Missing Kansas boy once taken into custody, returned

A Towanda boy whose disappearance went unreported for 10 years was once taken away from his adoptive parents, then returned days later, the Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services said Thursday.

Adam Herrman was in protective custody for two days in 1996 after a report of physical abuse, said Social and Rehabilitation Services spokeswoman Michelle Ponce. The boy was returned to his adoptive parents, Valerie and Doug Herrman, after authorities reviewed the evidence and found the report unsubstantiated.

“We are doing a thorough review of all our case records involving Adam and his family,” Ponce said.

Adam was 11 years old when he disappeared in 1999 from his adoptive parent’s mobile home in Towanda. He would be 21 years old now if he is still alive.

His disappearance finally came to light last week when authorities — acting on a tip to the Sedgwick County Exploited and Missing Children’s Unit — searched the empty lot in Towanda where the family’s mobile home once stood.

No charges have been filed. Butler County Sheriff Craig Murphy said consideration of any charges would wait while officials concentrate on the search.

The Herrmans did not return a message seeking comment Thursday.

The family’s attorney, Warner Eisenbise, has said Adam had a history of running away and that his clients said he had done so again when he disappeared in 1999 and felt “very guilty” not reporting it at the time. Eisenbise has said the family had nothing to do with his disappearance, but acknowledged other charges may be coming in connection with the case.

The Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services confirmed Thursday the Herrmans continued to receive adoption subsidy payments for Adam after he was missing, but the agency could not immediately determine how much. The department said it was researching the case.

Such subsidies generally are given in situations where the children are difficult to place or in cases in which several siblings are adopted by the same family, she said.

The Herrmans adopted Adam and two of his younger siblings, family members have said.

“Post-adoption they are a private family like any other,” Ponce said. “That said, if our agency were to receive a report of abuse or neglect, that certainly would be investigated in any other situation.”

Families receiving adoption subsidies are required to file a yearly report to verify ongoing legal and financial responsibility for the child, she said.

“If there were a situation in which an individual would knowingly supply false information to the state in order to receive benefits, that is a crime,” Ponce said. “And that is a crime in which our agency would use all legal remedies at our disposal to rectify.”

Investigators on Thursday were looking over photographs and diagrams of the family’s former mobile home, which were taken a day earlier. That mobile home had been moved to Sedgwick from Towanda, Murphy said.

“What the investigators were doing were searching it, diagraming it, photographing it so that we have documentation, should this thing go into a courtroom, to show a jury what they were living in at the time,” Murphy said. “In a trial, you start trying to explain things, and it is easier if a jury has got something to look at.”

The sheriff’s office is also now following up on leads from the phone calls and e-mails that have poured in following national media attention on the case.

Investigators on Saturday plan to use search dogs to scour a wooded area along the banks of the Whitewater River, just west of the mobile home park in Towanda. No specific tips have led them to that spot, but the area is a popular hangout for local youths, the sheriff said.

Murphy pointed out that the boy’s adoptive father has a masonry business, noting at least one of his e-mail tips suggested authorities tear down every wall he built.

“We don’t know,” Murphy said about that suggestion.