CA - Lillian Leilani Gill, 4, Big Bear City, Jan 2001

The mother of a missing Big Bear City girl has been arrested on charges of murder
http://www.bigbeargrizzly.net/articles/2004/02/05/news/latest_news/barrest.txt

Lillian Leilani Gill's Mother - 14 years in prison on charges of voluntary manslaughter, burglary, and willful harm to a child, along with $10,000 in restitution plus 4 years of probation (Lillian was strangled, after which her mother told investigators she was in Italy)

http://www.bigbeargrizzly.net/articles/2006/12/09/news/tesselaar.txt

***snip***
Absolutely,” Tesselaar says when asked if justice has been served with Sharon’s sentence. But what bothers him still is why it took so long for anyone to step forward and admit the child was dead. “We’re talking about a four and a half-year old,” Tesselaar says the day the child’s remains were discovered. “People knew, why wait?”
Sharon Gill admitted to her then-husband John months before she was arrested that she had killed the child, Tesselaar says. John told his parents, and other family members and friends were aware, the detective says. “Why wasn’t the right thing done immediately?” he asks. The case might have been concluded sooner and Lillian’s body discovered so she could have a proper funeral and burial, he says.

Tesselaar says anyone who knew could have called WeTip or sent an anonymous letter. Instead, they all hired lawyers and kept quiet, he says.

Tesselaar says he’s bothered that no one in the family cared enough to report the death of an innocent 4-year-old child. He’s also bothered that if Sharon couldn’t handle Lillian why Sharon didn’t give the child up for adoption. That’s all Sharon had to do, and it might have saved Lillian’s life, Tesselaar says.

http://www.bigbeargrizzly.net/articles/2006/12/09/news/tesselaar.txt

7 Dec 2006

"Tesselaar was the lead homicide detective assigned to investigate the case of missing Lillian Leilani Gill. The 4-year-old disappeared in March 2002. Her adoptive mother, Sharon Gill, was arrested in February 2004 on charges she murdered Lillian. But the child’s body wasn’t recovered until last week, on Nov. 29. It’s been a long time coming, Tesselaar says."

much more at link

How horrible for the little girl to find out her sister was buried outside her bedroom window all these years!

I'm not sure I quite understand how John adopted his own children, not knowing who they were. Am I totally confused??

Lillian’s body was found buried in the yard outside the bedroom she once occupied. That room is now occupied by the girl’s sister. In a stranger-than-fiction twist, John divorced Sharon while she was in jail and remarried. The woman he married also has an adopted daughter who is Lillian’s biological older sister.

Tesselaar says John told him about the new wife and stepdaughter the day Lillian’s body was found. John didn’t know about the connection to Lillian and his son, James, Lillian’s biological brother when he met his new wife. Both children were adopted by John and Sharon in 1999. James still lives with John and his stepmother and biological sister. (from the bigbeargrizzley link below)

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STEADFAST said:

How horrible for the little girl to find out her sister was buried outside her bedroom window all these years!

I'm not sure I quite understand how John adopted his own children, not knowing who they were. Am I totally confused??

Click to expand...

This is how I read it. . .
John and Sharon adopted Lillian and James in 1999
Sharon killed Lillian and went to prison
John divorced her while she is in prison and still has James
John marries a woman who has an adopted daughter
Stranger than fiction, the woman's adopted daughter is Lillian and James' bio sister, which he didn't know when he met/married her.