Mid-week Mini | Adopted Washington Parents Enslave and Abuse Children and Evade CPS | Donald Lantz and Jeanne Whitefeather

Neighbor contacted Child Protective Services with concerns about welfare of neighbor’s children

At 5:46pm on October 2, 2023, in Sissonville, West Virginia, a neighbor contacted Child Protective Services with concerns about the welfare of children living on their neighbor’s property. Quote, there’s a family that we’ve been calling CPS on multiple times. He has two kids locked in an out building. They’ve been there for days. This is the statement the caller told 91 1. Now, if CPS had been called multiple times on this case, how was this still an issue? Let’s get into the case of Donald Raylance and Jeannie K. Whitefeather.

Love and Heartbreak to Homicide is your midweek mini edition

Welcome Lambs. Welcome to Love and Heartbreak to Homicide, your midweek mini edition. If you’re new here, hi, my name is Kai and I’m going to be your host and I want to thank you for joining us. Now go ahead, take a listen all the way to the end and if you like it, don’t forget to subscribe if you’re returning. LaM Patreon, thank you so much for your continued support. You have no idea how much it means to me. Don’t forget that. You can also subscribe on our Patreon patreon.com loveandmurder if you want to be a supporter of Love and murder, you can actually sign up to whatever tier you want to get. Bonus episodes, case extras and so much more in there. But if you’re not ready to subscribe yet, you can always sign up for free. Just go to patreon.com loveandmurder and choose the free option.

Teresa Noor: Children were forced to perform farm labor on Texas property

Now let’s get back into this horrifying case that you’re not even going to believe. When Deputy H.K. burdette arrived at the Cheyenne Lane property, she heard movement inside of the barn. When she knocked, one of the teenagers yelled out, quote, ma’am, we are not able to open the door from the inside. After unsuccessful attempts to contact the parents, deputies were forced to force their way in. Inside they found a 16 year old girl and a 14 year old boy locked in a 20 by 14 foot shed. The shed, described as having concrete floors, plywood walls, no windows and no running water, contained a small RV porta potty, a surveillance camera. A surveillance camera. I mean that’s not the worst thing in there. There was one table and chair and no bedding. The teens wore dirty clothes and had strong body odor and showed signs of physical neglect. The boy had open sores on his bare feet and both children reported being forced to sleep on the floor without mattresses or padding. So that’s why you didn’t see any bedding. They were just sleeping dead on the floor. Deputy Burdette said, I was repulsed. As soon as the door was open. The heat from inside hit us. The smell made my eyes water. It was terrible. Without running water, circulating air or beds, the teen told police that they had been locked in the shed for approximately 12 hours and had last been given food early that morning. The shed, like I said, was locked from the outside, which is why they couldn’t open it from the inside. So police continued investigating around this property and inside the main house they found a nine year old girl crying in an unprotected loft roughly 15ft above the ground. Three hours later, 63 year old Donald Ray Lance returned to the house with an 11 year old boy. How many children do these people have? And then 62 year old Jeanine K. Whitefeather arrived shortly after with a six. Six year old girl. Now I got conflicting reports of the six year old. In some reports it said she was found with a church acquaintance. And in some reports it says Jeie came home with her. So I’m not sure which one it is, but either way there was a six year old girl. So it’s five children in total. And uh, CPS took immediate custody of all five of those children who for the sake of this case I’m going to mention were all black. When Jeannie and Donald were questioned by police, Jeannie claimed that the children were left in the shed because, quote, they like it. Police said, yeah, okay. And immediately took both of them into custody. Investigators quickly determined that the abuse went beyond neglect. Court documents revealed that the children were forced to perform farm labor on the couple’s five acre property. Property and were not allowed inside the house. One neighbor, Stacy Miller, described the scene as, quote, forced manual labor, otherwise known as slavery. Stacy had started reporting concerns about the children at the property in May of 2023. Quote, I saw the kids out in the front yard, their heads down, forced to stand in a straight line. She said that she witnessed what appeared to be forced manual labor and made multiple calls to child protective services. She said she observed children performing manual labor, restricted movement patterns concerning living conditions and limited access to the main house. These are all the different reports that she called into cps. Now why wasn’t this top priority? I mean, I guess there are certain things that you call into CPS that would be top priority. For instance, if you listened to Monday’s episode Theresa Noor, that would be top priority. When you call cps, this also would be top priority. Hey, there’s five black kids over at this property, who it looks like are being treated like slaves. Maybe that’s top priority. You know, I understand CPS gets some, um, bullshit calls sometimes. Like, I, I don’t know, I know sometimes they are neighbors or even family members who are petty and call CPS and report something like, yeah, I saw the kids outside using a hose to cool down in the sun, something like that. Yeah, I understand that. But when somebody is calling you multiple times saying stuff that I observe children performing manual labor in the yard, uh, standing in a line with their heads down for hours in the hot sun, not going into the main house. Like I’ve never ever seen them walk into the main house before. Like that kind of sounds like top priority. Concerning, get out there ASAP, call 91 1, you know, all kind of stuff like that. However, in Teresa Noor’s case, no. In Donald Lance and Jeannie Whitefeather’s case, no. I wonder what would be considered top priority. The Department of Health and Human Resources received a formal CPS referral on August 25, 2023 stating, quote, it is believed that the children are residing in a room attached to the barn. The family may be using the children as slaves. A, uh, formal referral saying this, why was it still happening? A, uh, department supervisor recommended face to face contact within 72, 72 hours. Do you know what can happen in 70, 72 hours? Anyways, face to face to face contact within 72 hours due to inadequate shelter concerns. Inadequate shelter concerns? Did you hear the referral? The children are residing in a room attached to the barn. Number one, the neighbor said, I’ve never seen the children going to the main house. Number two, the family may be using the children as slaves. Number three, 72 hours. The Kanawha County Sheriff’s Office, and I may have said that word wrong confirmed that they had visited the property twice before October with a CPS worker present during the final removal of the children, which is this case right here. So what? It took three times before the children were removed. A federal investigation later revealed that CPS had failed to properly document wow. Or respond to previous complaints about the family. U.S. magistrate Judge Cheryl Eiford ruled that CPS, quote, failed to respond and perform an adequate investigation, which then allowed the the children to, quote, suffer at the hands of their adoptive parents for months. The 16 count indictment detailed how Jeie and Donald, quote, recruit, entice and obtain the victims from a shelter and facility that serves runaway youth. A surveillance camera mounted in the top corner of the barn monitored the children’s movements. The system recorded their forced labor activities and documented their extended confinement period. So it was like all the evidence was right there. All of it was right there. And literally when CPS came the first time, all they had to do was look up, literally just look up what’s on that camera that seems to be pointing here in the barn where you seem to be keeping this, these children, which for some reason I. I’m just like, uh, everything seems in order here and I’m going to go ahead and leave. All you had to do was look up and ask for access to that camera. That’s it. The indictment specifically cited racial targeting, stating the couple, quote, forced, threatened and interfered with the free exercise and enjoyment of any right and privilege of the four children. And I guess they meant five because it was five children total. Kanawha County Assistant prosecutor Madison Tuck confirmed, quote, there’s definitely a racial element to this case. Kanawha County Circuit Judge Mary Claire Akers called the case one of the worst she had seen in her career. Quote, it alleges human trafficking, human rights violation, and the use of forced labor. These kids were targeted because of their race and used basically as slaves. The couple’s alleged crimes were not confined to West Virginia. Donald and Jeannie operated an acre 80 rants editing. Kai here I was really tired and I was saying gibberish. I guess I meant an 80 acre ranch in Tanasket, Washington, before relocating to West Virginia.

Jeannie and Donald face 20 count indictment in child neglect case in West Virginia

Their move m to West Virginia came after learning about ongoing investigations of abuse and neglect in Washington state. So they found out they were being investigated for doing the exact same thing in Washington state. So they wrapped up and moved to West Virginia. Interesting. In their first court appearance, Jeannie and Donald pled. What the bloody beep, beep, beep. Do you think they pled lambs? Let’s, let’s all say it together. We know what they pled. Let’s all say it together. They pled not guilty to all charges. Judge Akers presided over the proceedings where the couple faced an expanded 20 count indictment. Despite claiming to have no income or assets and requesting court appointed attorneys, Donald’s brother posted 2, 200, 000 bonds for their release. Uh, excuse me. What? Your brother. Okay, so I guess his brother is in it with him and just has. Just has no morals or doesn’t care. Children, Children. So you got your brother out, okay? Wish they had the brother’s name in any of the reports that I had found too. Prosecutors found that the couple sold their Washington property in February 2024 for $725,000. And had also sold their Sissonville property for $295,000 in March of 2024 from these proceeds. That’s, uh, how they got the $400,000 to help bond them out. But I thought they said they didn’t have any money to the point that they needed a court appointed attorney. While the couple had no prior criminal record In West Virginia, two complaints were filed against them in 2023. One in May and another in September. Now, during the investigation, it was found that the couple specifically targeted black children for adoption through various agencies. Quote, investigators now say the couple sought out and adopted five black children from a shelter targeting them for their race. Now, this was that quote was actually in the court documents. The couple faced multiple charges and like I said, was upgraded from 16 counts to 20 counts. So this 20 counts included four counts of human trafficking of minor children, four counts of civil rights violations based on race, four counts of use of minor children in forced labor, three counts of child neglect creating risk of injury, and one count of, uh, falsifying attorney appointment affidavit. Can we add on five counts of just being general pieces of trash? I wonder if we could add that on. Even though they had an increase in their charges, both still maintained their not guilty status. And after a June 2024 hearing, the court gave them two middle fingers and raised their bond to $500,000 each, cash only, citing the severity of the charges and concerns about the couple’s ability to flee. Because you already said you didn’t have money and then it turned out you did. So you’re a pack of lion liars who lies a lot. The couple’s trial, initially set for September 2024, have been postponed multiple times due to delays in the discovery process. Prosecutor Deborah Rusnak said, quote, as we investigate cases, it’s not uncommon that we find more criminal conduct in the investigative materials that we receive. So also some of the new charges that they just found out, which is reasons why their cases being put postponed, is that Jeannie used bear spray. Bear spray. I don’t know if you heard me. Bear spray on the children while Donald struck them with objects. Bear spray on children. Judge Akers set a trial date for January 13, 2025, which is in a couple days. So we will revisit this as the trial is ongoing. Usually I like to wait till the end of the trial, so. But we will revisit this. With a pretrial hearing scheduled for January 7, the prosecution filed a motion to evaluate the children’s psychological competency for witness testimony. Which Judge Akers denied, citing the need for standard truth discernment tested instead, quote, I won’t let this case drag on for a lengthy time now. I don’t understand what is a standard truth discernment testing? So she doesn’t want to go for the psychological test, but she wants to go for the truth discernment. I’m not saying anything bad, it’s just I’m, um, not understanding. Okay, so I looked up what is standard truth discernment testing in court. And what came back was, in court, the admissibility of scientific evidence is determined by a two pronged test, relevance and reliability. The Supreme Court developed this test and expert testimony must assist jurors in understanding the evidence or determining a fact in issue. The district court must also find that the expert witness is sufficiently qualified to opine on the matter. The Federal Rules of Evidence supersede the FRY standard for admissibility of expert evidence in federal court courts, although some states still adhere to fry. So it looks like they’re going to basically. And if you’re in law, please let me know if I’m completely wrong because I’m not sure. And as I said, I didn’t understand what the difference was. So I just looked this up. I didn’t go to law school, so this basically just comes from a Google search. So I could totally be wrong. So if I have this wrong, please let me know in the comments below. But it looks like they’re just going to present the facts and the evidence to the jury. And it’s up to the jury to determine fact from fiction based on the evidence. Basically, that’s what I’m understanding from my search. Currently, the children remain in state custody. One child has been placed in a secure mental health facility since his rescue in October 2023. Mental health facility. These people baroque. That poor child. Also. The Department of Health and Human Services faces increased scrutiny through a class action lawsuit regarding its management of the overwhelmed child care system. The case prompted Senator Mike Stewart to call for an external investigation into CPS operations. Judge effort ordered the agency to provide complete documentation about the handling of this case. In the meantime, both defendants remain in South Central Regional jail under their $500,000 bonds, cash only. What did you think about that case? When I saw this case last year, I was just like, I. I couldn’t believe it. I could not believe it. Then, uh, I just, I. I had some thoughts, but I wanted to see if anybody else had those thoughts. And I specifically wanted to see if the people in West Virginia had the same Thoughts that were rolling around in my head. So I actually got some comments that I want to read out to y’all now. The Cissonville Community News on Facebook posted. I investigated this a, uh, bit. They came from m. An extremely rural area in the northwest. No neighbors, miles of remoteness. They inexplicably moved here from thousands of miles away. Bad choice for them. If they thought we were ignorant hillbillies, who would leave them alone in their charade? They don’t know us whatsoever. And this is what I was thinking. I was thinking they went from Washington state to West Virginia.

Cissonville Community News accused West Virginians of being racist and ignorant

Why did you have an ill, misconceived notion that West Virginians were a bunch as. As the Cissonville Community News said, quote, ignorant hillbillies and that they were racist and that they would let you have child slaves as long as they were black. They would let you have child slaves because that’s what you viewed West Virginians as. So not only are you racist, you’re a bunch of assholes, too. You’re bigots. And I, uh. Just. So many different words to describe you. This is what you thought of West Virginia, and so you thought you were going to go out there and you were going to be left alone. I wonder how shocked you are right now, because these aren’t my comments. I’m not going to read off the people’s names, but somebody else said they shouldn’t even be identified as being from Sissonville. They moved here. This is absolutely sickening, and I hope justice is served. Which is why I didn’t say that they were from there. I made sure to point out that they relocated there because I know if something happened in my hometown and they’re trying to act like these people are from there, I’m gonna be like, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. They just moved here. Somebody else replied to the Sissonville News saying that you don’t move. You don’t do that in a small town. They basically thought they were going to be in a small town and being left alone. But, um, no, somebody else said they bought their home here without looking at it in person, obviously expecting to have no neighbors. This is what you think of West Virginia. Thank God they did basically have neighbors or those poor children would still be suffering. So, yeah, I had to go and look up comments from people from that area because I was wondering, why would you go from Washington state to West Virginia? Pretty suspicious. And I was thinking to myself, what do these people, this Donald and Jeannie, think of West Virginians? And I wanted to see before I said anything on my show if anybody had that same thought. So I actually went and looked up the city and I found this post where people were talking about it and this post had the exact same thought that I thought that I had. Donald and Jeannie thought they were a bunch of quote ignorant hillbillies and would leave them to their devices. That’s what you thought, that’s what you get. I hope that bigotry that’s on your face right now makes you realize that everybody is not the same as you. Through this podcast I want to send a, uh, big shout out to neighbor Stacy Miller for doing her due diligence. So Stacy Miller of Sissonville, if you ever hear this shout out to you, applause, everything like that, good job standing up for what you know is right. And even though you had to call CPS multiple times, you didn’t give up. That is what a hero looks like. So everybody listening to this podcast take a moment and give Stacy Miller a round of applause. And that is all I have for you for today’s, uh, midweek Mini. I don’t have a poll question for this because it was pretty cut and dry, but their trial starts on January 13th, so I’ll be keeping an eye on the trial and when the trial is over I will come back with an update. If you missed Monday’s episode, go back and listen to that. The Case of Teresa Knorr and Another Case where cps. Sweet. Seriously, seriously, drop the ball. I will actually have a link to that episode in the show notes below. But it was basically the episode before this one. But just just so you can get to it easily. The link to that will be in the show notes below. Thank you for joining me. Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast so you don’t miss another episode. And don’t forget another way you could subscribe, you could actually do it for free is in the Patreon patreon.com forward/loveandmurder. Just go there, choose the tier based on kind of bonuses you would like. Thanks for listening, thanks for being a lamb and I will see you in the next episode. Bye.