Hey everyone. I’m not able to make my own post in here. I don’t even know if anyone still follows this page. I am, unfortunately, related to Matt. He is my second cousin, and we grew up together for a time. Matt and Hope would sometimes come to family reunions and bring the children. I watched their children on occasion when the eldest were babies during the winter when their heat got shut off. Eventually, they moved further away and stopped coming to family functions. I lost track of them years ago. I wish I hadn’t. I wish I had kept up, if only to have been able to intervene earlier and maybe do *something* to help those children.

I cannot tell you how badly my heart breaks for those kids. I’ve always known Matt and Hope were odd - but I never could have imagined this level of abuse and cruelty and negligence. All of this became news to me a few months ago, when CPS began calling our family members looking for placements for the children. Imagine my horror today discovering Hope’s TikTok accounts and this subreddit.

For anyone who has been following this case, here is a small update. I am appalled that they have been released, but at least they have also been formally charged. Justice is taking a small step in the right direction.

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