Lizzie Borden Society Forum

How to get your picture in the paper:
This morning's Washington Post has a story from the far Maryland suburbs about a woman who was observed acting strangely in a parking lot. A police officer saw her get out of her car with three young children. All of them went to the back of the car, and the two older kids (eight and nine years old) got into the trunk on their own. Then the woman put the third child, a toddler wearing only a diaper, in with them. She shut the trunk lid, got into the driver's seat and drove off. Eight miles later, the cop caught up with her and stopped her. She asked him if she had done something wrong (duh!). "Yes, you did," he responded. She retorted that she didn't think so. The bewildered policeman then asked her "What about the three children you have in the trunk of your car?" At that she began trembling. When the trunk was opened, the children were okay, except that they looked "terrified," according to the policeman. The toddler was sweating profusely. When asked what the kids were doing in the trunk, the woman responded, "They wanted to ride back there." She's out on $25,000 bail, awaiting trial on a charge of reckless endangerment. She could have been charged with child abuse, except that the authorities decided she didn't intend to harm the children. There's a picture of her with the story. No, she's not a blonde...

When my kids were little, one of the boys liked to wear his Superman suit 24/7. I guess if he had asked me to let him fly off the roof, I should have gone and gotten a ladder for him. Now that I think about it, that might have saved me a lot of aggravation later.

That's a funny story. Check this one out. It's amazing what some people think sometimes.

Thank you both!
It takes all kinds...We did jump off the roof playing Superman.
Well, actually our brothers did- I didn't. I got on the roof but discovered I was afraid to get down!

(Yes I'm still up there, somewhere in Sacramento!)

Great stories you guys!

Thanks, Edisto and Mark. Those stories are both funny and sad, has common sense just completely flown out the window?

True story: I often walk our dog at Central Park and one time I saw a young woman, also pregnant, and also smoking. What was particularly shocking was that she had a cigarette in one hand and her other arm and hand holding her new little baby to her breast - breast-feeding. And allow me to say my being shocked wasn't that she was breast-feeding out in public! Oh to have had a camera that day. What a picture she was! Pregnant, smoking AND breastfeeding!

I don't get it. But then I never knew there was a Central Park in Arizona.

It must be an epidemic! Of course, since I posted the first story, those three little boys died n the trunk of an abandoned car. Terribly sad. Again in this morning's Post, there was a similar story.
In Fredericksburg, VA, an off-duty policeman heard children crying in a parking lot. The cries sounded as if they were coming from a nearby car, but the officer could see only a woman in the car. Then another woman came over and told the policeman that there might be children in the first woman's trunk. The first woman was stopped before she could drive away and was ordered to open her trunk. Inside were two five-year-olds. The mother explained that she was punishing them for misbehaving in a store. (The death penalty seems rather harsh!) She has been charged with child abuse.

I think this woman should be punished with a taste of her own medicine, lock her in a car trunk for like 8 hours and see how she likes it! I've read how animals will go to great lengths to protect their young from harm and then read stories like this, it sickens and saddens me.

Is this the only place in the country where mothers are dumb enough to drive around with their kids in the trunk? There's yet another story today. In this case, the mother, who lived in the outlying Virginia suburbs, took five children on a trip to Alabama. She rented a car for the trip, but to save money she decided to get a compact model. (She also took a dog on the trip, and one of the five children wasn't her own.) There weren't enough seats for everybody, so Mom decided three of the kids could take turns riding in the trunk, two at a time. At least this woman gave the poor kids a fighting chance. Apparently the car had a hatchback, and she folded down one of the back seats so that there was an opening into the trunk area. That way the kids could switch off without her having to stop the car. One child had to sit on top of the folded seat, however, which probably wasn't terribly comfortable or safe. I don't think the dog was asked to ride in the trunk.

Nobody caught this woman, and the trip was completed without incident. However, it turns out the woman was divorced, and her ex had custody of several of the children. When she returned them to him, they complained about the accommodations in her rental car, and he alerted the police. I'll bet he took great pleasure n doing that! (Not that she didn't deserve it.)

There was a woman in Iowa who was a well respected hospital executive.

One day she went to work, having forgot to drop her baby off at day care-- and she sat in her infant seat in her car all day long... And died.

Charges were brought and she was acquitted. I still have mixed feelings about that.

We had a similar case in our area a couple of years ago. A local couple had many, many children (I think about 12 or 13). The wife and an older daughter were on a vacation trip to Ireland, with the father in charge of the rest of the brood. He took a number of them out to run errands, and on their return, he asked a teenaged son to get the younger kids out of the van and put them down for their naps. Many hours later, it was discovered that a toddler girl had been left in the van and had perished in the summer heat. The father was convicted of child neglect. If I recall correctly, nothing was done to the teenager. (I have always wondered if the teenager was actually given the task of getting his younger siblings out of the van. Possibly it was thought that if he were found responsible, the law would go easier on him because of his age.)

I shouldn't admit this, but I have something similar in my own past; however, I don't think my daughter was actually endangered. When my daughter was very small, I used to put her into her pram and walk to the nearest grocery store, where I would get things for that evening's meal. The walk gave her a chance to get some fresh air, and I got a bit of exercise. The very first time I took her out in the pram, I found that I couldn't get the large baby carriage into the store. However, other mothers would simply park the prams in front of the store and leave the infants there while they shopped. (This was in a very small town in the 1950s, and nobody thought about child snatchers.) I parked my daughter's pram, went inside, did my shopping, and blithely struck out toward home, forgetting I had a baby! I was only half a block or so away when I suddenly remembered and slunk back in humiliation, hoping nobody had noticed my slip. My daughter had slept through the whole thing. It taught me a good lesson with minimal wear and tear on my daughter!

this must happen everywhere. such a case here a few years ago: a woman forgot about her infant granddaughter in the car while she went to work. open parking lot in the middle of summer. i don't remember the verdict, but i remember some video of her begging the prosecutor to "please stop tormenting me."

We had one yesterday in Utah...a mother left her 3 month ol daughter in a hot van for 30 minutes while she ran into WalMart. Luckily someone saw the child and pulled her our of the van which was UNLOCKED ! This good samaritan also call 911. The child ended up being OK...

Then on last night's news, one of the reporters was hooked up to monitoring equipment and sat inside of his SUV...lasted barely 20 minutes before they had to pull him out. The temperature had risen from about 10 to 138 !

Last year...at WalMart, as I was walking through the parking lot, I could hear a dog barking. It sounded 'not good'. I started to see if I could find the poor thing. Then I noticed another lady was looking too. We found the car...the window was cracked open, but the dog had NO WATER...and it was a swealtering hot day. I told the lady to get the license plate number and go have the people paged inside the store while I waited with the dog. I said if I didn't see her or the people within 10 minutes, or if the dog got worse, I was calling 911. I waited..and waited...and as I was about to call 911, the people arrived. I tried to politely remind them to at least have some water available...and that is was really too hot to leave their dog in the car anyway. They claimed they had only been in there for 10 minutes...well, I KNEW that was a lie, because I had been waiting there for MORE than 10 minutes. The guy told me I should mind my own business. I said that preventing cruelty to animals was MY business. I calmly added that I DID have their license plate number, a witness other than myself, AND that if I came acroos them again in this situation...I WOULD CALL THE POLICE IMMEDIATELY. He then said "Lady...you are a bitch." I replied with a big smile and a 'thank you', and I walked away.


Tracy...

Bravo for you, Tracy, that took guts to stand up to a jerk like that, I'm so glad that you did! I'm so proud of you, heck, Lizzie would be too! Heres to all of us "Bitches" in the world, making it a better place one case at a time.

Thank you Susan...but I was just doing what any of us would do. I am nearly becoming obsessed with looking in cars for children and dogs ! I hope I never find anything !


Tracy...

Tracy, ya did good! I've intervened in similar ways a couple of times. Luckily, I called animal control and they were on the scene when the owners returned to their cars. That went a long way toward sparing me any namecalling. One of the animals was a young puppy that I don't think would have lasted much longer. I was on the verge of breaking the window myself in that case. I've always wondered if the authorities let those people keep the puppy. I never found out.

We have a horrific case here of a woman who has been hoarding cats. She had a total of nearly 400 (I think) in two separate houses. One of the houses was in a neighborhood where one of my friends lives. It's quite an elegant area, near the Mount Vernon estate and overlooking the river. The exterior of the house looked fine (better than mine), but the interior was a welter of animal corpses and cat waste. The poor cats, most of them Siamese or Siamese-mix, were in such bad shape that very few of the living ones could be salvaged. A couple of days after the first discovery, it was found that the same woman had another household, some miles away, with nearly as many cats in it. Only the terrible odor alerted the neighbors that anything was wrong. The oddest thing is that the woman didn't live alone. Her husband and a daughter were also residents of the first house. It'll be months before I can get that story out of my mind.

The National Zoo's female panda recently gave birth to a cub. Everyone's fingers are crossed, because the cubs often die within their first few days or weeks. This one seems to be doing well so far, and the Zoo staff has been praising the mother panda for her care of the cub. This morning's Washington Post has a cartoon with a "balloon" caption reading: "Uh-oh. The panda's parenting behavior is beginning to falter..." The mother panda is pictured placing her cub in the trunk of a car.

Tracy, congratulations! You did GOOD. Just be careful as some of these people who would do something like that are a bit flaky to begin with. A bit? Hell, a lot!

One of the things I like about Lizzie are those lines in her will about animals:

"I have been fond of animals and their need is great and there are so few who care for them."

I've met some of the nicest people ever in the Pet Food aisle in the supermarket!
Those people who buy extra for all the strays. Goddess Bless You For All You Do For Animals!

You all are too kind. Thank you for your nice words. Like I said, I just did what any of us would do. With all these stories about kids being left in cars...it just reminds me to be more aware...as I am sure it does all of you too.

Now...my dogs aren't thinking I am the best mom right now. I just shaved the first one...I haven't done it myself before. I have always taken them to the groomers. But with 3 of them...at $50-$75 a piece...it can get pricey. So, I figured I would let the groomers do them for the big shave in the spring and I would invest in some good clippers and do a couple of summer shaves...to save some $$. It has been about 100 degrees here for the past several days...so they could use a bit less fur. I hih leave enough hair so they don't get sunburned. They have a patio for shade...but they do go out in the sun a lot. Anyway...the first one doesn't look so bad. I may have to take this up as a part time job ! OK...I am off to get the next two done...


Tracy...

Good Luck Tracy, I try to do that too, keep Holly
bathed and clipped myself but about twice a year
it is time to spring for the groomer. One time I got
to the groomer early and watched the young girl "doing" Holly. Holly saw me come in and whimperd a little (I swear they drug them because
Holly would have been barking her head off otherwise) but the gal grooming her slapped her and said "shut up". (she didn't know I was there watching). I was very upset to see that, I'd worked
over 5 years with Holly after getting her at the Humane Shelter, she was obviously abused and scared to death of everybody. When I told my son
Waylon about that he was equally upset because at
first Holly wouldn't go near him she was scared to
death of him, a big man. He also worked hard with her and she came to love him. Long story short: that girl was fired! The owner of the place understood how we felt and let that ignorant young gal go. Tracy, I'm with you 100 percent, good for you.

The dog thing didn't go as well as I had planned. I even bought the high-end clippers...I am guessing they were "adjusted" wrong at the factory. I had to take the blade in and have it sharpened after just half a dog. Then I finished that dog and started on the second one. Two strips down the middle of her back and the blades were kaput again. I finally took them back to Petco and they credited my card. Now (damnit), I have to take the semi-done and my third dog to the groomers to be finished.

There will eventually be dog grooming at my house...after I go talk to a neighbor with a groomer friend who has offered to teach me the ropes. I will be able to get the "stuff" I need at half price !

I have one dog thinking "Whew...I am done and I feel great !"...another saying, "MOTHER ! OMG !!! MY HAIR !!!"...and the last one thinking, "Like hell if you are gonna try that crap with me !" BUT...I am the mother...I always win...LOL.


Tracy...

These stories about child neglect just get worse and worse. Several nights ago, a couple driving on the Capital Beltway (one of the busiest and most dangerous highways on the East Coast) saw a little boy standing on the shoulder. They stopped as soon as it was safe, got him into their car, and took him to the nearest emergency room. He had a cut on his head and a lot of scrapes and road debris on his skin but was otherwise okay. He is evidently a clever little fellow for his age (four) and was able to tell them exactly what had happened to him. Apparently he had done something that set his mother off, and she had stopped her car on the Beltway and put him out! When he tried desperately to get back into the car, she drove off, knocking him into the roadside gravel. He was able to tell the police his mother's name and other vital details. A couple of hours later, the mother was arrested near Richmond (which is nearly 100 miles away). She had been in a minor accident. Armed with the details provided by the little boy, the police matched her up with the Beltway incident. She has been charged with child cruelty, hit and run, and some charges stemming from the other accident. She told the officers that she had been driving for three days and hadn't slept during that time. Think of the danger to other drivers on the road! I certainly hope her little son isn't returned to her until he's big enough to defend himself -- preferably over 21!