TX TX - Joe Tarkington, 2, & Samuel Tarkington, 1, Trinidad, 9 April 1999

[californiacarrie]

I'm actually suprised you all don't have a discussion in regards to these kids 'round here - its a pretty interesting case.

Vital statistics: Joe (Josephe Douglas) was born on June 24, 1996. Sandy blond hair, blue eyes. His nickname is J.D. Was two at the time.
Samuel (Samuel Jame) was born on September 22, 1997. Sandy blond hair, blue/green eyes. His nickname is Sammie. Was one at the time. Both may be using the last name Gray.
Last seen in Trinidad, Texas on April 9, 1999
Joe and Samuel were both abducted by their non-custodial mother, Lisa Gray Tarkington.
Lisa had been married to the children's father, Keith, for three and a half years when she took Joe and Samuel and left him on April 9, 1999. Keith sought a divorce and custody of the children and Lisa did not challenge his petitions, but Keith's custody order has not been enforced and he has not seen his sons since 1999. Lisa's father, John Joe Gray, is a member of the Embassy of Heaven Church, an Oregon-based Christian sect that rejects government authority. A leader in the Texas Constitutional Militia, he was charged with two felonies in connection with a Christmas 1999 scuffle with police officers and afterwards barricaded himself and his family inside his 47-acre property on the banks of the Trinity River. Lisa, Joe, and Samuel are believed to be living in the compound, but authorities are refused admittance there.
The second link has some interesting information on the cult as well as the family.


http://www.forthelost.org/family/tarkington.html
http://www.religionnewsblog.com/4647

[bykerladi]

Here's the "official" website for the Embassy of Heaven Church. http://www.embassyofheaven.com/

[Kat]

I think that these children are on the property of this man named in this article (their maternal Grandfather).

http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/loc...is_ground.html

snip:

...Tarkington divorced his wife and was granted custody of the kids. But when officers tried to serve the papers, the Gray family stuck to their guns and wouldn’t let them on the land. Without that legal necessity, deputies today won’t enforce the court’s custody order.

Tarkington has spent 10 years trying to convince Nutt and his predecessor, in vain, to get officers to raid the place and help him find his kids...

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

The boys' age-progressions have finally been updated. Joe's to 14 and Samuel's to 13.

http://www.missingkids.com/missingki...archLang=en_US

[LaReina]

I put the name Joe Tarkington into myspace.com and a boy that looks ALOT like the age progression came up...any thoughts on the next step?