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Hunting 4 Answers: The Missing Check: Rilya Wilson · The Breakfast Club

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  Speaker 1: Hunting for Answers is a production of the Black Effect
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  Speaker 1: podcast network and iHeartRadio. This episode contains references to alleged
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  Speaker 1: child abuse and the disappearance and presumed death of a child.
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  Speaker 1: Listener discretion is advised. Welcome to Hunting for Answers, a
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  Speaker 1: true crime podcast. I'm your host Hunter, and today we're
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  Speaker 1: highlighting a case that was widely cited by reporters as
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  Speaker 1: a well known example of serious failures in Florida's child
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  Speaker 1: welfare oversight. In early two thousand and one, a four
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  Speaker 1: year old girl disappeared from a Miami area home. She
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  Speaker 1: had been placed through the foster care system, but her
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  Speaker 1: absence was not discovered for about fifteen months. During that time,
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  Speaker 1: required monthly visits were not properly completed. By the time
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  Speaker 1: authorities realized she was missing, it was far too late.
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  Speaker 1: Her name is said to stand for remember I Love
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  Speaker 1: you Always. This is the story of Rollio Wilson. Rilia
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  Speaker 1: Shenise Wilson was born on September twenty ninth, nineteen ninety six.
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  Speaker 1: According to the case records and later reporting, her mother,
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  Speaker 1: Gloria Wilson, struggled with substance abuse and housing instability. Rillia
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  Speaker 1: and her siblings were removed from her custody, and her
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  Speaker 1: mother's parental rights were later terminated from infancy. Relia's life
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  Speaker 1: was shaped by the foster care system. In two thousand,
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  Speaker 1: Relyia and her siblings were placed in a Miami Dade
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  Speaker 1: County home with a woman named jerrel Lynn Graham. Reporting
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  Speaker 1: at the time said Rollia was supposed to be living
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  Speaker 1: with Graham, who described herself as Roya's grandmother, but Brillia's mother,
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  Speaker 1: Gloria Wilson, told reporters that Graham was Relia's godmother. The
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  Speaker 1: exact biological relationship remains unclear. What happened next would become
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  Speaker 1: a mystery that has now spanned more than two decades.
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  Speaker 1: When jeral Lynd Graham was later arrested, investigators reported that
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  Speaker 1: she had dozens of aliases, forty seven by some counts.
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  Speaker 1: Investigators said she possessed multiple identification documents under different names.
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  Speaker 1: Court records and news reports also said a physician had
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  Speaker 1: previously evaluated Graham and described her as having been diagnosed
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  Speaker 1: with a psychotic disorder. In the aftermath, reporting in court
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  Speaker 1: proceedings raised questions about how thoroughly the placement had been vetted.
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  Speaker 1: The exact last scene timeline for Willia Wilson varies across
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  Speaker 1: public reports. Jerre Lynd Graham told investigators that on January eighteenth,
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  Speaker 1: two thousand and one, a woman claiming to be from
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  Speaker 1: the Florida Department of Children and Families DCF came to
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  Speaker 1: the home and took Realia four in evaluation. Investigator accounts
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  Speaker 1: and reporting said that there was no official DCF visit
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  Speaker 1: records showing a worker removed Relyia on that day. Some
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  Speaker 1: trial testimony and reporting indicated there was conflicting recollection about
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  Speaker 1: when Realia was last seen in the home. Reporting and
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  Speaker 1: court records show no confirmed documented sightings of Rollio Wilson
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  Speaker 1: after early two thousand and one. She was four years old.
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  Speaker 1: State records showed that required monthly visits were not being
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  Speaker 1: made in Relia's case to verify her safety. Court testimony
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  Speaker 1: indicated that the assigned caseworker did not complete all required
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  Speaker 1: in person visits, and there were allegations that some contact
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  Speaker 1: notes were inaccurate or falsely documented. Reports say the caseworker
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  Speaker 1: later admitted to documentation failures and the state sought restitution
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  Speaker 1: related to salary and benefits. She was not criminally charged
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  Speaker 1: in connection with Relia's disappearance. Reports say Relia's status was
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  Speaker 1: not physically verified for more than a year. It wasn't
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  Speaker 1: until March two thousand and two, during a state review
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  Speaker 1: of case records that officials flagged serious concerns in Relia's file.
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  Speaker 1: DCF then reached out to jer Lynn Graham. Graham said
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  Speaker 1: take two. Graham said Rerilia had already been taken by DCF,
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  Speaker 1: a claim the agency denied. The follow up contact led
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  Speaker 1: investigators to discover that Rilia was missing after fifteen months
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  Speaker 1: after she was last seen. On April twenty fifth, two
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  Speaker 1: thousand and two, Rollia Wilson was officially reported missing. As
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  Speaker 1: the investigation continued, multiple witnesses testified to abuse and improper
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  Speaker 1: confinement inside the home. One household member, referred to in
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  Speaker 1: reports as Pamela Kendrick and sometimes as Pamela Graham, testified
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  Speaker 1: that Rolyia was physically punished and at times confined, including
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  Speaker 1: being locked in a room, placed in a dog cage,
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  Speaker 1: and at times restrained in bed at night. According to testimony,
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  Speaker 1: investigators searched the property and used chemical testing methods designed
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  Speaker 1: to reveal hidden blood evidence inside the home, Reporting on
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  Speaker 1: the case says they did not find forensic evidence. A
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  Speaker 1: stout the house as a homicide scene. Rilia has never
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  Speaker 1: been found. Despite claiming the child had been taken, jerre
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  Speaker 1: Lyn Graham continued receiving in cashing state benefit checks issued
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  Speaker 1: for Relia's care. In August two thousand and four, more
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  Speaker 1: than three years after Rilia was last confirmed scene, Jerrelyn
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  Speaker 1: Graham was charged with kidnapping and aggravated child abuse. A
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  Speaker 1: murder charge was later added. The second household member, Pamela,
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  Speaker 1: was also charged. Court record show Pamela later cooperated with
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  Speaker 1: investigators and testified in the case. Court records show that
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  Speaker 1: with no recovered remains in limited physical evidence, prosecutors relied
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  Speaker 1: heavily on witness testimony. A key witness was a jailhouse informant,
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  Speaker 1: Robin Lunceford, who testified that Graham told her she had
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  Speaker 1: suffocated Relia with a pillow. According to her testimony, Graham
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  Speaker 1: spoke about the child in degrading terms and said her
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  Speaker 1: remains were put in water near the home. Appellate court
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  Speaker 1: record summarized testimony that Graham referenced the idea of quote
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  Speaker 1: no body, no murder. The defense strongly challenged Lunsford's credibility,
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  Speaker 1: pointing to her criminal history and what was described in
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  Speaker 1: court as a sentence reduction agreement. A Miami Dade Corrections
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  Speaker 1: lieutenant testified that some of the conversations Lunsford claimed could
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  Speaker 1: not have happened because she and Graham were housed separately.
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  Speaker 1: Multiple jailhouse informants provided testimony. As a result, the reliability
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  Speaker 1: of the informant testimony became a central issue at trial.
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  Speaker 1: The trial began in November twenty twelve. In January twenty thirteen,
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  Speaker 1: the jury convicted jeral Lyn Graham of kidnapping and aggravated
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  Speaker 1: child abuse on the murder charge. The jury deadlocked and
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  Speaker 1: no murder conviction was entered. The murder count was not retried.
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  Speaker 1: On February twelve, twenty thirteen, Graham was sentenced to thirty
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  Speaker 1: years for kidnapping and twenty five years for aggravated child abuse,
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  Speaker 1: for a total of fifty five years. The case led
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  Speaker 1: to statewide scrutiny of Florida's child welfare system. DCF leadership
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  Speaker 1: changed after the case came to light. Lawmakers passed a
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  Speaker 1: reform law often referred to as the Rillia Wilson Act.
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  Speaker 1: It requires attendance tracking and quick reporting when children in
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  Speaker 1: state care missed school or childcare without approval. More than
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  Speaker 1: two decades later, Rollo Wilson has never been found. Anyone
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  Speaker 1: with information related to the disappearance of Roia Wilson to
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  Speaker 1: contact the Miami Dade Police Department or the National Center
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  Speaker 1: for Missing and Exploited Children. Their contact information is listed
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  Speaker 1: in the description below. Our thoughts are with the family
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  Speaker 1: and friends of Rollia Wilson as we close out this episode.
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  Speaker 1: Remember that sharing her story helps cape Rollia's case from
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  Speaker 1: being forgotten and supports the continued search for Answers. For
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  Speaker 1: updates on this case and others, follow Hunting for Answers.
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  Speaker 1: You can also connect with us through our Facebook group
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  Speaker 1: and find us on YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok. Reach out
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  Speaker 1: to us if there's a case or story you believe
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  Speaker 1: deserves attention. Thank you for joining us for another episode.
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  Speaker 1: Until next time. Hunting for Answers is a production of
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  Speaker 1: the Black Effect Podcast Network. For more podcasts from the
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  Speaker 1: Black Effect Podcast Network, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
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  Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.