KS KS - Adam Herrman, 11, Towanda, 1999

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ibyoungr said:
If there was alot of transients then what is saying Adam didn't go down that track and meet up with someone bad???
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There really isn't anything to say he didn't at this point, other than the suspicions we all have about the Herrmans. I think parts of the tracks were used as a bit of a teenage meeting place at one time, but I think alot of that got removed over the years. It wasn't uncommon to walk the tracks (especially heading West toward Wichita) and find piles of beer bottles and maybe some "paraphernalia"...but not much else. So I don't know if there was anything worse than just some kids looking for a hiding spot, but it's possible.
 
Wow, I love it when locals post on cases. Such good info too. Both of you keep the rest of us updated.
 
BTW Ibyoungr, Your son and his friends sound just like my son and his friends. I only hear snippets of their adventures and I don't know if I want to know the rest. I remember how unglued I became when I found out they were putting things on the RR tracks to watch the train run them over. Of course he did the penny trick, but some of the stuff was rather big. I think I heard an ice chest was involved.

Isn't it cool though that our kids could live in a place that allowed them to have their adventures? To think about that makes me sad. Adams only worry should have been what next adventure him and his friends were going to go on.
 
neechi said:
There really isn't anything to say he didn't at this point, other than the suspicions we all have about the Herrmans. I think parts of the tracks were used as a bit of a teenage meeting place at one time, but I think alot of that got removed over the years. It wasn't uncommon to walk the tracks (especially heading West toward Wichita) and find piles of beer bottles and maybe some "paraphernalia"...but not much else. So I don't know if there was anything worse than just some kids looking for a hiding spot, but it's possible.
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I am going to have to catch up on all the recent interviews. Yesterday I skimmed the one where the oldest sister Crystal was the one that went to SRS to find her brother. She was 17 at the time. I am sure her memory is quite good about the situation. Is there anything in the interviews where ANYONE has a specfic memory about the DAY they last remember Adam. This last memories could contain a clue.
 
neechi said:
There really isn't anything to say he didn't at this point, other than the suspicions we all have about the Herrmans. I think parts of the tracks were used as a bit of a teenage meeting place at one time, but I think alot of that got removed over the years. It wasn't uncommon to walk the tracks (especially heading West toward Wichita) and find piles of beer bottles and maybe some "paraphernalia"...but not much else. So I don't know if there was anything worse than just some kids looking for a hiding spot, but it's possible.
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I believe your insight on Mama H is an observation that was pure and unbiased because you knew of her prior to this coming out in the media. That is VERY important.

Good to know that it wasn't uncommon to walk the tracks there. I grew up in a rural area and raised my oldest 2 in a small SC KS town until 2003 when I moved to Benton. I was so worried because we lived close to Wichita.
 
I just dont get why no one did anything......all the ones who knew what was going on, the ones who saw the kid locked to a tub?....come one why didnt someone step in, I really hope he did run away but my gut says otherwise
 
SuziQ said:
Wow, I love it when locals post on cases. Such good info too. Both of you keep the rest of us updated.
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Thanks Suzi! I always feel a bit useless when I lurk around the other discussions...so it's nice to feel a bit useful!

ibyoungr: My dealings with Mrs. Herrman were always of a professional nature, but I did see her and her daughter every couple of months for six & a half years (from 2000-2006) and honestly, she always seemed really nice, but just weird. Honestly, I encountered A LOT of weird parents and she definitely wasn't the weirdest. Although the thought of her snapping or being nutty at home really is not much of a surprise.

One thing I thought was interesting, I saw an interview with the Butler Co. Sheriff and he mentioned that he was a bit irritated that the Herrmans were "talking to everyone but his investigators". That makes me think that there has been no official interrogation of either of the Herrmans. I would assume that would be because they've retained counsel.

Also for anyone wondering, the search of the Whitewater didn't yield anything. I think they knew it was a bit of a desperate measure after this amount of time, but they had to try. I haven't heard when the ground penetrating radar is supposed to be here, I'm guessing alot of that depends on the weather too since it's been cold.

It does seem that the Kansas SRS is investigating to see exactly how much money they fraudulently obtained, so if nothing else we might see some charges from that...

Anyway...that was a long post, sorry! :) I'm thinking this is gonna be one of those wait and *hopefully* see kind of investigations.
 
neechi said:
Thanks Suzi! I always feel a bit useless when I lurk around the other discussions...so it's nice to feel a bit useful!

ibyoungr: My dealings with Mrs. Herrman were always of a professional nature, but I did see her and her daughter every couple of months for six & a half years (from 2000-2006) and honestly, she always seemed really nice, but just weird. Honestly, I encountered A LOT of weird parents and she definitely wasn't the weirdest. Although the thought of her snapping or being nutty at home really is not much of a surprise.

One thing I thought was interesting, I saw an interview with the Butler Co. Sheriff and he mentioned that he was a bit irritated that the Herrmans were "talking to everyone but his investigators". That makes me think that there has been no official interrogation of either of the Herrmans. I would assume that would be because they've retained counsel.

Also for anyone wondering, the search of the Whitewater didn't yield anything. I think they knew it was a bit of a desperate measure after this amount of time, but they had to try. I haven't heard when the ground penetrating radar is supposed to be here, I'm guessing alot of that depends on the weather too since it's been cold.

It does seem that the Kansas SRS is investigating to see exactly how much money they fraudulently obtained, so if nothing else we might see some charges from that...

Anyway...that was a long post, sorry! :) I'm thinking this is gonna be one of those wait and *hopefully* see kind of investigations.
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If the family was poor (and I kinda get that impression) I could see the story about him running away being true and it wasn't reported because they wanted to continue getting SRS money.

However, if what the uncle said is true: that Adam's mom told her brother that they gave Adam back to the state, I think it is safe to assume something sinister happened otherwise she would have told the uncle Adam ran away (like she told everyone else).

Btw: I grew up in Wichita (live in KC now).
 
I talked to my son today and he said they did not see anything buit some animal bones and I said "How did you know they were ANIMAL bones.. he said becuase it was from a SNAKE.

I hope the ground penetrating radar brings up something.. or her husband cracks..

At the very least, they will have charges against them for fraud. The boy may have very well ran off and could have been picked up along the way by a pedophile. If that was all it was, Mama H should have thought ti herself, do I want to risk losing the kids I have now or be consider a POI in a homicide years later?

Adam could very well be alive and seeing this on TV today. If you were him, would you come forward or let your past abuser be considered a murderer as payback?
 
wedavis said:
If the family was poor (and I kinda get that impression) I could see the story about him running away being true and it wasn't reported because they wanted to continue getting SRS money.

However, if what the uncle said is true: that Adam's mom told her brother that they gave Adam back to the state, I think it is safe to assume something sinister happened otherwise she would have told the uncle Adam ran away (like she told everyone else).

Btw: I grew up in Wichita (live in KC now).
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Hi to another Kansan!

I don't know that I would characterize the family as "poor", the father owns a Masonry business and I don't think he does too bad at it. I would say they are probably pretty solidly middle class. I think sometimes the "trailer park" thing sets a certain vision in most people's minds...but this particular "manufactured home community" is pretty nice, it's all doublewides and paved roads and stuff, it's just a little community - the homes just happen to have wheels.

Pretty well all the family has said the mother told them that Adam went back to the state. This would be my idea...for what it's worth...

Adam was a troubled kid. Because of the troubles of Adam and his younger siblings, the Herrmans got quite a bit of money. (If you figure they were getting $700/mo for Adam, I'm pretty sure they were getting money on at least one of the younger siblings as well...so lets assume it's a similar amount). The threat of losing Adam's money was bad, but the threat of losing all the money (which could have been as much as an extra $1400/mo if both kids were paid at the same rate as for Adam). Family is starting to notice the abuse and mention it, the older daughter is getting concerned - so one day Adam "runs away". I think the idea that the mom freaked out and killed him is possible and then dad helped cover it up, probably with the use of his masonry skills. Everyone is told the state took him back, everyone breathes a sigh of relief at the fact that they think Adam is safe. No one asks questions.

Obviously I'm not a professional and all of this is just speculation, but that's my read on it - with the facts so far.
 
neechi said:
Hi to another Kansan!

I don't know that I would characterize the family as "poor", the father owns a Masonry business and I don't think he does too bad at it. I would say they are probably pretty solidly middle class. I think sometimes the "trailer park" thing sets a certain vision in most people's minds...but this particular "manufactured home community" is pretty nice, it's all doublewides and paved roads and stuff, it's just a little community - the homes just happen to have wheels.

Pretty well all the family has said the mother told them that Adam went back to the state. This would be my idea...for what it's worth...

Adam was a troubled kid. Because of the troubles of Adam and his younger siblings, the Herrmans got quite a bit of money. (If you figure they were getting $700/mo for Adam, I'm pretty sure they were getting money on at least one of the younger siblings as well...so lets assume it's a similar amount). The threat of losing Adam's money was bad, but the threat of losing all the money (which could have been as much as an extra $1400/mo if both kids were paid at the same rate as for Adam). Family is starting to notice the abuse and mention it, the older daughter is getting concerned - so one day Adam "runs away". I think the idea that the mom freaked out and killed him is possible and then dad helped cover it up, probably with the use of his masonry skills. Everyone is told the state took him back, everyone breathes a sigh of relief at the fact that they think Adam is safe. No one asks questions.

Obviously I'm not a professional and all of this is just speculation, but that's my read on it - with the facts so far.
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Very good points.

The fact that the mother told two different stories (if the uncle can be believed) about why Adam was no longer with them is very telling IMO
 
I could be totally off here, but my gut is telling me he got away. He ran away, and never looked back. I want to have hope this is the case. Question is, I haven't read all posts and not sure of all the players in this, should he be found? Or left alone? I pray he got away from these nuts and is safe some where living a great life. What would his age be now again?
 
christine2448 said:
I could be totally off here, but my gut is telling me he got away. He ran away, and never looked back. I want to have hope this is the case. Question is, I haven't read all posts and not sure of all the players in this, should he be found? Or left alone? I pray he got away from these nuts and is safe some where living a great life. What would his age be now again?
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I really hope that's the case as well, unfortunately - I'm just not so sure. I hope that if he is living a good life he contacts police and lets them know, but hopefully they wouldn't release any info on him or his whereabouts. But I'd hate to see the taxpayers continue to pay for a search if he's not really missing is all. He would be 21 now.
 
New article in this morning's Wichita Eagle:

SRS to Review Contacts with Adam Herrman

A couple of interesting things:

State Sen. Jean Schodorf, R-Wichita, said Friday that she has asked Don Jordan, secretary of SRS, to undertake the audit regarding Adam, who disappeared in 1999 at age 11 from his Towanda home. Authorities only recently discovered his disappearance.

"We need to... find out if indeed the state or the system lost this child somewhere," said Schodorf, assistant Senate majority leader.
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In 1996 Adam spent 2 days in the Wichita Children's Home before being returned to the Herrmans.

Schodorf said she also has questions about how Adam ended up being withdrawn from a Derby public school and being home-schooled by his adoptive mother around the time he disappeared.

The state does not require records of students who are home-schooled, said Dea Lieber, general counsel for the State Department of Education. State law requires only that a home school provide its name and address, she said. State records show a Herrman School with a Derby address, listed as a non-accredited private school as of January 1998.
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I was pretty sure this was the case here for Homeschool kids, but I wanted to be sure...

Our local NBC affiliate has an article stating that the Sheriff is trying to make people understand that they don't have anything to hold the Herrmans on yet and to be patient. Apparently the office is being inundated with calls and letters.

Well that's my early morning report :)
 
It sounds like the mom, knowing the school was going to notice her son was missing, filed for homeschooling. I have seen the homeschooling option abused in situations like this so many times. Abusers use it to hide abuse. I'm not dissing homeschoolers at all. I know some great homeschoolers. In my state, homeschooled kids have to pass periodic state testing to make sure kids are at the learning level they should be. If all states had this, there would be less abuse of the homeschool system and maybe KS would have caught on to the fact that Adam was missing sooner.
 
Geez, the bio parents were apparently worthless, the adoptive parents were definitely useless...How is it that all these kids have no one that pays attention to them, even to realize that they are not around anymore? Has the reality of "throw away kids" really become this harsh?
 
Wow, does this guy want to go back to another day and time so he doesn't have to hear about missing person cases "this far North"? I'm so sorry he's having to "contend" with yet another story about a missing person. I'm so sorry he's being inconvenienced because his profession is now saddled "Amber alerts and getting the word out". BTW, y'all can leave comments at the end of the below linked article. :)

http://www.petoskeynews.com/articles/2009/01/13/columns/doc496b577d98ac0704856744.txt

(snip)
And now we’re going to have to contend with Adam Herrman, the Kansas 11-year-old who hasn’t been seen since 1999 and who’d now be 21 if still alive. Then there’s Natalee Holloway, missing in Aruba and feared dead since 2005.

In another time and day, Caylee’s story wouldn’t have made it further than the Florida newspapers. If it wasn’t for Amber alerts and “getting the word out” that someone is missing, we’d probably have never heard about it this far north.
 
Now this is how you do it. The paper published missing kids website links and suggested people take a look. Kudos to the Wichita Eagle! ETA: it was very interesting to see such contrasting articles back to back.

http://www.kansas.com/706/story/659726.html

(snip)
Why you'd want it: With national interest in the Butler County Sheriff's Office investigation of Adam Herrman, recently reported missing since 1999, you might want to learn more about other missing children.
 
Search for Herrman may resume today

http://www.kansas.com/212/story/661080.html

(snip)
Murphy said the sheriff's department spent Monday on other cases. He said the search along a roughly 4-mile stretch of wooded river banks could resume as early as today
 
Photo Gallery:
http://www.kansas.com/static/slides/010509missing/

In-Depth Coverage:
http://www.kansas.com/adam/

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