TARIJI and TAVONT'AE GORDON - 2 yo (2014) and 2 months (2011) / Charged: Mother; Rachel Fryer - Sanford FL

Sanford child, 2, missing; mother charged with child abuse
3 other children placed in foster care
UPDATED 10:35 AM EST Feb 11, 2014

SANFORD, Fla. —Sanford police are searching a remote area of Putnam County near Crescent City for clues about a missing 2-year-old Sanford girl after the Florida Department of Children and Families contacted investigators Monday.

Overnight, the child’s mother, Rachel Fryer, 32, was charged with aggravated child abuse, according to police. On her official booking sheet, it says she was charged with aggravated child neglect. WESH 2 News is working to confirm the specific charge.

Watch the report

Fryer is being held at the John E. Polk Correctional Facility on a no bond hold.

Police are attempting to locate Fryer’s boyfriend, 28-year-old Timothy Gordon.

Raw video: Chopper 2 flies over search for missing 2-year-old

A search for 46-year-old Tonya Grooms was also being conducted, but she was located and interviewed.

Investigators said they believe both could have vital information about the child's welfare.

Three of Fryer's four children were removed from the family's home in the 1300 block of Oleander Avenue earlier Monday. The
 2-year-old girl has not been located.

The Putnam County Sheriff's Office is assisting the Sanford Police Department with the search, but it is not known exactly what authorities are looking for.

Images: Search for missing Sanford girl extends to Putnam County

Police launched a criminal investigation after the family's DCF caseworker expressed concern about one of the children.

Melissa Williams, a neighbor, said she got a knock on her door from police Monday morning wondering if she'd seen them.

"I have concern about the children being missing," Williams said. "I have very much concern because they're always there."

DCF investigators said the children had been in foster care until November, when they were reunited with their birth mother. They have been placed back into foster care.

Officials said the last family visit on Thursday went well, but one investigator told WESH 2 News that the disappearance is not a good sign.

Anyone with information about the child or the mother's boyfriend is asked to call Crimeline at 800-423-8477.

Read more: http://www.wesh.com/news/central-florida/seminole-county/police-investigating-whereabouts-of-sanford-child-in-dcf-investigation/24401758#ixzz2t1xvGn7Y

Child's body found after search in Putnam County
Case could be related to missing 2-year-old from Sanford

UPDATED 10:58 AM EST Feb 11, 2014

PUTNAM COUNTY, Fla. —The body of a child was found after a search in Putnam County on Tuesday morning, police announced.

Investigators from the Sanford Police Department, along with the Putnam County Sheriff's Office and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement were following up on leads regarding the disappearance of a 2-year-old from Sanford. It was not immediately known if the child is that of the missing 2-year-old from Sanford.

In that case, the child’s mother, Rachel Fryer, 32, was charged with aggravated child abuse, according to police. On her official booking sheet, it says she was charged with aggravated child neglect. WESH 2 News is working to confirm the specific charge.


Rachel Fryer, 32
 
Fryer is being held at the John E. Polk Correctional Facility on a no bond hold.

Police are attempting to locate Fryer’s boyfriend, 28-year-old Timothy Gordon.

hree of Fryer's four children were removed from the family's home in the 1300 block of Oleander Avenue earlier Monday. The 2-year-old girl has not been located.

Police launched a criminal investigation after the family's DCF caseworker expressed concern about one of the children.

DCF investigators said the children had been in foster care until November, when they were reunited with their birth mother. They have been placed back into foster care.

Read more: http://www.wesh.com/news/central-florida/seminole-county/childs-body-found-after-search-in-putnam-county/24409716#ixzz2t1yhYh95

Missing Sanford toddler found dead in Putnam County, mother arrested

By Jeff Allen, Saul Saenz and Mike Westfall, Team Coverage
Last Updated: Tuesday, February 11, 2014, 1:07 PM

SANFORD -- A 2-year-old girl reported missing from Seminole County on Monday has been found dead in Putnam County fewer than 12 hours after the toddler's mother was arrested for child abuse.

Sanford police Chief Cecil Smith confirmed the body of a small girl found Tuesday morning was that of 2-year-old Tariji Gordon. The toddler's body was recovered Tuesday morning in an old apartment in Crescent City, just off Highway 17.

Smith said investigators also recovered a suitcase believed to have been used to transport the toddler's body at the scene in Crescent City.

The girl's mother, Rachel Fryer, was arrested late Monday night and locked up without bond. Investigators said Fryer never reported her daughter missing after Tariji disappeared from her home.

Sanford police in Crescent City would not immediately comment on what they found, or why the body was found in Putnam County.

The Florida Department of Children and Families had been supervising and regularly visiting the family since November. On Monday, DCF asked Sanford police to conduct a well-being check of the family's four children at their home, near 13th Place and Oleander Avenue.

When officers arrived, the parents and their found young children were nowhere to be found. Neighbors said they hadn't seen the family for a week.

Police found three of the children late Monday night, and DCF placed all three with foster parents.

After questioning Fryer, police arrested her on charges of aggravated child abuse. Investigators said Fryer has a long list of previous criminal charges, including battery on a police officer.

Fryer was due in court for her first appearance before a judge in this case at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Chief Smith said police are still looking to talk to Fryer's boyfriend, Timothy Gordon. If you know where he is, call CrimeLine at (800) 423-TIPS (8477).

Police also interviewed a woman named Tonya Grooms, whom they believe may have known something about the toddler's death.

http://www.mynews13.com/content/news/cfnews13/news/article.html/content/news/articles/cfn/2014/2/11/sanford_missing_kids.html

"The child missing is one of a pair of twins that Fryer gave birth to about two years ago, according to neighbors and family members.
One died in infancy, and the family's other children were placed in foster care."

http://touch.orlandosentinel.com/#section/1229/article/p2p-79247404/

By Rene Stutzman, Susan Jacobson and Amy Pavuk
10:15 pm, February 10, 2014

Sanford police and the Florida Department of Children and Families late Monday were investigating the welfare of a missing child.

Three siblings have been located and were placed with foster parents Monday, police said. A fourth remains missing.

Nikki Sanders, a family friend, said Fryer had twins about two years ago. One, a boy, died in infancy. The other, a girl about 2, is the one missing, she said. Police would not confirm the age or sex of the child.

Putnam County assist missing child's case

Sanford police searching for man, missing child

Morning assignment desk, backup traffic reporter
Published On: Feb 11 2014 06:13:17 AM EST   Updated On: Feb 11 2014 07:02:53 AM EST



Photo of Timothy Gordon, provided by Sanford Police Department

PUTNAM COUNTY, Fla. -
The Putnam County Sheriff's Office and the Florida Department of Children and Families  are assisting Sanford police with the investigation into the safety and well-being of a Sanford family, which includes four children.

They are currently searching for a man and missing child in the case, according to our sister station WKMG in Orlando.


Sanford police said they were notified by DCF to assist with a welfare check on a child living at a house on Oleander Avenue in Sanford just before 8 a.m. Monday.

Police said four children were at the home, according to information provided by DCF. Three of the children were found and placed with foster parents.

At this time, the welfare of the fourth child is still under investigation, police said.

The family had been reunified in November and continued to receive regular visits by case managers, according to a release.

The last reported visit to the home was documented on Feb. 6.

The mother, Rachel Fryer, was at the Sanford Police Department and interviewed by investigators Monday night, according to our sister station WKMG in Orlando.

The Sanford Police Department is asking for the public's help in finding Timothy Gordon, the mother's boyfriend (pictured, above), and Tonya Grooms. Police said they both may have vital information regarding the child's whereabouts.

The Putnam County Sheriff's Office is assisting Sanford Police with a crime scene. Deputies have not confirmed if the missing child had been in Putnam County.

Anyone with information can call Crimeline at 800 423-TIPS (8477). Police said calls made to Crimeline remain anonymous, and tips to Crimeline that lead to solving a felony case are eligible for a cash reward of up to $1,000.

http://www.news4jax.com/news/putnam-co-assist-missing-childs-case/-/475880/24405586/-/2y7u7cz/-/index.html

Posted: 10:55 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2014
Update: Missing Sanford child found dead in Putnam County


The woman was arrested while Sanford police search for her missing child. (2/11/14)


SANFORD, Fla. —
Update: 
This afternoon Sanford police Chief Cecil Smith released the identity of the child as Tarija Gordon and confirmed the body found this morning was that of 2-year-old Tarija. The toddler's body was recovered in an old apartment in Crescent City, off Highway 17.

Smith tell's us detectives also recovered a suitcase they believe was used to transport the toddler's body to the Crescent City apartment.

As reported earlier, the childs mother Rachel Fryer was arrested Monday on charges of aggravated child abuse.  At a hearing this afternoon, Fryer's bond was set at $950,ooo.

Chief Smith said police are still looking to talk to Fryer's boyfriend, Timothy Gordon. If you know where he is, call CrimeLine at (800) 423-TIPS (8477).
 
Sanford Fla.
Police have found the body of a missing two-year-old girl - one of four children of a Sanford woman charged with aggravated child abuse.

The search led investigators to Putnam County. Details on the discovery were not immediately available. 

They were looking for Rachel Fryer's boyfriend, Timothy Gordon.

Sanford police were notified Monday by the Florida Department of Children and Families to help with a welfare check on a child living at a house on Oleander Avenue.

Three of the children were taken form the home and placed with foster parents, but the fourth could not be immedately found.

Case managers have been regularly visiting the family.

Fryer is scheduled for an initial appearance before a judge in Seminole County this afternoon.

http://www.news965.com/news/news/local/missing-sanford-child-found-dead-putnam-county/ndKwg/#sthash.9xwY4Ux6.dpuf

Child's body found after search in Putnam County

WESH 3:04 p.m. EST February 11, 2014


The body of a child was found after a search in Putnam County on Tuesday morning(Photo: WESH)

PUTNAM COUNTY, Fla. — A 2-year-old Sanford girl was found buried in a shallow grave in Putnam County on Tuesday morning, police announced.

Investigators from the Sanford Police Department, along with the Putnam County Sheriff's Office and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement were following up on leads on the disappearance of Tariji Gordon after the child's mother, Rachel Fryer, 32, turned herself in Monday.

Fryer, Rachel Fryer told police that around 9 a.m. on Feb. 6 she found Tariji unresponsive and attempted to wake her, according to the arrest warrant.

"The child victim took a deep breath and exhaled, but showed no other signs of life," the police report said.

Fryer told police she attempted to revive the child using CPR and Tariji's breathing treatments for the child's asthma. The mother told police she thought the child then took another breath, but then stopped breathing, the report said.

Fryer told police she attempted to revive Tariji for 30 minutes before giving up and wrapping the toddler in a black blanket. Fryer did not call police or 911.

Around 3 p.m. Fryer allegedly put Tariji in a leopard-print suitcase and asked a friend to drive her to Crescent City, Fla., according to the police report.

Fryer allegedly dug a shallow grave in the yard of the home at 117 Madison Ave. and buried Tariji in it, according to the report. She told police she covered the grave with dirt, plywood and a sheet of tin.

Fryer then slept on the attached porch at the home. Her friend, only identified as Tonya, picked her up the next morning and drove the mother back to Sanford.

Police are attempting to locate 29-year-old Timothy Gordon(Photo: WESH)

On Monday morning Fryer turned herself into police and told authorities where they could find Tariji. Police found Tariji buried in a shallow grave at the address Fryer gave them. The shoes she was wearing matched shoes the toddler had previously worn, police said.

Nearby, police found a suitcase they believe was used to transport the girl to the grave.

Gordon's body will be taken to St. John's County for an autopsy to determine the cause of death.

Fryer has been charged with aggravated child neglect and is being held at the John E. Polk Correctional Facility on a no bond hold. Authorities originally said Fryer was charged with aggravated child abuse.

Fryer has been arrested several times, including for resisting arrest, battery of a law enforcement officer, petty theft and possession of marijuana.

Court records show she was sentenced to six months in jail for violation of probation in 2012. In December, Fryer was arrested in Seminole County after a warrant was issued for failing to appear in court.

She is scheduled to make her first court appearance Tuesday afternoon on charges of aggravated child neglect.

Fryer's three other children were removed from the family's home in the 1300 block of Oleander Avenue Monday. Police initially launched the criminal investigation after the family's Florida Department of Children and Families case manager expressed concern about one of the children.

DCF investigators said the children had been in foster care until November, when they were reunited with their birth mother. Fryer's three other children have been placed back into foster care.

http://www.firstcoastnews.com/story/news/crime/2014/02/11/sanford-missing-child/5387459/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+firstcoastnews%2Fcrimestoppers+%28Firstcoastnews.com+Crime+Stoppers%29

Interview with father of toddler buried in Putnam County

Video at Link

Read more: http://www.wesh.com/news/central-florida/seminole-county/Exclusive-video-Interview-with-father-of-toddler-buried-in-Putnam-County/24418932#ixzz2t7dpMCSy

Mom of Sanford girl found in shallow grave arrested

Posted: Feb 10, 2014 1:41 PM CST
Updated: Feb 11, 2014 10:00 PM CST

SANFORD, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35 ORLANDO) -  The body of a missing Central Florida toddler has been discovered in a shallow grave in Putnam County.

During a news conference on Tuesday afternoon, Sanford Police Chief Cecil Smith said the body of 2-year-old Tariji Gordon was found in Crescent City, which is located about an hour north of Sanford.

In addition to clothing, investigators said a suitcase was found on the same property where the child was discovered, which they believe may have been used to transport the body.

The child's mother, 32-year-old Rachel Fryer, was arrested earlier Tuesday and was being held without bond on a charge of aggravated child neglect.  Investigators said Fryer never reported her daughter missing.

According to an arrest affidavit, Fryer said she found her daughter unresponsive on the morning of Thursday, February 6.  She said she attempted to revive her daughter, utilizing CPR and applying the child's breathing treatments for asthma, which included a nebulizer.  She said that after about 30 minutes, she stopped attempts to revive the child and wrapped the toddler in a blanket.

Later in the afternoon, Fryer said she placed her daughter's fully dressed body in a suitcase and called on a friend to request a ride to Crescent City.  She said her friend took her to Putnam County to a specific address where she buried her daughter.  Fryer said her friend returned the next morning to pick her up and take her back to Sanford.

Investigators said the child lived at a home on Oleander Avenue in Sanford with Fryer and three other children.  

This is the second child death reported at the household.  A male infant was reported dead in March of 2011.   According to the medical examiner, the boy died of accidental asphyxiation.   A spokesperson for the Florida Department of Children and Families said Fryer's four children were placed into foster care after that incident, because investigators had concerns that Fryer had substance abuse issues.  The four children were given back to Fryer this past November.

Authorities will now review the case to see if that was the right decision.  In the meantime, Fryer's three children are now back in the foster care system.   Authorities have also confirmed that Fryer is pregnant with her sixth child.

Sanford police are interviewing Fryer and have spoken to Timothy Gordon.  Mr. Gordon is confirmed to be the father of two of Fryer's children.

Police said they became involved in the investigation early Monday after a request was made by DCF to assist with a welfare check.

A candle light vigil was held Tuesday night in front of Fryer's apartment in Goldsboro.  People gathered to remember Tariji.

"I am just waiting to see what really happened, and I am praying for Rachel and Timothy," said Vanessa Bender, Timothy Gordon's aunt.

Fryer appeared before a judge on Tuesday afternoon.  Her bond was set $950,000.  Officials said if Fryer does post bond, she will not be able to leave Seminole County.   Fryer is expected to be in court again on April 1.

Read more: http://www.myfoxorlando.com/story/24683340/police-searching-for-missing-sanford-family#ixzz2t7fFlax7

Mother of toddler who was found dead, arrested before

Posted: 5:48 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2014



SANFORD, Fla. —  The medical examiner's office is still working to find out what killed a 2-year-old Seminole County girl whose body was found in Putnam County.

Tariji Gordon’s mother, Rachel Fryer, is now in jail on aggravated child neglect charges.

Police said Fryer admitted she watched Gordon take her last breath but didn’t call 911.

Channel 9’s Tim Barber found out in 2011 the 32-year-old accidentally killed Gordon’s infant twin brother by rolling over on him in her sleep.

Police said she also admitted to a bizarre outburst in the parking lot of the old Sanford Police department.

According to an arrest report, Fryer admitted to chasing a woman there with a tire iron, bashing in her car and then speeding away from investigators in her car until she crashed.

Gordon and her other siblings were put in foster care after Gordon’s twin died but were given back in November.

DCF said in a statement they are now reexamining what led to that decision.

A DCF spokesperson also said parents must complete a case plan which satisfies the case workers, attorneys and the courts.

Fryer completed and passed the test.

WFTV learned last year case workers considered keeping the children in foster care, but since Gordon’s brother's death was ruled accidental they did not think they had the authority to keep them away from her.

DCF said the case plans are tailored to each parent so if someone has a history of substance abuse, such as fryer, the person can get counseling

http://www.wftv.com/news/news/local/mother-toddler-who-was-found-dead-arrested/ndMY6/

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Arrested 8 freakin' times!?! Accidentally killed Tariji's twin? Why did they send those poor children back to her?

Our local news reported that the autopsy results are complete but until the police finish their investigation they will not release the results. 

This must be why they said yesterday they expect the mother to be charged with murder.  Evil bitch.

Her foster mother was on TV talking about how sweet, beautiful, full of life and joy and how loving Tariji was. 

She has custody of her siblings now and is very broken up over her murder.

PDF: Arrest warrant in death investigation of 2-year-old...

http://www.wesh.com/blob/view/-/24413748/data/1/-/aswbq3z/-/Arrest-warrant-affidavit.pdf

Read more: http://www.wesh.com/news/central-florida/seminole-county/childs-body-found-after-search-in-putnam-county/24409716#ixzz2tKFaJill

Sanford police: We've reopened investigation into death of Rachel Fryer's 2-month-old in 2011
Fryer is in jail, accused of aggravated child neglect in the death of another of her children.

By Rene Stutzman, Orlando Sentinel
6:26 p.m. EST, February 17, 2014

Sanford police have reopened an investigation into the 2011 death of a 2-month-old boy whose mother is now accused of recently burying the body of the boy's twin sister in a shallow grave.

In the earlier case, authorities concluded that Rachel Fryer, 32, had committed no crime. The medical examiner ruled that she had accidentally suffocated her newborn, Tavont'ae Gordon, when she fell asleep on the couch with him on May 13, 2011.

The medical examiner, Dr. Timothy Gallagher, found marks — "depressions" — across Tavont'ae's forehead and one in the shape of a foot on his chest, according to records from the Florida Department of Children and Families.

He concluded that Fryer had accidentally put her foot on the baby.

Fryer tested positive for cocaine the next day, and child welfare authorities took away her four other children and placed them in foster care.

After 2 1/2 years, they were ordered returned to Fryer by a Seminole County judge in November. On Feb. 11, authorities found the body of Tavont'ae's 2-year-old twin sister, Tariji, in a suitcase, buried in the yard of a Crescent City home.

Fryer told Sanford police that she had found the little girl unresponsive, had tried to revive her but could not, so she put her body in a suitcase, called a friend for a ride to Crescent City and then buried the little girl in a shallow grave.

Fryer is being held in the Seminole County jail, charged with aggravated child neglect in that case. Her bail is set at $950,000.

Fryer's 7-year-old daughter told authorities that her mother regularly hit the 2-year-old with a broom handle, a mop, a stick and flip-flops because she was bad.

The St. Johns County medical examiner finished a preliminary autopsy last week on Tariji's body but would not release the results, and Sanford police spokeswoman Shannon Cordingly would not say Monday whether the case was ruled a homicide.

The recovery of that body, however, prompted Sanford police to reopen their investigation into Tavont'ae's death, she said.

Fryer initially told police she had placed the twins in a bassinet and fallen asleep on the couch nearby, according to DCF records.

But her aunt, who was there that night, told investigators that about 11 p.m., Fryer took the babies from the bassinet and put them on the couch near her on a large pillow.

The aunt said when she checked again at 7:15 a.m., the babies were still on the pillow, but Fryer was asleep "with her legs facing the children" and Tavont'ae was not moving, not breathing, was limp and felt cold to the touch.

He was pronounced dead a short time later at Central Florida Regional Hospital.

Another member of the household — his name was blacked out in the DCF report — said Fryer was on her stomach on the couch with her feet toward the babies.

Tavont'ae and Tariji had been born two months premature, according to state records, and Tavont'ae had a heart problem, so medical professionals at Winnie Palmer Hospital had given Fryer an apnea monitor for him.

Someone — DCF employees blacked out his name — told authorities that the monitor kept going off the night Tavont'ae died and that Fryer put it in the garage. That's where authorities found it.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/breakingnews/os-dead-child-sanford-case-reopened-20140217,0,2766056.story

Sanford mother whose child was found dead charged with murder

Published: 3:54 pm

Updated: 6:34 pm


Rachel Fryer makes her first court appearance. She is accused of killing her child and dumping it in the woods. (WFTV)





SANFORD, Fla. — (WFTV) The mother of a Sanford child whose body was discovered buried earlier this month has been arrested on murder charges.

Sanford Police said Wednesday that Rachel Fryer, 32, who was being held in the Seminole County Jail, is charged in the death of her daughter 2-year-old Tariji Gordon.

Tariji's body was found in a shallow grave in Crescent City, about an hour north of Sanford,

Fryer was arrested on charges of aggravated child neglect for failing to report her child was missing.

According to investigators, Tariji Gordon, stopped breathing and instead of calling 911, Fryer attempted CPR. Investigators said 30 minutes later, the toddler was dead.

Fryer’s original arrest papers said she turned herself in at the Sanford police station with a bag packed for jail and told detectives she made a deadly mistake.

Fryer also faces a number of other charges in connection to Tariji's death.

http://www.mytvjax.com/content/topstories/story/Sanford-mother-whose-child-was-found-dead-charged/v5AUVlnd8EGK8pe8V2Jr6g.cspx

How callous and disrespectful for the reporter to refer to a murdered baby as "it".  That's the same piss poor attitude the mother had.

New records: DCF did not fight to keep children away from mom now charged with murder
Rachel Fryer made her first appearance before a Seminole county judge from the Seminole County jail Thursday. She is charged in the murder of her child.

March 24, 2014|By Rene Stutzman, Staff Writer

At a court hearing Dec. 9, three weeks after child-welfare workers returned Rachel Fryer's four children to her, lawyers for all the key players in their foster-care case were gathered in front of Circuit Judge Donna McIntosh.

It was a make-or-break day. The judge was to decide whether to sign an order making the family's reunification official.

A video of the hearing, released Monday, shows the Florida Department of Children and Families did not attempt to block Fryer from getting back her children even though it knew she did not have enough money for food or rent.

"There are no issues regarding the children's safety," said Claire Oscar Dew, DCF's attorney,

Two months later, Fryer's youngest child, 2-year-old Tariji Gordon, was dead and Fryer was in jail.

She has confessed to burying the toddler in a shallow grave in Crescent City. A Seminole County grand jury indicted her on charges of first-degree murder, aggravated manslaughter, aggravated child abuse and tampering with evidence.

Fryer told Sanford police that when she awoke Feb. 6 her little girl had stopped breathing and she could not revive her. Fryer hid the body, she told the Orlando Sentinel, because she was afraid child-welfare workers would again take her children away.

In the days that followed the discovery of the 2-year-old's body, DCF and its private-sector contractor who oversaw the children's day-to-day well-being, Community Based Care of Central Florida, blamed the court system for putting Fryer's children back into her home.

But video released Monday by the Seminole County court system shows that DCF wanted the family together and urged the judge to sign off on that plan.

It was clear at the hearing, however, that Fryer was having problems.

The children had moved back in with her Nov. 17 and were happy, said an attorney for Frances Tompkins, the Guardian ad Litem, a child advocate appointed by the judge to look out for the legal interests of the children. But Fryer did not have enough money to buy food or pay the rent.

"She has no money, so what are these children eating?" the judge asked.

Fryer's attorney, Lori Loftis, said Fryer cleaned houses for a living but had missed two weeks of work because she had been sick.

Fryer, 32, of Sanford had lost custody of her children in 2011. Tariji's twin brother, Tavont'ae, died when he was 2 months old. A medical examiner concluded that Fryer had suffocated him by accident as they slept together on a couch.

DCF and its contractor last month released hundreds of pages of records, providing insights into what child-welfare workers did after the death of Tavont'ae and how they managed Fryer's four children while they were in foster care.

The documents show that in the 2 1/2 years between when they took Tariji and her brothers and sisters away from Fryer, DCF changed its position several times on whether she should get her children back.

Immediately after Tavont'ae's death, the agency decided that her parental rights should be terminated. After several months, however, the agency decided that she should get her children back and had her undergo psychological counseling, parenting classes and a series of drug tests, which she passed.

But in 2012 she was unable to keep a steady job and later was jailed for several months for failing to pay court costs and do community service related to a hit-and-run accident. The agency then reversed course again, recommending to a general magistrate at a court hearing Oct. 15, 2012, that the children not be returned to her.

The agency didn't follow through, however. At the next key hearing, on Jan. 23, 2013, in front of McIntosh, the department said it was changing course again and wanted Fryer to get her children back, and the judge agreed.

http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2014-03-24/news/os-rachel-fryer-reunification-hearing-20140321_1_tavont-rachel-fryer-tariji-gordon

Report: Sanford girl, 2, may have survived beating if mother sought treatment

Posted: 4:21 p.m. Friday, May 2, 2014

SANFORD, Fla. — Investigators believe a few hours could have meant the difference between life or death for a 2-year-old girl who was beaten to death by her mother in February, authorities said.

Channel 9 obtained disturbing pictures that show the dangerous conditions Tariji Gorgon and her family were living in before Rachel Fryer allegedly beat the girl to death at a Sanford apartment.

WFTV's Tim Barber said the photos and a new report explain why prosecutors may go after the death penalty in the case.      
   
According to the report, if Tariji had gotten medical treatment in the 24 hours after she was beaten, she may have lived.

Photos show the family's messy duplex with dangerous chemicals on the floor, clothes and toys strung about, and the mop and flip-flops Tariji's siblings told detectives Fryer used as weapons against the 2-year old.

Investigators found Tariji's blood on the comforter, in a hallway and in the bathroom, the report said.

Sanford police said they believe Fryer beat Tariji to death, stuffed her body in a suitcase and buried her in a shallow grave in Putnam County.

The new records also show Fryer's nephew, Kyle Lytle, told investigators he dropped his aunt off there.  

Cellphone evidence shows Fryer left her apartment on Feb. 7 at 9:53 p.m., went to Putnam County and returned Saturday about 4:19 p.m.

But Fryer's statements contradicted that timeline, and she is adamant she buried her daughter because she panicked after the child stopped breathing.

Investigators said cigarette burns and bite marks on the girl tell a more sinister story.

More warning signs in the records suggest Tariji was being abused long before the night she was allegedly murdered, Barber said.

http://www.wftv.com/news/news/local/report-2-year-old-sanford-girl-may-have-survived-b/nfnfK/

Rachel Fryer, in letter to News 13: I didn't murder my daughter

By Jeff Allen, Seminole County Reporter
Last Updated: Thursday, July 24, 2014, 8:36 PM

SANFORD -- Rachel Fryer, the Sanford mother charged with murdering her 2-year-old daughter, has reached out to News 13, saying in a handwritten letter from jail that she's behind bars for a crime she didn't commit.

In the letter, included below in its entirety ▼, Fryer asks for help, saying she wants the public to know she is not guilty of killing her daughter, Tariji Gordon.

Fryer previously admitted to burying the 2-year-old in a shallow grave in February after investigators said Fryer killer the toddler.

But in a four-page, handwritten letter addressed to News 13 and postmarked Tuesday, July 22, 2014, Fryer blamed the Florida Department of Children and Families for not helping her. She said she repeatedly reached out to DCF for help caring for her children when the agency returned them back over to her in November 2013.

In part of the letter, unedited here, Fryer writes:

"I am reaching out to the community for help. Anyone that agrees, Department of Children and Families is not around when you need them, and plead for help. You ask them numerous of time, and you receive no help. They are so quick to tear your family apart, and traumatize your children."

Investigators say Fryer is responsible for injuries to Tariji Gordon's body that led to the 2-year-old girl's death.

We approached Sanford police Thursday for an update on the case. Officials there said they are wrapping up an investigation into the death of Fryer's son, Tavontae Gordon — Tariji's twin brother — in 2011, when he was just 2 months old. Police reopened that death investigation after Fryer was arrested for Tariji's murder earlier this year.

DCF tells News 13 these claims by Fryer are nothing new, adding that Community Based Care of Central Florida is contracted by the state to provide and manage foster care.

We are reaching out to Community Based Care for a more detailed response on Fryer's accusations in her letter.

A grand jury indicted Fryer on five counts in March, including first-degree murder. Prosecutors are seeing the death penalty against Fryer.

Text of Letter:

Rachel Fryer
John E. Polk Correctional Facility
211 Bush Blvd.
Sanford, FL 32773

Attn: Channel 13 News
20 North Orange Ave. Suite 13
Orlando, FL 32801

Postmarked July 22, 2014 — Orlando, FL

To whom it may concern:

My name is Rachel Fryer, and I am reaching out to the public for help with my case. But first and foremost I would like to pray for my children, pray that they are OK, and not being harmed or mistreated. I think about them all day, every day, and I pray for them all every night.

I tried my best to be a good mom. I worked very hard to be in my children's lives. Despite nobody wanting to help me or my children. A single mother with a mental illness and no immediate family, because they are all deceased. A mother that has been a victim of domestic violence with broken bones, and bruises, physically and emotionally abused, a mother who has had a stroke at a young age. A mother who has been diagnosed by two doctors with major depression disorder and anxiety. Mother has had a nervous breakdown.

I was reaching out to DCF for help but turned down every time. I was coping with a 3-year-old (Taraji) that was not adjusting to reunification, and acting out.

She would not listen, and would inflict wounds to herself, pick at her skin until it bled and would pick off the scabs after it has healed. She would scratch and bite her parents and siblings, do things out of spite and cause trouble for no reason at all.

I tried taking my daughter on special outings, just the two of us, and spend more time with her by herself, shopping or going out to eat. I would teach her how to say her ABC's and 123's, because she would act like she didn't know them. She would poop in her pull-up and hide it behind the refrigerator or under the cabinets. I bought her a potty chair, and was working on potty training her. I began to wonder why my soon-to-be in less than 3 months was not potty trained, and does not know how to pick up her toys, or put on her shoes and strap them.

No one told me she had any mental issues, she would seem depressed. Department of Children and Families told me that they would send two of my children home at a time, and the other two home at a later date, so I would not be overwhelmed. They lied, they sent all four of my children home at once.

What mother that loves her kids would say take two of the kids back? A mother that loves her kids is going to struggle and do the best that she can.

I am not a drug addict, murderer, abusive parent. I am a mother that has suffered many losses, and had no help from anyone. I turned myself into jail. What parent commits a crime and turns they self in? After allegedly murdering her child?

Yes, I had a nervous breakdown, and was afraid of Department of Children and Families taking my babies from me. I worked hard two years to get them back.

I am reaching out to the community for help. Anyone that agrees, Department of Children and Families is not around when you need them, and plead for help. You ask them numerous of times, and you receive no help. They are so quick to tear your family apart, and traumatize your children. When there is no urgent need, and it seems like the media makes your situation worse, by editing certain things. You never see any positive things on the news. It's so focused on the negative areas for ratings.

Do you really care, about my daughter who passed away from an accident? Or my kids that are in the system? So ready to judge a book by its cover, but where was your help? For a single mother with a mental illness who tried her best to save her children, love her children, but the system failed her and her children, and I now I am incarcerated for a charged that I am not guilty of.

I am worried about my babies. I miss them so much. I pray that they are OK, I miss Taraji, and it's a tragic that she is not here, and I have yet to lose another child, but I know God is an amazing God, and he can do anything, and I have faith that he will watch over my children, and protect them.

http://www.mynews13.com/content/news/cfnews13/news/article.html/content/news/articles/cfn/2014/7/24/rachel_fryer_letter.html

If her baby had a accident why didn't she call 911?  Digging a hole in the woods and burying a dead baby doesn't sound like an accident.

Did she take lessons from Casey Anthony?

I think everyone is taking lessons from Casey Anthony  

This woman is right about God being an Amazing God and I pray she finds comfort in Him; that being said, people don't have to keep having babies that they can't afford to take care of.  She was worried about DCF taking her children again so she chose to not get help for the injured/sick one which was a frightening predicament for her I'm sure, but I don't think it's right to be blaming others. My belief is that once a person/family requires state assistance to feed their children the money should have a cap right then and there - no extra $ for anymore children.  It's sad when folks don't have family to help them but it's sad too when people don't behave responsibly in procreation.

She had plenty of notice that she was a mental case yet she kept breeding.  She won't be spitting out any more babies where she's going.

Child welfare worker arrested in Rachel Fryer case

Authorities accuse Jonathan Irizarry of falsifying records when he wrote that a toddler was free of cuts, burns and bruises

By Rene Stutzman, Staff Writer
7:45 p.m. EDT, August 22, 2014

The child welfare worker who was supposed to keep safe the children of Rachel Fryer, a Sanford mother now jailed on a charge she murdered her 2-year-old daughter, was arrested Friday, accused of falsifying records.

Prosecutors allege that if 27-year-old Jonathan Irizarry had really examined Tariji Gordon for injuries in visits to her home Jan. 23 and Feb. 6, as he wrote on his reports, he would have seen bruises, cuts and burns.

The child's body was found buried in Crescent City Feb. 11. A medical examiner ruled she died of blunt force trauma to the head, but he also noted she had bite marks and other injuries.

Her mother, Rachel Fryer, 32, is in the Seminole County Jail, charged with murder and aggravated child abuse. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.

She told Sanford police that she buried the child's body but did not kill the little girl, that the child simply stopped breathing.

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Photos - Orange County Jail Mugshots

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Irizarry was a caseworker for Children's Home Society, a non-profit contractor for the Florida Department of Children and Families. It was his job to check on the safety of children who had been victimized by abuse and neglect.

Tariji, her brother and two sisters had been taken from Fryer two years earlier after the death of another child, 2-month-old Tavont'ae Gordon, a son whom Fryer accidentally suffocated while the two slept together on a couch.

They were returned to her two months before Tariji's death, and Irizarry had been assigned two to three weeks before the child's death to safeguard them.

He was at Fryer's home the morning Tariji died. In his report, he wrote that Tariji was awake and doing fine that morning but when interviewed by authorities several days later, told them that she was asleep and that he did not get much of a look at her.

Tariji is one in a long line of children to die while under DCF supervision. According to a Miami Herald investigation published in March, 477 children have died in the past six years after having come into contact with the agency.

DCF Secretary David Wilkins resigned last summer after four children in state care died within a few weeks.

In the Irizarry case, defense attorney Eric DuBois said his client is innocent.

The report Irizarry wrote that day, DuBois said, were notes that he intended to edit, but because of the child's death, supervisors took them, leaving him no chance to clarify.

"He's a good kid, a good guy, looking to help protect children," DuBois said. "Obviously, this is an unfortunate situation that no one foresaw."

Irizarry was being held on $10,000 bail, also at the Seminole County Jail.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/breaking-news/os-rachel-fryer-caseworker-arrested-20140822,0,2823800.story

Case worker assigned to Rachel Fryer's children out of jail

By Joel Schipper, Reporter
Last Updated: Friday, August 22, 2014, 10:24 PM

SEMINOLE COUNTY -- The man serving as the case worker and potential supervisor of Rachel Fryer's children was arrested for allegedly falsifying reports. Investigators say that contributed to the great bodily hard or death of an individual in the care or custody of a state agency.

Florida Department Law of Enforcement in Orlando arrested that case worker, Jonathan Irizarry, 27, on two counts of falsifying official records that contributed to the death of Rachel Fryer's 2-year-old daughter.

Irizarry bonded out of jail Friday night. He would not speak to reporters.

Irizarry was a dependency case manager for the Children's Home Society of Central Florida, Inc., and was assigned to supervise the three children of Rachel Fryer in January and February of 2014.

Officials say that Irizarry documented checks made on the children on January 23, and February 6; in one instance he noted the children were free from bruises. But a photograph found on Fryer's phone that was taken on January 19 shows the child with a bruised with a swollen eye, and one arm in a sling.

"His job is to prevent violence," said News 13 legal analyst Jaya Balani. "He didn’t prevent this violence by doing a thorough examination of this child and if he would have there’s a chance that child could have been taken out of the home that day."

The postmortem examination conducted on February 12 revealed multiple healing injuries including cuts, bruises, cigarette burns and bite marks.

Fryer's daughter was found buried in a shallow grave in Crescent City on February 11. Fryer has been charged with the murder of the 2 year old.

Irizarry was arrested Friday morning without incident and booked into the John E. Polk Correctional Facility in Seminole County.

"These charges should serve to remind those responsible for protecting our children of how important that duty is," said State Attorney Phil Archer.

http://www.mynews13.com/content/news/cfnews13/news/article.html/content/news/articles/cfn/2014/8/22/caseworker_assigned_.html