AL - Jack Wiley & Glenna Cavender for child sexual abuse, Conecuh County, Jan 2006

[Liz]

I sent a copy of this story to Rita Cosby. I'm hoping that she will have Tracy on her show to tell her story. I think this story should be in the media. It should be told as Tracy tried every avenue she could think of to get help for the little girl and finally took the situation into her own hands. I hope this story touches Rita as much as it has me. Tracy is a true heroine and she deserves the credit for saving that little tiny girl and the teenager too. Maybe Rita can find out who the kids belong to.

In the thread over in Crimes in the News, a couple of us have emailed Oprah, since this sounds like a perfect show for her.

Oprah is actively working to catch child predators. Oprah is always telling people to listen to that inner voice. This story reminds us to keep our eyes open and observe the children around us. And, it's a reminder to Law Enforcement that they need try to do their part, too; and listen to us gals, when our intuition is beckoning!

I've love to see Oprah have Tracie Dean on as a guest and give her the recognition she deserves!

 

[mysteriew]

Dan Abrams had Tracie Dean on, and she said that she spotted what she thought was the same little girl on a missing children's site. That little girl was missing from Ohio.

ETA: But, that doesn't make sense either. Because Tracie wouldn't be thinking of adopting IF she was truly a missing child, that has a parent somewhere wanting her back home.

It sounds as though it is too early to tell yet. They don't know for sure if the couple is common law husband and wife or father and dau. That would lead me to the conclusion that anything they said about the origins of the kids would be suspect. Even if they say, yes they are her children- even if LE may have told the lady they are her children (and I believe it is likely that they did) I am glad they are checking to see for sure.
She thought the girl might be from Ohio, huh?

 

[NewMom2003]

I didn't know there were two threads for this story. I posted on the one in the "up to the minute" forum.

Tracie Dean is a true hero in my book!!! I hope everyone sees this story and realizes that this could have been any one of us. Any one of us can make a difference in a child's life like Tracie did. God Bless her!

I'm hoping that the media runs with this story and updates us as to the relationships of the two children to the monsters that had them.

I'm takeing everyone's lead and going to email Oprah also!!

 

[Marie]

This really makes me wonder if the woman had more children - there's a big age difference between the boy & the girl. I wonder if she gave birth to another child/children during those 14 years - and if so, where are those children?

 

[rainbow]

Most of this article is repeated information. I don't remember reading about her saying she's from West VA and him being from CA anywhere else so I thought I'd post it for that bit of new info.


http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060128/NEWS02/601280347/1009

Authorities hope DNA tests will confirm the relationship between the couple and children.
Conecuh County District Attorney Tommy Chapman said Friday that Cavender claims she's the mother of the children and is from West Virginia. She also told authorities Wiley is from California. Chapman confirmed Wiley has an arson conviction in that state, but he didn't know their hometowns.

"We think they may have been on a nationwide crime spree," Sheriff Tracy Hawsey said. "We should know more as information continues to come in."

 

[mysteriew]

There is a group that lives in the US, they are loosely connected together, more or less they are old fashioned gypsies. They roam around, from state to state, city to city. They are often associated with scams like the fix your driveway scam, shoplifting, things like that. LE will occasionally get one, but normally they commit their crimes, then when things get to hot, they leave. There is a name for them, but I forget what they are called. As I said, they are loosely connected, they all know who is connected but no one else seems to know who is involved. They often marry within the group. They are very secretive. I heard about them in relation to a Mom who slapped her child pretty severely in a Cin. shopping centre, the hunt for the Mom got a lot of news coverage and the TV stations did quite a bit of explaining about the group. I wonder if these people aren't connected?

 

[Mabel]

http://www.al.com/news/mobileregister/index.ssf?/base/news/1138356961106740.xml&coll=3

EVERGREEN -- A Conecuh County man who lived for months in the same mobile home with two people accused last week of abusing a boy and girl in their care said Thursday he was shocked by the allegations.

"I just heard all of it this morning," said Bill Fryant. "I just got the details about what they are accused of doing. I thought it was absolutely horrifying and disgusting and unbelievable. I had no idea. I would never have allowed them to step inside the house."

Fryant said he first met the couple, identified by authorities as Jack Wiley and Glenna Faye Cavender, when he stayed in a Red Cross shelter in Brewton after Hurricane Ivan made landfall in September 2004


More at the link above.

I find it odd that Bill Fryant, over a period of months living with the family, never noticed anything strange with the children but Tracie Dean took one look at the little girl and knew something was wrong. Not that I'm accusing Fryant of anything, it's just strange how some people are more aware or observant.

 

[concernedperson]

It sounds as though it is too early to tell yet. They don't know for sure if the couple is common law husband and wife or father and dau. That would lead me to the conclusion that anything they said about the origins of the kids would be suspect. Even if they say, yes they are her children- even if LE may have told the lady they are her children (and I believe it is likely that they did) I am glad they are checking to see for sure.
She thought the girl might be from Ohio, huh?

I wanted to get with you about this before I forgot. The child Tracie thought could be from Ohio was confirmed today as not her by the Sheriff. This was on Fox earlier this afternoon. But it does show you that sometimes we see something in someone's eyes that brings it home to us.

 

[mysteriew]

Thanks, CP. In a way, I am glad it isn't the child from Ohio, given the history here. But still it would be nice to have a missing child found.

 

[Liz]

Thanks, CP. In a way, I am glad it isn't the child from Ohio, given the history here. But still it would be nice to have a missing child found.

I'm glad it isn't the missing girl that Tracie thought it might be. That way she has a better chance of adopting "Elizabeth". (I kind of figured after I read that Tracie wanted to adopt her, that it must not be a 'missing child'; or she wouldn't have made that comment to the AJC.)

Mysteriew, is it The Travelers you were thinking of? I feel there's another name for them too, but that's the one that came to mind. (We had some work done by a couple of them in Florida. They were real characters, I tell ya!)

Adding PLEASE anyone who would like to see this story further publicized, please email Oprah at the link I provided above! This is a great story to help promote awareness not only amongst everyday people but also to Law Enforcement!

 

[mysteriew]

Yeah Liz, it was the Travelers! According to info from my local stations, they are known to be grifters.

 

[concernedperson]

All I can say if I was a lost little girl I would want Tracie as my mom. She saw something that no one else did. She saw it with love and determination and I have never known that kind of love. I know hardship and vacant eyes and i can pick them out with ease.But she did the ultra extra step...more than stepping on the moon with reinforcements.....she did this by herself. That is why she is a hero. No reinforcements for this gal it was guts to open.No one can discount her actions. This needs to be the person of the year and maybe the person of the decade. But in any case, this is a person to to be emulated and any other post tonight just pales in her light. But, let her light shine and bring hope to others. And bring up the spirit that we can all make a difference.We are all Tracie Dean's just waiting to happen.

 

[mysteriew]

I'm glad it isn't the missing girl that Tracie thought it might be. That way she has a better chance of adopting "Elizabeth". (I kind of figured after I read that Tracie wanted to adopt her, that it must not be a 'missing child'; or she wouldn't have made that comment to the AJC.)

Mysteriew, is it The Travelers you were thinking of? I feel there's another name for them too, but that's the one that came to mind. (We had some work done by a couple of them in Florida. They were real characters, I tell ya!)

Adding PLEASE anyone who would like to see this story further publicized, please email Oprah at the link I provided above! This is a great story to help promote awareness not only amongst everyday people but also to Law Enforcement!

I found an interesting site on the travelers. Evidently there are two groups of them, one with a Scottish background and one with an Irish background. I am not saying this couple is a member of one of these groups, but there are some similarities.
http://fraudtech.bizland.com/travelers.htm

 

[concernedperson]

I found an interesting site on the travelers. Evidently there are two groups of them, one with a Scottish background and one with an Irish background. I am not saying this couple is a member of one of these groups, but there are some similarities.
http://fraudtech.bizland.com/travelers.htm

The travelers have been around for a long time. My paternity parents were one of them. They were very abusive and loved denial as a life form. I view it as a form of genetic abuse and certainly generational.I chose to disavow them and my children show none of the aberrations. That is all I can ask.

 

[Shadow205]

"We think they may have been on a nationwide crime spree," Hawsey said. "We should know more as information continues to come in."

In light of the above statement, I think that it might be a good idea to try and establish where these people were and when. According to Bill Fryant, the man who owned the mobile home where they were living when arrested, they have stayed with him on 2 occasions.
Fryant said he first met the couple, identified by authorities as Jack Wiley and Glenna Faye Cavender, when he stayed in a Red Cross shelter in Brewton after Hurricane Ivan made landfall in September 2004. When Fryant met the two, Cavender identified herself as Rose Wiley, Jack Wiley's daughter, Fryant said.
<snip>
When they first arrived in Conecuh County, Wiley and Cavender had photographs of damages of what they claimed to be their property in Gulf Shores, Fryant said. They stayed with Fryant until November 2004. They returned in November 2005, saying they had been driven from their home in Slidell, La., by Hurricane Katrina, Fryant said

Information from another article :
<snip>

Conecuh County District Attorney Tommy Chapman said Friday that Cavender claims she's the mother of the children and is from West Virginia. She also told authorities Wiley is from California. Chapman confirmed Wiley has an arson conviction in that state, but he didn't know their hometowns.
http://www.al.com/search/index.ssf?/base/news/1138443593146800.xml?birminghamnews?nstate&coll=2&thispage=2

In another article that I read (which I can't locate at the moment) it said that the pair lived in Alaska for a while and I think it mentioned a couple of other states. If anyone else read that article, please post a link.

 

[docwho3]

I hope they do DNA testing to be sure whose children they are. They might not be hers at all for all we know.

 

[Shadow205]

<snip>
She took down the Washington state license tag number on their vehicle

<snip>

Investigators say Glenna Faye Cavender and Wiley were drifters who traveled around America selling souvenirs at stock car races, and that Wiley was suspected of molesting an estimated 40 other children in several other states.
http://www.11alive.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=75218
The big question here is what information does LE have to suspect an estimated 40 other children? The first thing that came to mind is that they found pictures in their belongings. The other possibility is that the 17 yo is giving them information. Either way, it sounds to me like there are a lot of victims in a lot of states.

 

[Shadow205]

According to everything that I have found Doc, they are doing DNA to establish if these 2 children are indeed their children. One article I read said the boy is the womans son and the other said he is her brother.

I hope they do DNA testing to be sure whose children they are. They might not be hers at all for all we know.

 

[Shadow205]

I found the info that I was asking anyone who found it to post:

"I felt sorry for the boy," Fryant said. "He was a good person, I think, but he said he had never been to school, had just traveled around the country for eight years. Before that, he said, they lived in Alaska.

Well, from what I have been able to collect today they have lived in the following states:

Alaska
California
Alabama
Louisiana
Washington
West Virginia

One of the reports said that Wiley has been charged with failure to register as a sex offender. I am still searching to see if he is registered in a state other than Alabama.

 

[bbmcrae]

I just saw a picture of this guy. Guilty.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/LAW/01/29/alabama.abuse/index.html

VERGREEN, Alabama (CNN) -- A man charged with raping a 3-year-old girl who has been living with him and a woman who may be her mother blamed spider bites Sunday for the child's genital scarring.

Jack Wiley, 58, and Glenna Faye Marshall, 40, were arrested in southern Alabama last week and charged with abusing the toddler and a 17-year-old boy. Police said Wiley is charged with sodomizing the teenager.

Wiley, dressed in an orange prison uniform, told CNN the boy also has had recent spider bites, and both children have suffered from boils.

Marshall told investigators she is the girl's mother, and has admitted there was sexual contact between Wiley and the child, according to Conecuh County District Attorney Tommy Chapman.

But Wiley insists the scarring is the result of something else.

"I believe it has something to do with spider bites, because for quite a while she would put her hands here [genitals] and hold her breath until she turned red, I mean almost as red as that truck," Wiley told CNN in an interview.

"I would give the world if I could get two really good doctors to examine her. I mean, I am worse than Charles Manson right now as far as the country is concerned," he said, referring to the convicted killer accused of ordering the 1969 murder of actress Sharon Tate and several others.

"I'm guilty of a lot of crimes. I don't care what they send me to prison for, but not hurting my kid. I love her," Wiley said.