 after she had received counseling and classes, the reports say.

Then in September 2005, she allegedly left the child alone, which led to a report to Chicago Police for endangering the life of a child.

Kendall Marlowe, a spokesman for the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, confirmed that the agency had previous contact with the boy's family, including substantiated allegations of neglect, and that DCFS was still providing supportive services to the family.

The child was taken into DCFS custody July 1, a day after he was found at the Taste, Marlowe said.

He is one of 72 children who have gotten lost at the Taste so far this year. All but him were reunited with family, police said.

http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/...abandon08.html

MgMMD · July 8th, 2006, 08:46 PM

No No No!
Don't let GAY people foster or adopt...straight people do a MUCH better job!

Poor little boy.

God I hate people.

sweetrebel · July 10th, 2006, 05:05 PM

6 years old. A time when a child should be enjoying childhood. Not wondering why his moma walked off and left him. I could not imagine how he feels. My only hope is that he is lucky enough that a good family adopts him and they never let him go back to the sorry exscuse for a human being that birthed him.

Grimmlok · July 10th, 2006, 05:10 PM

He's probably used to it by now

Lobelia · July 10th, 2006, 05:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MgMMD

God I hate people.

So it's not only me. I say that several times a week.

pacific breeze · July 10th, 2006, 05:50 PM

Me, too. In fact, I just said it a few hours ago.

Goose · July 10th, 2006, 05:56 PM

Dr. Phil had a guy on his show a few weeks ago that had been abandoned by his mother as well at a fair of some kind. Haunted him thoroughly even like 20 some years after the fact. He finally confronted his mother, and she said it was for his own good, and that "someone" was supposed to pick him up. My ass...

Grimmlok · July 10th, 2006, 06:07 PM

My mother forgot to pick me up at school one day when i was in kindergarten. I waited for about an hour, and then decided that if she wasn't going to pick me up then I'd just walk home. So i did.

Wasn't much of a big deal to me

Lobelia · July 10th, 2006, 06:22 PM

Her plan was foiled, then.

Grimmlok · July 10th, 2006, 06:26 PM

Indeed. She should have known better. In the end, victory was mine.

crumpet · July 11th, 2006, 09:56 AM

I'm so over this family preservation bullshit that DSS emphasizes. Some people should not be raising kids, period. They should not get chance after chance to keep hurting these kids. Since I am so extremely pro-choice I have no tolerance for people who don't do right by the kids they chose to have. In this day and age, no one has to have a kid if they don't want one. We'd be better off with high quality orphanages where kids could live in a structured, stable environment with a well paid and trained staff than we are with the current foster care system and parental protection bs.

**NoDayButToday** · July 11th, 2006, 10:16 AM

Ugh, fucking Taste. This is only one example of the scum that is there. I've been to the Taste once and vowed to never, ever go back even though I live close enough to go every year. Every bit of the trailer trash comes out to go to the overcrowded, overpriced "event", which of course has a beer tent. So we have the idiots getting themselves too drunk outside, then eating way too much of the overpriced food (which you could go to the restaurants themselves to get for way cheaper) and getting rowdy or sick.

It's technically the same as any other festival, but even Summerfest in Milwaukee, WI isn't as bad and that's a beer town!

Goose · July 11th, 2006, 10:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NoDayButToday

It's technically the same as any other festival, but even Summerfest in Milwaukee, WI isn't as bad and that's a beer town!

That's 'cause us Wisconsin folks know how to handle our beer!! Hell, you can't be a good Wisconsinite if you don't like your beer!

sweetrebel · July 11th, 2006, 12:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Goose

Dr. Phil had a guy on his show a few weeks ago that had been abandoned by his mother as well at a fair of some kind. Haunted him thoroughly even like 20 some years after the fact. He finally confronted his mother, and she said it was for his own good, and that "someone" was supposed to pick him up. My ass...

Yeah and she kept his sister...who later died a 'mysterious death'. The guy figured out pretty quickly that the mother was ape shit crazy. Good news is he is married and has 2 kids that he is very close to and got to meet some members of his family that had been searching for him.