One infant was recorded as deceased. Another had entered emergency protective care under incomplete identifying information.
One infant was recorded as deceased.
Ellie’s earliest child-welfare record carried the number originally assigned to Lucy. But the identification-number discrepancy did not explain who had declared Lucy dead, how that death had been verified, or why the conflicting records had gone unchallenged. Investigators were examining each of those failures separately.
Ellie’s earliest child-welfare record carried the number originally assigned to Lucy.
“Does that explain everything?” I asked.
“No,” the attorney said. “But it gives investigators a specific records trail to examine.”
The hospital had opened a formal investigation.
I requested every record concerning Lucy’s reported death.
The hospital had opened a formal investigation.
I also asked who had verified her identity before issuing the certificate.
Nobody could answer that yet.
For once, I refused to accept a vague explanation.
Tom helped us arrange a meeting with a counselor experienced in adoption and complicated family histories.
