Found Deceased WI - Kodie Dutcher, 10, may be suicidal, Baraboo, 6 July 2020

I suspect this is a rumor? I don't recall any MSM reporting on mom's relationship status. If I missed it, please link. TIA.

 

Kodie Dutcher's mom shares emotional Facebook post thanking community, addressing suicide

You’re welcome.

 

Kodie Dutcher's mom shares emotional Facebook post thanking community, addressing suicide

July 13, 2020

BARABOO, Wis. — Nearly one week after the death of 10-year-old Kodie Dutcher of Baraboo, her mother, Brandy Bielicki, shared an emotional Facebook post about suicide and thanking the community for their efforts and involvement in helping find her daughter.

The post reads:

Friends, family, community, and strangers,

I can not begin to express all the emotions I have at this moment. I have sat here multiple times wondering what to say. And I have realized that no words will ever do the situation justice, but I will try to convey what I can to you.

On July 7th, I lost my beautiful, bubbly, witty, and smart daughter, Kodie Braelynn to suicide. I am beside myself as is my entire family. I keep replaying things in my mind over and over wondering what I missed, but the answer is nothing. Though my daughter took her own life, it was a terrible accident in the eyes of those that knew her. At 10 years old children do not understand permanence. She never, and I mean never displayed any signs that would even begin to make me think she was struggling, and I am a very involved mom! Kodie must have been upset, and this was her cry for help. Unfortunately, she did something that no one could save her from.

I am confused and hurt. Distraught. Anxious. Depressed. And so many other words! I cry, then I am numb, then I laugh and remember how incredible she was. That was completely evident in her funeral! So many people came to show their love and support! Friends and family came at a moments notice, some from more than 8 hours away. People who searched for Kodie came to show their respect, and sorrow as we all hoped for a different outcome. But perhaps the most astonishing to me was the amount of strangers that took time out of their lives to come and show how Kodie touched them. Those who came got to hear many stories of her life, and saw full picture boards that barely scratched the surface of the amazing life she had here with us. My family will be forever changed by the loss of Kodie. We are doing our best to navigate this horrid situation. But it helps to know how loved Kodie was by everyone.

The list of thank yous that I have to give is a very long one. But at this moment there are a few people I want to recognize. For starters my parents, Brian and Donna. They lost their only grandchild, but in their grief are still finding ways to support me. My sisters and brother, they lost a niece, but they each are reaching out to me continuously to ensure that I am okay. My boyfriend, Alex. He and I are in a fairly new relationship but he never once left my side. He was my rock when I was in a hard place, standing in quicksand. The officers that showed up and “secret serviced” my daughter with us! But especially Lt. Ryan LaBroscian! Please sir, do not doubt yourself as I know you gave all your effort to find my baby. You treated me with respect and my daughter with dignity as the information unfolded of what happened. You will forever have a special place in my heart!

Kodie Braelynn Dutcher was and is still the best thing I have ever done. I will do my best to continue to live in a way that she would be proud of. Please continue to pray for my family because the ache doesn’t stop for us. I love you all and am eternally grateful!

With love,
Kodie’s mom (Brandy)

 

A beautiful tribute to her daughter, and it reflected what many of us believed to be the truth about Kodie. Thanks for the link.

 

This is such a tragedy. It brings back memories. I lived in a heavily wooded Nashville suburb in the 1970s. The father of a large family that lived in the woods committed suicide by hanging himself. He battled depression and lost the battle. A week after his funeral, his 8 year old son hung himself in the same area. 8 years old. Makes me want to cry. Poor Kodie. I feel for her family. They must be in such pain.

 

There are three grandparents named in the obituary?

Prayers and healing for her family.

 

"I think it was her first cry for help:' Baraboo mother speaks out on Kodie Dutcher's suicide

“I was a 365 mom," the single mother tells 27 News. Bielicki says she's also been open about her own challenge in dealing with depression and anxiety. "I'm an R.N. who struggles with mental illness," she says. "There is no reason I should have missed this," the grief-stricken Bielicki says, maintaining her daughter exhibited no signs of considering self harm.”

Bielicki and Dutcher moved to Baraboo from Ohio six months before the child's disappearance. Bielicki tells 27 News she believes the COVID-19 environment was especially hard on Kodie in their household of two, and without time to establish new friendships. "I couldn't even take her to the grocery store, she had to stay home," Bielicki says. "Complete isolation does something."

Did Kodie stay at home alone while her mother worked? Complete isolation without the ability to make friends stuck at home for six months?

 

More likely, the maternal grandparents are divorced, or were never married, and that "third grandparent" was a step-mother.

 

So tragic. She was just a little girl.
Any word from her father?

 

Father was not acknowledged in KD's OBIT. Assumed he was not in the picture. MOO

 

^^RSBM

This was never addressed by LE or MSM. What we do know is that KD face- timed with her mom about an hour before mom arrived home to find her daughter missing.

I believe mom's statements very revealing:

It appears KD had no diagnosis and no treatment for mental disease prior to her death (mom states no signs).

I also believe mom's brave, public revelation that she too suffers from symptoms attributed to mental disease gives room to speculate what there were Rx drugs in the home that her daughter likely ingested.

COVID19 has been difficult for adults -- I'm so sorry this child felt so helpless and that she could not endure one more day. MOO

 

Just Ask Us: How old do my children have to be before they can legally stay home alone?.

Feb 2019

Q: How old do my children have to be before they can legally stay home alone?

A: In Wisconsin, there are no laws stating the age at which a child can be home alone.

That means it’s a judgment call for parents.

Parents deciding whether to leave children home alone should assess their physical, mental, social and emotional maturity, according to guidelines from the Madison Fire Department.

“There is no magical age when children develop the maturity and good sense they need to stay alone,” the department said. “Some children display these abilities around age 12, or even sooner; others do so when they’re older.”

If children get ready for school on time, do homework with little assistance and can discuss their feelings, they could be ready to stay home alone, according to the department.

Examples of questions parents should answer are whether their child can lock and unlock the doors and windows to their home, solve small problems on their own but know when to ask for help, mediate conflicts between siblings and handle responsibility like watching out for younger siblings, among others.

“When the time is right, staying home alone can be a positive experience for children,” the department said. “A child may become more responsible and feel proud about staying home alone, if he or she is ready for it.”

Other considerations could be the safety of your neighborhood, how long they’ll be alone and if there’s an adult nearby that a child can go to for help.

Before allowing a child to stay home alone, parents should develop rules and a schedule, the department said.

Only about a dozen states have laws defining the age — ranging from 6 to 14 years old — a child can stay home alone, according to the Washington Post.

For more information about determining whether to allow your child to stay home alone, go to go.madison.com/home-alone or go.madison.com/children-alone.

 

Perhaps they had moved in with Brandy’s parents when they moved to Baraboo from Ohio.
Nebraska to Ohio to Wisconsin could have been difficult transitions for Kodie - add Mom’s new boyfriend and Covid.
JMO

 

This is how police consistently reported about the case: Baraboo police said they were originally dispatched to apartments in Baraboo for a missing juvenile and spoke to the mother.

The amber alert said she was last seen at 4 PM (same as the time she face-timed with her mom). I never got the feeling that they lived with family members.

I recall the apartment complex appeared to be large, and under different circumstances, she may have had an opportunity to have a play date.

Also, my recollection is they moved from N Platte, NE to Baraboo, WI. I've never read they moved to Ohio before WI. How long were they in Ohio before settling in Baraboo? Maybe it was bad reporting....

 

"I think it was her first cry for help:' Baraboo mother speaks out on Kodie Dutcher's suicide

Aug 10, 2020

"I think it was her first cry for help," Brandy Bielicki tells 27 News, in her first interview since her daughter's body was found July 7.

Authorities and dozens of volunteers searched for Dutcher after Bielicki returned home from a nursing shift July 6 and found the girl gone, even though the two had plans to join other family members for a camping trip in Minocqua.

Bielicki says during a search of her apartment with a responding Baraboo Police officer, a note was found.

"I did find a note that said, 'Mom, I love you, but I can't do this,'" Bielicki tells 27 News.

"I'll tell you...my daughter did not intend to commit suicide," Bielicki tells 27 News. "She made a mistake in the moment and was afraid."

Bielicki says Kodie took $50 and some food when she left home.

Authorities call the 10-year-old's death a "pharmalogical suicide." Bielicki believes her daughter ingested some of the prescription medication in the home and it affected her decision-making, with Dutcher leaving with only socks on.

Bielicki tells 27 News she and her daughter had a video chat just 90 minutes before she discovered her missing. She says Kodie was upbeat and humorous about the coming camping trip and betrayed no signs of depression or desperation, consistent with the girl's demeanor in the past. "There was never a terrible drawing, there was never, 'I hate my life,' " Bielicki tells 27 News.

ETA: Was there ever any surveillance video of KD after she left the apartment?

 

I'm baffled by the news KD took food and $50 with her when she left the house....

I've never read this detail before.

Mom says daughter made a mistake -- not suicide.

I'm perplexed. The note no longer makes sense.

 

Thank you @Seattle1 for filling me in.

 

It was in the same article.

“Bielicki and Dutcher moved to Baraboo from Ohio six months before the child's disappearance. “

 

Thank you. I went back and re-read the Obit and no mention of Ohio. Only that she was raised in Nebraska before coming to Baraboo.

 

WKOW 27@WKOW

A Baraboo mother tells 27 News her 10-year-old daughter Kodie Dutcher's disappearance and suicide followed no red flags, but may help other families with fragile children.
"I think it was her first cry for help:' Baraboo mother speaks out on Kodie Dutcher's suicide
A Baraboo mother tells 27 News her 10-year-old daughter Kodie Dutcher's disappearance and suicide followed no red flags, but may help other families with fragile children.
wkow.com

7:30 PM · Aug 10, 2020·SocialNewsDesk

Please see video interview at tweet link above.