Deseret News | Reader comments: Missing baby, mother found in Tennessee

Reader comments
Missing baby, mother found in Tennessee

Anonymous | 11:28 a.m. Sept. 26, 2008

The mother took her child of her own free will to Primary Children's Hospital. The hospital discharged the baby because it was diagnosed in good condition. Therefore, the mother was free to go with her child. If, DCFS was on my case I would run too!! Leave the mother alone, she didn't break a law. She is 27, has her problems, but unless she commits a crime get off her back!

Huh? | 11:49 a.m. Sept. 26, 2008

Anonymous | 11:28 a.m. Sept. 26, 2008:

The mother didn't have legal custody of the baby. Last time I checked, kidnapping IS against the law. Did you read the same article I did?

Hindsight 20/20 | 11:52 a.m. Sept. 26, 2008

***Whether Crump should have been supervised when she went to the hospital was something detectives were looking into Friday***

Isn't it pretty obvious that this woman should have been supervised?? Why do they have to "look into" it? No-brainer there!

Comments continue below

DSC | 12:11 p.m. Sept. 26, 2008

Having spent time with a couple who adopted a child born with an addiction to drugs I know that the treatment to break the addiction takes a lot longer than a month. I believe we need to take a lot deeper look at this story and not make an initial "knee-jerk" reaction. I would believe that DCFS is looking for the child to make sure there is no lingering problems. Breaking addictions in a child can take up to a year. I think the welfare of the child should be the most important issue, not the mother's solitude.

joe | 12:17 p.m. Sept. 26, 2008

are you serious?! let the mother go you say? ya if she wasnt addicted to cocain and making that baby suffer mayber she would have custody. But because of her abuse she doesn't. last time i checked doing coke was against the law. So for you to say she hasn't broken a law is way far from the line of truth. That's why she doesnt have custody, And thats why she needs to be found and why the detectives need to be on her so called "back". Read the whole article anonymous; not just the headline.

Anonymous | 1:05 p.m. Sept. 26, 2008

Did she not loose custody of her other children for the same reason? That is what the news reported on yesterday. If this is the case why was the child with her in the first place. DCFS is not doing there job and needs to put more time into the welfare of these children. And the girl need to get her tubes tied period.

uncannygunman | 8:42 a.m. Sept. 27, 2008

Drug users have parent-child rights, as do their children. I sincerely hope that in cases where the state interferes with those rights in the name of safety that there is actual harm going on sufficient to warrant it. And by actual harm, I mean something more than "Oooh! Drugs! Bad!".

Tubes tied. | 10:09 a.m. Sept. 27, 2008

Maybe the fifth baby born to this woman is the charm. She has demonstrated that she is incapable of behavior neccessary to be a Mom. She will continue to pop out these kids and leave them in situations that are unacceptable.

Re: uncanny | 11:31 a.m. Sept. 27, 2008

I'm concerned with parental rights, too. BUT, and it's a big one, drug users aren't careful parents--in our county way more than half of cases of serious child abuse and neglect are due to drug use. Didn't I read that this woman let one of her other children fall out a window and be seriously injured?
And, as usual, WHERE IS THE FATHER?

Gal50 | 11:35 a.m. Sept. 27, 2008

Next time your children complain about your parenting, just hand them this article.

The states have acted fairly consistently. Utah tried to encourage bonding between this mother and child. It wasn't trying to remove the child. I have to wonder whether the reason this mother fled was that she didn't like the restrictions, such as no drugs, that the state forced upon her.

It looks like this girl comes from a bad background and it is difficult to say whether she can be reformed. It appears that Utah has hope and the former state did not.

What is really odd to me is that this woman has given birth to so many children indicating that she wants children, but then they all suffer from neglect, indicating that she doesn't want to care for them. I know there are many cases like this, but I can't wrap my mind around them.

Rather than keep on taking chances that states are going to let her hang onto her children, she should get on some effective long-term birth control and get her act together before becoming pregnant again. This may be too logical for someone of her nature.

Lanie | 1:42 p.m. Sept. 27, 2008

I guess what's difficult for me when I read this article is that each of her children will start their lives with little to no chance of success. It also makes me sad that there are so many wonderful women who are unable to have children, and yet this woman continues to abuse her ability to bring life into the world. I know many people who would love to adopt and care for her children, but sadly they will most likely end up in and out of state custody...makes me so sad.

Ronnie Bray | 7:41 p.m. Sept. 27, 2008

This is a tragic story for ALL involved and concerned. It is sad for the 37 year old woman who hadn't seen her own mother for 25 years, making her a child of 12 when she was removed and/or abandoned, and she has already had four previous children taken from her, one having suffered a head injury after falling from a second sorey window.

The article does not present a history of the woman, MS Crump, herself, so it is not possible to tell what her life has been like, but mothers and 12 year olds are not separated unless there are cogent reasons.

Whether the mother has been victimised and abuse herself is unknown, but it is clear that she is addicted to cocaine, and the slippery slope to death on cocaine is usually around three years.

Taking the responsibiloity of motherhood from this unfortunate might well be the best chance her children have of having a normal, happy, healthy, and productive life.

God bless her.

Aunt | 7:44 p.m. Oct. 1, 2008

Yes, there is a whole lot more to this story. As far as I know the baby was not addicted to cocaine. They only found minute quantities in her bloodstream. DHS or whoever child welfare is called out there always likes to exaggerate everything as usual. Nobody condones what she did. But they are only putting out half truths to really make her look bad which tells me why she ran away in the first place. I thought this kind of stuff went out in the eighties but I guess it is still going on out there in the midwest. Her mother wasn't aware of her kidnapping the baby either. Sheila was ripped away from her own mother at the age of two. And it was mainly because my sister couldn't afford to tkae care of her. Her so called foster parents wanted to adopt her and her little brother so they pushed it in court. It would take many pages to describe the horror them people put her through. By the way their names are John and Cindy Holmes in Ponca City, Ok. My sister was only 19 when this happened and nobody would help her.

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