Girl's disappearance may be homicide

MIAMI, May 3 (UPI) -- Police in Miami are treating the disappearance of a 5-year-old girl as a homicide as well as a missing person case, while other agencies are trying to figure out how she could have been missing for 15 months before anybody knew about it.

Rilya Wilson's grandmother, who also served as her caretaker, said the girl was picked up at her home in January 2001 by a woman claiming to be a state social worker. She hasn't seen the little girl since.

"At this point in the investigation, we are certainly considering the possibility that Rilya could be dead, but we are also still treating the situation as a missing child," Cmdr. Linda O'Brien of the Miami-Dade County police said Friday. "At this stage, we cannot discount anything."

But attorney Ed Shohat, who represents the Geralyn Graham, the grandmother, questions that investigation. He said he has learned of no evidence that the child is dead.

As for speculation Graham might herself be involved, O'Brien would only say, "We have to examine everything."

A little girl now known as Precious Doe was found beheaded in Kansas City three months after Rilya was last seen in Miami. There was no match when palm prints were compared, but DNA tests are under way. It might be weeks before the results are known.

Miami-Dade police spokesman Ed Munn said Rilya's palm print was taken for a supermarket promotion on crime prevention, but there was some question as to whether it is the correct print.

"There is still the possibility that this child just might be Precious Doe," said Kansas City Councilman Alvin Brooks. "I'm hopeful that DNA will come up with that, and I know we all are."

Miami-Dade police collected DNA samples for the tests from Rilya's mother, Gloria Wilson, at her home in Cleveland Thursday night. Wilson lost custody of her daughter two years ago because of alleged drug addiction.

"There is the strong possibility that the child found in Kansas City could be Rilya, but of course that won't be determined until the analysis has been conducted," O'Brien said.

Kansas City police said Precious Doe had a crescent shaped birthmark on her left shoulder, and Wilson said her daughter also had such a birthmark. Rilya's grandmother says she saw no such birthmark in the year she took care of the little girl.

Gloria Wilson said she does not think Graham is the girl's true grandmother because someone else besides Graham's son, Kenneth Epson, fathered the child. Epson, who lives in south Florida, was interviewed by police Thursday night.

Graham said Gloria Wilson in the past has pointed to several men as the father, but there was never any evidence and no DNA tests were conducted.

Graham said two weeks after Rilya was taken, a man showed up at her house and said further neurological tests were going to be given the little girl. She said he picked up some additional clothing.

The grandmother said she called the Department of Children and Family's caseworker Deborah Muskelly several times, but the department has no record of any such calls.

Muskelly and her supervisor, Willie Harris, both resigned in March after an audit showed they had falsified records in other cases.

Muskelly last saw Rilya January 2001 before she disappeared. She said the case was turned over to the adoption unit after that and was no longer her responsibility.

A pickup order was issued for Rilya April 25 when it was learned she was no longer with her grandmother. The circumstances leading up to the order were unclear.

Kathleen Kearney, head of the state department, said she has ordered an investigation into all cases handled by Muskelly and Harris. Officials in Miami have alleged that Muskelly had filed paperwork indicating she had visited Rilya when she had not.

The state attorney's office in Miami said it was keeping an eye on the case.

"There are a lot of laws that cover different varieties of fraud on the court. If that is in fact what happened we may be looking at potential charges," said State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle.

Miami Circuit Judge Cindy Lederman has scheduled a family court hearing for Monday to consider whether the social service agency has broken any laws in the case.

Kearney took over the troubled children and families department three years ago. Gov. Jeb Bush, who said the Rilya Wilson case "broke his heart," says the department was in complete disarray at the time.

"I have confidence in the path we're on. We still have problems," Bush said in a statement.

The department's own statistics, updated in February, show nearly 400 foster children statewide were considered runaways and their whereabouts was unknown. Eighty-two of those children were from Miami-Dade County.

Officials believe many of them were abducted by family members.

Karen Gievers, a Tallahassee attorney and longtime children's advocate, called the Rilya Wilson case "a total breakdown."

She said Rilya should have been assigned an adoption counselor and received attention from a court unit that reviews cases along with a unit trying to find a permanent home for Rilya.

Gloria Wilson said in Cleveland she was bitter about the way the case was handled but held out hope.

"I hold responsible everybody involved -- the social worker and the supervisor and the state of Florida," Wilson said. "Hopefully my daughter is not dead and whoever has her will bring her back."