This case has a number of hallmarks we see when mothers become gatekeepers and use the system to alienate and keep children away from their fathers. Unfortunately, in this instance, when the Mother lost custody temporarily, she decided to take the kids from their father permanently.
According to the story, Amanda Jo Stott-Smith, first agreed to give her ex-husband Jason Smith custody and then simply took the children out of school one day and moved them away, going so far as getting school administrators to keep the knowledge of their enrollment secret from the father. This after a judge issued her custody on a “status quo” basis without input from the father at all, something that happens every day in the US court system.
Jason then petitioned the court to have his children returned, and after hearing how Stott-Smith acquired the prior order under false pretentions, the court ordered the children be returned to him, giving Amanda every other weekend visitation.
Apparently that wasn’t enough custody for Amanda, so she decided to kill her children so their father could not have them, by taking them and forcing them to jump off a bridge into cold water. Their son died, and their daughter survived.
For some reason, even though Jason, the father called the cops as he was concerned about the safety of his children in response to a call he received from his ex-wife, the courts have ordered his surviving daughter into state custody. So he lost his son, and now his daughter is legally under the control of the state for an unknown period of time. We hope the family receives real justice soon.
