Posted on 11/30/2004 5:25:06 PM PST by saquin
WHEN Chloe Riley, 14, arrived home from school to find her mother had walked out and left her to fend for herself, she set out to do just that. For a fortnight she carried on as normal, keeping up her schoolwork and telling no one that her mother, Stephanie, an IT teacher, had disappeared.
But when she returned home to find the locks changed, she had to accept that she had been abandoned. Her mother had cancelled the tenancy on the council house they had shared in the Wirral and moved in with her lover. For two months the girl had no contact with her mother, except a text message. She is now being cared for by a half sister, Lisa McLoughlin.
Merseyside Police and social workers from Wirral Council are investigating. A police spokesman said: “We received a report from Wirral social services that Chloe was abandoned by Stephanie. Officers from the family support unit have been holding joint strategic meetings with social workers. We want to talk to Mrs Riley and would appeal to anybody who knows her whereabouts — even Mrs Riley herself — to contact the family support unit.”
Chloe’s father, Robbie Riley, a well-known boxer on Merseyside, died in December, 2002, after a long illness. Friends and well-wishers raised thousands of pounds to meet the family’s expenses, pay for a headstone and Chloe’s travel costs from her home in Birkenhead to St Mary’s College, in Wallasey.
Relatives described how Mrs Riley, 39, changed after the death of her husband. She remodelled herself, with a new hair colour and slimmer figure, and is now said to be living with her 29-year-old lover in Haydock.
Social services staff said that Mrs Riley disappeared in early October. Chloe continued travelling to St Mary’s College, kept up with her homework and housework, but told no one, all the time hoping that her mother would return. When council workmen changed the locks, thinking the house was empty, Chloe tried to telephone her mother but the number had been changed.
Chloe was finally forced to accept her predicament and seek refuge with her half sister. Ms McLoughlin, 29, a care home worker, took her in with the few clothes and possessions she could salvage.
“Chloe has been distraught,” Ms McLoughlin said. “She thought her mum would come back and she didn’t want to bother me.
“Chloe had lost a lot of weight but she is with me now. She is happier and eating well, and doing her homework every night. I suppose that is all that matters. But I am not her mother and it must hurt.
“Every night I hear her crying for mum and dad. What child deserves that?” Ms McLoughlin said: “Chloe lost our dad. Then her mother ran off, and now we both feel abandoned by social services. I am a single parent with two kids under seven. I work three days a week because that is all the childcare I can afford.
“We only have each other and I would do anything for Chloe, but it is a struggle because I have got nothing to give her, except love.”
Amen
"Why let a child stand in the way of you and self fulfillment?"
Hey, and give the woman credit for "slimming down" now that she needed to attract a man again. You go, girl!
A "lover" is someone you're having sex with but are not married to. Presumably it's a man.
Very sad story. The poor girl trying to do her homework and get on with her life because she just can't believe her mother would run out on her like that.
Lover is pretty frequently used in the British Tabloid press.
I'd never assume it to be another woman.
some people should just tear up the parent card and get their tubes tied. I hope this 39 year old woman who gave birth to Chloe will refrain from ever having any more children she can abandon at some point.
LOL. I know what it means. I'm just saying it's not often used in the US press. I'm saying that most commonly, "boyfriend" would be used, if this were an American article (and, assuming the lover really is male). Do you really disagree?
Yes, we must not interfere with her right to choose. The girl is just lucky the mother didn't choose a post-natal abortion.
Ok, well there goes my theory :)
That's horrible!
Ah well, that great Atlantic divide! :-)
Actually, in parts of the UK (Bristol, for instance), the word 'lover' is used by women in the same way as American females might say 'dude', or 'hon'. 'Alright my lover?' (That's a catch phrase that an aunt by marriage of mine uses all the time when greeting a friend).
Fitz, that's a dog-bites-man story.
...unless it were john kerry in debate.
>>Animals treat their young better than this so-called mom.
<<
The girl is actually old enough to take care of herself. Humans are the only animal that will allow their young to move back home.
(many old people can tell stories about taking full and complete care of themselves long before you and I think children should have to.)
Just goes to show what kind of a world we live when the mother can run off and leave her daughter to fend for herself. This so-called mother should get jail time for willful abandonment and child neglect.
"The girl is actually old enough to take care of herself. Humans are the only animal that will allow their young to move back home."
How do propose this girl should take care of herself without a home to live in, no food, no money, and no emotional support?
"(many old people can tell stories about taking full and complete care of themselves long before you and I think children should have to.)"
That may have been true long ago, but children in this day and age are not raised to be self-sufficient at such a young age.
What a horrible, sad story. Hopefully this child's half-sister will help her to realize she is loved. The mother does not deserve to have a kid.
Daughter - 14
Lover - 29
(What the.......)
>>children in this day and age are not raised to be self-sufficient at such a young age.<<
This is intentional. Our government does not want anyone to be self-sufficient at any age. It is your choice whether you want to do it or not.
Are you familiar with the word 'sheeple'?
I pray this girl gets psychological/spiritual help. She's going to for-sure hook up with some LOSER creep if she's not given LOTS of help quickly.
I wonder if the mother poisoned her husband?
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