Latest / The Knife: A True Crime Podcast / Guardianship Fraud (Part 1 of 2)

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Guardianship Fraud (Part 1 of 2) · The Knife: A True Crime Podcast

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Speaker 1: This story contains adult content and language. Listener discretion is advised.
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Speaker 2: The claims and opinions in this podcast are those of
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Speaker 2: the speaker and do not necessarily represent The Knife or
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Speaker 2: exactly right media.
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Speaker 3: You can't just walk into my parents' house and take
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Speaker 3: my parents. I said, I'm picking them up and I'm
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Speaker 3: bringing them home, and she's like, oh no, no, no,
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Speaker 3: oh no no no.
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Speaker 1: Welcome to the Knife. I'm Hannah Smith, I'm Patia Eaton.
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Speaker 1: This week we have part one of a two parter.
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Speaker 1: We speak with Julie Belshee. In twenty thirteen, Julie was
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Speaker 1: living in Las Vegas with her family. Her parents lived
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Speaker 1: close by and she saw them regularly. That is until
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Speaker 1: one day when they mysteriously disappeared. What began as a
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Speaker 1: desperate search for answers soon became something far stranger. After
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Speaker 1: finding her parents, Julie spent the next eighteen months unraveling
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Speaker 1: a complex web of deception and fighting to undo the
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Speaker 1: damage that had been done.
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Speaker 2: Let's get into it, hi, Julie, thank you so much
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Speaker 2: for taking the time to speak with us today.
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Speaker 3: Thank you so much for having me Patia.
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Speaker 2: Yeah, we'd love it if you could just start off
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Speaker 2: by telling us a little bit about yourself.
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Speaker 3: Okay, Well, i am a mother first three boys, and
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Speaker 3: I've been married for my god forever since nineteen eighty
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Speaker 3: eight to my husband who is my best friend of
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Speaker 3: an animal person. And I love to cook. I love
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Speaker 3: my family.
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Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, we're here to talk about something that
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Speaker 2: happened in your family, and this involves your parents. So
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Speaker 2: could you tell us a little bit about your parents.
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Speaker 3: Yes, So my parents met at Fairfax High School. My
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Speaker 3: dad was two years older than my mom. I think
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Speaker 3: she was like fourteen. He was sixteen years old. My mom,
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Speaker 3: she was a stay at home mom, just very supportive.
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Speaker 3: My father was a business consultant. He worked at KTLA,
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Speaker 3: he worked for Gene Autry, he worked in the music industry.
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Speaker 3: We grew up in Los Angeles. For the most part,
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Speaker 3: they were very old school. My dad put my mother
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Speaker 3: up on a pedestal and they were very in love.
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Speaker 3: It was like my sister I used to go oh
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Speaker 3: like discuss thing like they would dance after dinner and
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Speaker 3: put their music on, and they were very much in love.
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Speaker 3: And they were together for a lifetime, married for I
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Speaker 3: think sixty plus years.
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Speaker 1: Julie spent most of her life in the Los Angeles area,
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Speaker 1: but in nineteen ninety two, she and her husband moved
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Speaker 1: to Las Vegas. This was right before their first son
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Speaker 1: was born. Three years later, in nineteen ninety five, her parents,
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Speaker 1: Rudy and Rennie, also relocated to Las Vegas to be
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Speaker 1: closer to their grandkids.
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Speaker 3: So my relationship with my parents very very close, and
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Speaker 3: they're very interactive with the children and with their grandchildren.
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Speaker 3: My dad would go every weekend, take them to Michael's,
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Speaker 3: take them to the museum. He would bring them back
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Speaker 3: to his house. He had the piano. You stop, ride
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Speaker 3: with them and you put together little puzzles, read to them,
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Speaker 3: get them to think outside of the box creatively. And
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Speaker 3: my relationship with them exceptionally close. I talked to them,
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Speaker 3: you know, a couple of times a day, if not
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Speaker 3: saw them every day. They only live two miles away
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Speaker 3: from me, so they're always picking up the boys and
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Speaker 3: the eagle and coming over to eat. All holidays were
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Speaker 3: at our house, so very close.
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Speaker 1: Julie's mother, Rennie, was diagnosed with leukemia in nineteen ninety five.
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Speaker 1: She had treats and went into remission. Unfortunately, the cancer
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Speaker 1: returned in twenty twelve. And the diagnosis was not good.
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Speaker 3: They were living in sen City, a Leante in North
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Speaker 3: Las Vegas, and we were living about ten fifteen minutes
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Speaker 3: away from them. I saw my parents a couple of
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Speaker 3: times a week, spoke with them every day. She was determined.
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Speaker 3: When they diagnosed her. They told her, you'll be lucky
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Speaker 3: if you live until you know, you see Christmas. And
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Speaker 3: she told the doctor, you're not God. You know, I
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Speaker 3: have grandchildren. Don't tell me what I'm going to do.
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Speaker 3: She's such a strong constitution. Yeah, one of the strongest
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Speaker 3: women I've ever met in my life. I would go
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Speaker 3: and help them for like six months, and I went
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Speaker 3: there six days a week when my mom's cancer was full,
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Speaker 3: like blown, just to help my dad, you know, and
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Speaker 3: get her out of the house, take her to get
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Speaker 3: her hair done, you know, plan and two things like that.
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Speaker 3: But then after that six months, my dad said that
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Speaker 3: the doctor had told him that I thought my mom
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Speaker 3: should go on hospice. So I was really upset, and
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Speaker 3: I'm like, no, Mom does not need to go in hospice.
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Speaker 3: It's her choice, it's her life. Don't let other people
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Speaker 3: tell you, you know, what to do. I can still help,
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Speaker 3: and they're like, no, it's too much. You know, you
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Speaker 3: have the kids and everything. We'll just have a care
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Speaker 3: terr come in from hospice. So they went ahead a
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Speaker 3: divot or respected their wishes.
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Speaker 1: It was an emotional decision for Julie to bring in
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Speaker 1: hospice care. On the one hand, it was good to
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Speaker 1: have some help. On the other hand, she didn't feel
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Speaker 1: ready for her mom to die. Hospice care is reserved
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Speaker 1: for the end of someone's life. It's focused on making
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Speaker 1: some uncomfortable and pain management. It's typically only offered in
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Speaker 1: the last weeks or months of someone's life, and it
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Speaker 1: can be hard to know when is the right time
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Speaker 1: to make that to say with a loved one. Julie
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Speaker 1: said the doctor recommended it, and although she didn't think
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Speaker 1: her mom was dying, she did think her dad could
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Speaker 1: use some extra help with the caretaking. So a hospice
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Speaker 1: team came into their home several times a week, and
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Speaker 1: as the months went by, Rennie started to get better,
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Speaker 1: not worse.
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Speaker 3: She's almost to the point where she doesn't need her
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Speaker 3: chair anymore. I'm like, you know, mom, here's the walker.
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Speaker 3: Let's go Like this is an ass like we're not
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Speaker 3: using it as a crutch. I just we were all
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Speaker 3: trying our hardest. You know, my husband is very athletic,
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Speaker 3: he played football, My kids same, so like come on, Grandma,
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Speaker 3: like time I do, you know, And it helped her.
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Speaker 3: She didn't want to just sit there and be like
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Speaker 3: a mobeed person. The physical therapy people are coming out more,
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Speaker 3: hospice was coming in less. My mom wanted to go
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Speaker 3: and you know, do things with my dad outside of
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Speaker 3: you know, taking a walk or going to the grocer
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Speaker 3: for a shacually when we see a move, or go
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Speaker 3: shopping or you know, do things with him. So yeah,
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Speaker 3: she definitely was getting better.
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Speaker 1: Things were looking up, which made what happened next in
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Speaker 1: late August twenty thirteen even more shocking to Julie.
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Speaker 3: So was August thirtieth, Labor Day weekend. What led me
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Speaker 3: after go in there was we did have plans every
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Speaker 3: year before, right before the boys summer was going to end.
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Speaker 3: School starts by boo ways, we'd go over there, grandchildren
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Speaker 3: get together, we all would take a match dinner. So
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Speaker 3: we had plans on Friday, and I had just talked
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Speaker 3: to my moment oursday every day was fine. We were
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Speaker 3: going to see them on Friday, So I called in
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Speaker 3: the morning, and I figured, okay, well they dis missed
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Speaker 3: the call at first, and you know I'm an early bird.
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Speaker 3: They get up a little bit later, so I thought, oh,
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Speaker 3: maybe they just missed the phone, which is unusual. They'd
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Speaker 3: always pick up for me. So I called. Probably I'm neurotics.
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Speaker 3: So I called maybe six, seven, eight times. Okay, over
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Speaker 3: a course of three hours, I'm calling their home phone,
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Speaker 3: calling their cell phone. Nobody's picking up. I just had
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Speaker 3: a weird feeling, you know, that's if they're not going
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Speaker 3: to be there. They always would call me worry communication
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Speaker 3: all the time. So I basically am trying to go
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Speaker 3: through the motions, making breakfast, doing everything I need to do,
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Speaker 3: you know, getting myself ready. We're still going to go. Boys,
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Speaker 3: get ready, get ready, We're going to see Grandma. Well,
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Speaker 3: I just decided I think it was I'm going to
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Speaker 3: say like ten thirty, ten forty five, Okay, I'm like,
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Speaker 3: I'm going by myself. I don't want to worry them,
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Speaker 3: but already have a feeling like something like I'm going
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Speaker 3: to pull up to god knows what. I don't know,
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Speaker 3: something's off. So I got in the car, I pull
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Speaker 3: up the house it's wee fifteen twenty minutes. And the
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Speaker 3: first thing I noticed as I pulled up the newspaper
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Speaker 3: is on the doormat.
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Speaker 1: Was that unusual?
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Speaker 3: Very unusual. That was my dad's routine. And he told
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Speaker 3: the paper boy, you know, older people want things done
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Speaker 3: in a certain way. So you know, I'm leaving on
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Speaker 3: the doormat, wrapping in plastic with the rubber bed around it,
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Speaker 3: and no matter what the weather, that's how we do it.
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Speaker 3: It was old school collectings stand a certain way. So
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Speaker 3: his paper was there, red flag to be I'm like,
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Speaker 3: what's going on, you know, And so I walked to
9:41
Speaker 3: the side of the house. So I'm looking, trying my
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Speaker 3: hardest to look. Usually the blinds my mom always closes up.
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Speaker 3: They're closed down. I could kind of like begin, but
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Speaker 3: not really. I can't really see anything. I could see
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Speaker 3: a light on and that was about it. So I
9:59
Speaker 3: go to the back, hoping that you know, they're back,
10:02
Speaker 3: which they had like a little patio. And then the
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Speaker 3: house is literally on the golf course. So then there's
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Speaker 3: the golf course and it's a sliding glass door. So
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Speaker 3: I go and I'm you know, trying to look through
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Speaker 3: the vertical blinds nothing. So I picked up the newspaper.
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Speaker 3: I got in the car. I mean, I was screaming
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Speaker 3: their names.
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Speaker 1: Did you not have a spare key?
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Speaker 3: I did, but I had given it back to my
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Speaker 3: dad not too long before, so I didn't have it.
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Speaker 3: And so I got in the car and I went
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Speaker 3: to the clubhouse. My parents would never go to the clubhouse,
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Speaker 3: but I was thinking, okay, let me go, maybe by
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Speaker 3: a chance, you know. And then I'm looking around and
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Speaker 3: I had know in my heart of hearts they are
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Speaker 3: not there. Get in the car again, and I'm driving
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Speaker 3: home and I'm like, where are my parents? Where are they?
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Speaker 1: When you're thinking where are they? Because that's such a
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Speaker 1: scary situation, like you know something's wrong, the newspaper is
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Speaker 1: like a clear giveaway. What were you thinking could have
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Speaker 1: been the case?
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Speaker 3: My mind was going a million miles a minute. I
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Speaker 3: mean it was racing, My thoughts were racing. So I
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Speaker 3: tried to calm to out and just think, Okay, maybe
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Speaker 3: my dad had to take my mom to the hospital.
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Speaker 3: Maybe my dad is sick. That's all I kept thinking.
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Speaker 3: That was the only thing that I've explained anything, because
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Speaker 3: otherwise they were it called me on that are they
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Speaker 3: were taken out of their house. Somebody actually kidnapped my parents.
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Speaker 3: Nothing made sense. I mean, I couldn't think any other way.
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Speaker 1: It's a strange thought to have entered Julie's mind, and
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Speaker 1: not one that she can really explain. She just had
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Speaker 1: a strong sensation that someone had taken her parents.
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Speaker 2: I mean, when all of this was happening, you had
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Speaker 2: initially planned that your kids would go over with you.
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Speaker 2: They don't end up going, But did you tell your husband, Hey,
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Speaker 2: I can't reach my mom and dad.
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Speaker 3: So I actually wanted to call my husband right away
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Speaker 3: because I was panicking, and he always called me down.
12:15
Speaker 3: I was like, ohver analytical and he's very simple. So
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Speaker 3: I had left my phone at home. So when I
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Speaker 3: did get help, I came out in the house and
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Speaker 3: my girlfriend was sitting in the back with my husband,
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Speaker 3: and I said, my parents are gone. And I said
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Speaker 3: somebody took my parents, and my husband's like Julie like
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Speaker 3: looked at me, like, you know, you're nuts, Like somebody
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Speaker 3: did not take your parents. Something happened. Calmed down, very rational,
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Speaker 3: Try to calm me down, because I just didn't know
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Speaker 3: what else to fay, And yeah, that's all I kept thinking,
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Speaker 3: is somebody tripped my parents, somebody kid down my parents?
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Speaker 2: What do you do with that? Feeling paired with that
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Speaker 2: you literally can't find your parents.
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Speaker 3: So I started calling hospitals, and I called my parents'
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Speaker 3: landlord and it went to his voicemail, and I said,
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Speaker 3: you know, Doug, I just want to let you know
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Speaker 3: that my mom and dad are not answering their door.
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Speaker 3: I had plans with them today. They're not answering their phones.
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Speaker 3: Please let me know. You know, if you go by there,
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Speaker 3: please let me know if you see them, or could
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Speaker 3: you check because he lived in the same community as them.
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Speaker 2: Are you eventually then able to get into the house
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Speaker 2: or how does that happen?
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Speaker 3: No, I'm not able to get into the house. And
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Speaker 3: as the day proceeded, it was trying to just keep
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Speaker 3: myself as calm as possible to say, you know what,
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Speaker 3: they are going to turn up. I called probably six hospitals,
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Speaker 3: different hospitals, and they're not there. Neither one of them
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Speaker 3: is checked in there. I did call my mom's sisters.
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Speaker 3: She had two sisters went to passed away. I called
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Speaker 3: them and let them know have they heard from my
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Speaker 3: mom and dad.
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Speaker 1: It was Labor Day, weekend of twenty thirteen, when Julie
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Speaker 1: Belshie's parents suddenly went missing. They weren't answering their phones,
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Speaker 1: they weren't responding when she went by their house. Julie's
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Speaker 1: first thought was, someone has kidnapped my parents. She called
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Speaker 1: local hospitals looking for them, but that led nowhere throughout
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Speaker 1: the weekend. Because this goes on that you can't find them,
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Speaker 1: you know, how does that feel?
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Speaker 3: Feels extremely helpless? And I did call the place. I
14:47
Speaker 3: did tell them, but I called them too soon, and
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Speaker 3: they told them that you know, those are your parents.
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Speaker 3: They're adults, you know, and they could have just gone
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Speaker 3: on a vacation. They're trying to tell me like things
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Speaker 3: that I already know. But being their only child, they're
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Speaker 3: only surviving child, and being so close to them, I'm
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Speaker 3: like listening to them, thinking, oh my god, these people
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Speaker 3: are just stupid. But you know, they're just doing their
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Speaker 3: job also trying to keep me logical.
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Speaker 1: I guess, did you call the police within the first
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Speaker 1: twenty four hours?
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Speaker 3: It was within the first twenty four hours, And what
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Speaker 3: did they say?
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Speaker 1: Did they tell you to call back at a certain
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Speaker 1: time if you hadn't heard from your parents?
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Speaker 3: I don't remember them telling me to call back. I
15:27
Speaker 3: just remember that they basically were trying to calm me
15:31
Speaker 3: down because I was frantic at that point. I was
15:35
Speaker 3: so immediately traumatized. I knew in my heart and heart
15:39
Speaker 3: something was wrong. We went back and forth to their
15:42
Speaker 3: house several times, just thinking, okay, wait, like, are they
15:46
Speaker 3: inside the house by missing something? Did somebody, like God
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Speaker 3: forbid kill them? You know, all these things are going
15:53
Speaker 3: through your head at the time.
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Speaker 1: Julie didn't know that she could have requested a wellness
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Speaker 1: check from the local police apartment, and as far as
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Speaker 1: she can remember, the police officer she spoke with did
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Speaker 1: not offer that as an option. This was the Friday
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Speaker 1: of that Labor Day weekend, and Julie didn't get any
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Speaker 1: information on her parents whereabouts until the following Tuesday.
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Speaker 3: So we went back on Tuesday morning and there was
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Speaker 3: a white eight x twelve piece of paper and it
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Speaker 3: said in case of emergency, contact April Parks ANDCG. Guardian.
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Speaker 3: This is on the outside of the front door.
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Speaker 1: You're still not able to get into the house because
16:35
Speaker 1: you thought you had a key, but you didn't end
16:37
Speaker 1: up having a spare key, and so right you're just
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Speaker 1: showing up, hoping you're on the outside of the house.
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Speaker 3: Yeah, And I also do notice that they had a timer.
16:47
Speaker 3: There's a light that's going on and off.
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Speaker 2: And you're noticing that a light has been turning on
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Speaker 2: and off on a timer that wasn't that way before.
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Speaker 3: Right, I noticed there's a light and again, and I
17:01
Speaker 3: can't see through the blinds. I can't see anything inside.
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Speaker 2: So yeah, so strange. I cannot imagine how you were
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Speaker 2: feeling in that moment.
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Speaker 1: It was clear to Julie that someone had been inside
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Speaker 1: the house. The light that was on a timer had
17:18
Speaker 1: never been there before. Who put it there? At least
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Speaker 1: Julie now had a clue. The piece of paper taped
17:24
Speaker 1: to the outside of the front door.
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Speaker 2: So you get this notice on the door. You see
17:29
Speaker 2: the name April Park's court appointed guardian. Is there a
17:34
Speaker 2: phone number? Like, what do you do with this?
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Speaker 3: There is a phone number. And so I got back
17:40
Speaker 3: in my car and immediately came home and I called
17:47
Speaker 3: my husband. He came home, and then I called her
17:52
Speaker 3: right away and I introduced myself. I said, you know,
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Speaker 3: I'd like to speak with missus Park. Sorry, April Park.
18:01
Speaker 3: My name is Julie Belshe I'm Rudy and Ready North's daughter,
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Speaker 3: and they said hold on, please, I hold on. She
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Speaker 3: gets on and she's like, oh, hi Julie, and I'm like, hi, April.
18:16
Speaker 3: I don't even remember what I said, but I know
18:19
Speaker 3: I was like my blood was just like fuming and
18:22
Speaker 3: I'm like shaking. And I said who are you? And
18:26
Speaker 3: she said, oh, my name is April Parks and I'm
18:29
Speaker 3: a private guardian. And I said, okay, I mean, I
18:33
Speaker 3: didn't even know what. I'm like, not even clicked, don't
18:36
Speaker 3: know what you're talking about. I know I'm a guardian.
18:39
Speaker 3: I know I'm a mother of three boys, but I
18:42
Speaker 3: know nothing of this. I'm a private guardian, meant nothing,
18:46
Speaker 3: conservatorship GUARDI did not register my brain. I'm like, okay,
18:51
Speaker 3: so where are my parents? And she says oh, oh,
18:56
Speaker 3: like she's like trying to calm me down, almost like
19:00
Speaker 3: think to me in a condescending way. She's like, oh,
19:03
Speaker 3: you're the daughter. I'm like, yes, I'm the daughter. Where
19:08
Speaker 3: are my parents? And she goes, oh, your parents are fine,
19:13
Speaker 3: there at like few assisted living facility. And I'm like, April,
19:18
Speaker 3: I said, you cannot do that. You can't just walk
19:20
Speaker 3: into my parents' house and take my parents. And I said,
19:26
Speaker 3: I'm going to go see them. I'm picking them up
19:28
Speaker 3: and I'm bringing them home. And she's like, oh no, no, no,
19:33
Speaker 3: oh no no no, like a teacher talking down to you.
19:37
Speaker 3: I'm like, okay. She says, you can't go see them,
19:40
Speaker 3: missus Belshee, but you cannot take them. And I'm like okay.
19:47
Speaker 3: And she said, I I have guardians stuff of your parents. Again,
19:52
Speaker 3: don't know what this is, okay, So like you own
19:56
Speaker 3: my parents now, I don't understand she's have to, Like
19:59
Speaker 3: she's that full control over my mom and dad. I
20:03
Speaker 3: could go visit them, but I have to leave. And
20:05
Speaker 3: I got their address and my husband came with me,
20:09
Speaker 3: and we got in the car and we drove out.
20:12
Speaker 3: It was in Boulder City and it was like probably
20:16
Speaker 3: I would say a mile away from or maybe two
20:19
Speaker 3: miles away from Lake me It's a drive. So she
20:23
Speaker 3: didn't take them anywhere close or convenient for them.
20:26
Speaker 1: I'm like, yeah, had you ever heard of this person
20:29
Speaker 1: before April Parks?
20:32
Speaker 3: Never? You never met her, never met her, never.
20:37
Speaker 1: Heard of her, never heard your parents talk about her,
20:39
Speaker 1: never nothing, So you have this conversation, So your parents
20:43
Speaker 1: are missing. Suddenly this random lady you've never met is saying,
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Speaker 1: I have legal guardianship and I've actually moved them from
20:50
Speaker 1: their house to this facility. And how far away is
20:53
Speaker 1: that facility from where you were living at the time, Like,
20:56
Speaker 1: how long is that drive?
20:58
Speaker 3: It's probably forty five minutes an hour depending on the season.
21:04
Speaker 1: Was your husband Scott also on this phone call or
21:07
Speaker 1: were you like telling them about it?
21:09
Speaker 3: I had her own speaker and he came quiet, you know, listened.
21:15
Speaker 3: I mean, red flag is going off everywhere everywhere. I
21:20
Speaker 3: just knew. I knew, like, okay, I've got to like
21:24
Speaker 3: remain in control here somewhat and be professional still and
21:30
Speaker 3: be calm in front of these people. But behind the scenes,
21:33
Speaker 3: I'm like literally crying, are so angry. I'm like, it's
21:40
Speaker 3: very traumatizing.
21:42
Speaker 1: What did that conversation between you and Scott look like
21:45
Speaker 1: on that forty five minute drive to go see your parents?
21:48
Speaker 3: How could you have taken them? You know, this is
21:51
Speaker 3: like in violation of their constitutional rights. This is America.
21:56
Speaker 3: I mean, like we're in disbelief. I start looking up
22:00
Speaker 3: on my phone guardianship, start seeing these nightmare stories. This
22:04
Speaker 3: does happen in America all over we're talking, I'm multitasking,
22:09
Speaker 3: looking at the phone. I want to just see my
22:11
Speaker 3: mom and dad. That is the most important thing to me.
22:14
Speaker 3: I want to make sure my mom and dad are
22:16
Speaker 3: okay because I didn't know where they were for so long,
22:20
Speaker 3: and just those few days actually seem like an eternity,
22:26
Speaker 3: the unknown. I do something was wrong, you know from
22:30
Speaker 3: the very beginning.
22:32
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, I think it's amazing how quickly you
22:35
Speaker 2: acted and knew that something was wrong. So on that
22:39
Speaker 2: drive your you know, this is your first opportunity to
22:42
Speaker 2: even research what the heck guardianship is. And then where
22:47
Speaker 2: do you go to see them?
22:48
Speaker 3: We went to Lakeview Assisted living Facility.
22:53
Speaker 2: Are you able to then walk in and see and
22:55
Speaker 2: speak with your parents?
22:57
Speaker 3: I am so. We pulled up and like like a
23:01
Speaker 3: Marion or residence in turned into an assisted living facility
23:06
Speaker 3: and we walked in and there was an older woman
23:11
Speaker 3: a receptionists, and I told him our names and we'd
23:14
Speaker 3: like to go and see Rudy and Rindy North and
23:17
Speaker 3: I'm their daughter, and we signed in. My husband and
23:20
Speaker 3: I signed in, and as we were walking towards the
23:26
Speaker 3: elevator there's like the dining room area and the elevators
23:32
Speaker 3: to the right. I said, I'd just like to know
23:34
Speaker 3: if I'm going the right way to the elevator. And
23:37
Speaker 3: I said, I'm here to see Rudy and Reddy Noir.
23:40
Speaker 3: And this woman says to me, oh, my name's Joanne
23:45
Speaker 3: and I'm the director, and your parents are acclimating greatly.
23:50
Speaker 3: They're doing really well. And I'm looking at her like, okay,
23:56
Speaker 3: I don't have to be a certain way in front
23:58
Speaker 3: of these people. So I said, oh good, oh, you
24:01
Speaker 3: know good. I'm glad that they are. It was just
24:04
Speaker 3: like kind of being like in the Twilight. So so
24:08
Speaker 3: we're walking down the hallway and this man grabs me
24:11
Speaker 3: and he's a little old man and I wasn't intimidated,
24:15
Speaker 3: like he was scared, like trying to convey a message
24:18
Speaker 3: like help me help me this April Parks. And I'm
24:21
Speaker 3: like looking at him like, okay.
24:25
Speaker 1: She said, April Parks.
24:26
Speaker 3: Yeah, she said help me help me.
24:28
Speaker 2: Yes, what are you even making of that?
24:31
Speaker 3: In the moment, well, I took my arms back away
24:35
Speaker 3: from him, and I'm like, okay, I said, you know,
24:37
Speaker 3: calm down again. I'm mindful of people enough he's in trauma.
24:43
Speaker 3: He's like trying to convey something. I don't know what's
24:46
Speaker 3: going on. I know I want to see my mom
24:48
Speaker 3: and dad. So I said, okay, I said hi, my
24:51
Speaker 3: name's Julie, you know. And I shook his hand and
24:54
Speaker 3: he said hi am Adolpho. And he did calm down
24:58
Speaker 3: a little, and Scott talked to him a little little,
25:00
Speaker 3: like I'm talking maybe a minute, and I just wanted
25:03
Speaker 3: to see my moment hat.
25:05
Speaker 2: And then you continue on down the hallway.
25:08
Speaker 3: Yes.
25:15
Speaker 1: Julie and her husband Scott, arrived at Lake Few assisted
25:18
Speaker 1: living facility, about a forty five minute drive from their home.
25:22
Speaker 1: They had been told that Julie's parents had been relocated
25:25
Speaker 1: there and that Julie could visit but would not be
25:28
Speaker 1: permitted to take her parents out of the facility. She said,
25:32
Speaker 1: the whole thing felt like a bad dream.
25:35
Speaker 3: So I go to open the door and the door opens,
25:41
Speaker 3: and so when you walk in, there's like a little
25:45
Speaker 3: kitchenvette there was a refrigerator, sink, microwave, and then the
25:50
Speaker 3: bedroom was on the left. It was a model unit
25:55
Speaker 3: and the mattress was so thin, and I'm just trying
25:58
Speaker 3: to take it all in, but I want I want
26:00
Speaker 3: to see my parents. And he is very cold feeling
26:05
Speaker 3: in there. And I looked to the left and my
26:07
Speaker 3: mom is sitting in her wheelchair and she's like kind
26:11
Speaker 3: of just slumpt over and I'm like like mom, and
26:16
Speaker 3: she goes Julie sunny honey, and I'm my mom, and
26:23
Speaker 3: I just gave her a big hug and just held
26:26
Speaker 3: HER's gonna be okay, Mom, It's gonna be okay. We're
26:30
Speaker 3: gonna do this. Mom. And my dad was on the
26:33
Speaker 3: couch and he's like, I'm just sending like a fetal
26:37
Speaker 3: and he's kind of just like cowered on the couch.
26:41
Speaker 3: Not usually my dad, Like my dad used to on
26:44
Speaker 3: the couch, readA in the book, listening to the news,
26:47
Speaker 3: our houses music playing, sit there like he's the king,
26:50
Speaker 3: you know, just different the whole. So, you know, I
26:54
Speaker 3: watched over my dad. I said hi, Dad, and they
26:57
Speaker 3: looked horrible. They were like pasty, and their eyes looked
27:00
Speaker 3: very cloudy, and I was just so happy to see them,
27:05
Speaker 3: just I mean so relieved that they were alive.
27:08
Speaker 1: When you described them in their cloudy eyes, did you
27:10
Speaker 1: get the sense that they were medicated?
27:13
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, I got this sense that they were overtired,
27:17
Speaker 3: they were dirty, they're un kept. My parents were immaculate people.
27:25
Speaker 1: Did you get the sense that they were in distress.
27:29
Speaker 3: I got a feeling that they were definitely in distress,
27:32
Speaker 3: and they were definitely on My father was ashamed, was emasculated,
27:40
Speaker 3: was embarrassed. His dignity was taken away. So as his daughter,
27:46
Speaker 3: it was really hard for me to see that and
27:49
Speaker 3: try to act normally everything's going to work out, because
27:52
Speaker 3: I didn't even know what was going on. And then
27:56
Speaker 3: my mom I could see like she was mad at
27:58
Speaker 3: my dad, like old school again, like weirdy, how could
28:01
Speaker 3: you have left? This happened to us? I got all
28:04
Speaker 3: these different vibes, you know, like we should be in
28:06
Speaker 3: our home, you know, and I'm looking and I'm just
28:09
Speaker 3: trying to like tell them everything's going to be okay.
28:12
Speaker 2: Do you say to them though, in this visit, what happened?
28:17
Speaker 2: Like why are you here? Who is April Parks?
28:19
Speaker 3: Oh yeah? Oh yeah? I mean after we had I
28:24
Speaker 3: just calmed him down and like cleaned my mom up
28:27
Speaker 3: a little bit. Has it really bothered me? You know,
28:29
Speaker 3: she had stains on her shirt. It's just so like
28:33
Speaker 3: surrelled to see her not kept like the way she
28:37
Speaker 3: liked to look. She was very proud woman. So yeah,
28:41
Speaker 3: I asked them what happened? Tell me Dad, what happened,
28:47
Speaker 3: you know? And he said, you know, honey, he goes.
28:49
Speaker 3: We were sitting at home, and he said that the
28:54
Speaker 3: caregivers from the hospice company came first, and they weren't
28:59
Speaker 3: supposed to be there that day, but they, you know,
29:02
Speaker 3: of course let them come in and they were having coffee.
29:07
Speaker 3: They they were there to help us, And he said,
29:11
Speaker 3: then they they had a little coffee and he was
29:14
Speaker 3: on the couch and they said they were going to
29:16
Speaker 3: help my mom go in and take a shower or
29:18
Speaker 3: get dressed. So my mom was in the bedroom and
29:23
Speaker 3: he said he went after eating breakfast to go into
29:27
Speaker 3: the couch, watch the news and read more of the newspaper.
29:30
Speaker 3: My mom was getting dressed. Well, there's already two people
29:34
Speaker 3: there from the hospice company, and there's a knock on
29:37
Speaker 3: the door, and so my father gets up in the
29:42
Speaker 3: people from the hospital committing and are like, no, no,
29:44
Speaker 3: we'll get it, Rudy. Well, my dad was behind them,
29:48
Speaker 3: but they opened up the door and there was April
29:53
Speaker 3: Parks and basically the introductions are made in April Parks
29:59
Speaker 3: tells my father that her name is April Parks and
30:02
Speaker 3: she's an officer of the court. So my dad says, okay,
30:10
Speaker 3: I'd like to see your documents. What is your business here?
30:15
Speaker 3: And you know, she's like, oh, well, we're going to
30:19
Speaker 3: take you for a respite. You and your wife, We're
30:23
Speaker 3: going to take you to an assisted living facility for
30:27
Speaker 3: a respite. Meanwhile, my dad is like being guided to
30:32
Speaker 3: do sit back down comfortable like. So now he's got
30:36
Speaker 3: five people in his home, four in the living room
30:41
Speaker 3: right my mom's in the bedroom getting dressed, she thinks
30:44
Speaker 3: for the day. So they told my dad. My dad's
30:49
Speaker 3: he said, I'd like to see the papers because she's
30:51
Speaker 3: telling you we're taking you to an assisted living facility.
30:56
Speaker 3: You know, you guys need some help and it'll only be
30:58
Speaker 3: for two weeks and then you'll reach home. And my
31:01
Speaker 3: dad's like, oh no, no, you're not taking us, and
31:06
Speaker 3: he's got these people standing around. I'm like, oh, Rudy, Rudy,
31:09
Speaker 3: You're like, you need to listen to there. You need
31:12
Speaker 3: to listen to Ruddy. You'll only go away for two weeks,
31:15
Speaker 3: you do, And then my mom comes into the living
31:19
Speaker 3: room and she sits in the couch and this woman
31:22
Speaker 3: comes over to her and she touches on her knee.
31:25
Speaker 3: My mom made a point, just told me this. It's like,
31:27
Speaker 3: do not touch me. Get out of my house. Get
31:32
Speaker 3: out of my house, Rudy. And then April's like, Rudy
31:39
Speaker 3: like already trying to like Warner, like you better get
31:41
Speaker 3: your wife in control. You know. My mom's looking to
31:45
Speaker 3: my dad for like, help get these people out of
31:48
Speaker 3: our house. And my dad's like, you know, asks April
31:52
Speaker 3: for the papers. She said you would have him to
31:55
Speaker 3: him within two hours, that they were going to go
31:58
Speaker 3: away for the two weeks, and if they did not comply,
32:03
Speaker 3: this is where they got them to all of a sudden,
32:05
Speaker 3: switched hears they did not comply that never one they
32:09
Speaker 3: could call the police and they could be taken to
32:13
Speaker 3: a psyche board and be separated, or they could look
32:17
Speaker 3: at this like a respite and go to this home,
32:20
Speaker 3: or they could call the police and they could possibly
32:22
Speaker 3: be arrested. So the whole entire time this is going down,
32:27
Speaker 3: my mom's looking at my dad, like, get these people
32:29
Speaker 3: out of my house. There are five people in their
32:32
Speaker 3: living room telling my dad, you need to go, and
32:36
Speaker 3: then Parks is a monster like shoes, just telling them, okay,
32:41
Speaker 3: well you have ten minutes. You have ten minutes. Where
32:44
Speaker 3: are your keys? I mean, it's that fast. And they're
32:49
Speaker 3: still trying to understand. Wait a second, you're at our house.
32:53
Speaker 3: What's going on? So my mom did ask, you know,
32:57
Speaker 3: I want to call my daughter. I want to call
32:59
Speaker 3: my daughter do and oh, don't worry like they you know,
33:03
Speaker 3: she already knew that was going to come up. Don't worry,
33:05
Speaker 3: we'll call your daughter for you, Rennie. And my mom
33:09
Speaker 3: was in just utter disbelief. She told them, you have
33:12
Speaker 3: ten minutes. Go get your things together, go get your belongings.
33:16
Speaker 3: You have a bag, what do you want to take?
33:19
Speaker 3: My mom went into her bathroom and you know, it's
33:22
Speaker 3: just this big closet of creams and creams and creams
33:27
Speaker 3: and you know, and all her little ointments and all sud.
33:29
Speaker 3: That's what she went to go do. And my dad's like, ready,
33:32
Speaker 3: you've got to take some clothes, you know too. So
33:36
Speaker 3: they were basically rushing them through it. I wasn't there,
33:40
Speaker 3: but this is what they're telling me, and I know
33:43
Speaker 3: it's the truth. And they're both like it was unbelievable.
33:46
Speaker 3: And you know, within ten fifteen minutes, they are out
33:49
Speaker 3: of their house, put in a car. This is in
33:53
Speaker 3: the daytime. This is not a night they just come
33:56
Speaker 3: during the day. It's total strangers and they're with them.
34:01
Speaker 1: What about their cell phones? Did your parents try to
34:03
Speaker 1: get their cell phones or was there any conversation around
34:07
Speaker 1: their cell.
34:07
Speaker 3: Phone when they were leaving. I was calling and my
34:12
Speaker 3: dad said to my mom, that's probably Julie. I have
34:16
Speaker 3: to go get my cell phone in April said, oh no,
34:19
Speaker 3: we'll get it later for you. We'll get it for you,
34:22
Speaker 3: like hand your CA's over, We've got control. You're nothing,
34:26
Speaker 3: get in the car, and you as years old?
34:29
Speaker 2: And how not to justify any of this, but for context,
34:33
Speaker 2: how old are your parents in twenty thirteen about or
34:37
Speaker 2: if you don't know their exact ages, I.
34:39
Speaker 3: Do, seventy four and seventy six years old. That's young.
34:43
Speaker 2: Yeah. And so they're out of the house within fifteen
34:46
Speaker 2: minutes in broad daylight. Are they being told where they're
34:51
Speaker 2: being taken? I mean respect care for the elderly I
34:54
Speaker 2: just looked at that provides temporary relief for primary caregivers
34:58
Speaker 2: offering short term. Is this something you'd never heard? Your
35:03
Speaker 2: dad asked for.
35:05
Speaker 3: Never? Never, never, He would have told me never.
35:10
Speaker 2: And so they're put in this car. Are they told
35:13
Speaker 2: where they're being taken?
35:15
Speaker 3: They're told they're being taken to a place that they
35:19
Speaker 3: can relax and everybody will be doing things for them.
35:23
Speaker 3: Maybe she said a nursing home. I'm not sure, but yeah,
35:28
Speaker 3: they were driving and driving. My mom did say, you know,
35:33
Speaker 3: where are you taking us? Like, you're taking us so
35:36
Speaker 3: far from our house. Julie's going to be so worried.
35:40
Speaker 3: And my Dad's like, oh, we can't tell Julie. We
35:43
Speaker 3: don't want to worry her. You know, my dad's very
35:45
Speaker 3: protective of me, always has been. And I thought, you know, okay,
35:50
Speaker 3: maybe this is just two weeks. I could call Julie
35:53
Speaker 3: when I get there and we'll be back home. That's
35:57
Speaker 3: what she said.
35:59
Speaker 1: Did they get paperwork as promised?
36:03
Speaker 3: No, they didn't get their paperwork.
36:06
Speaker 1: When Julie had finally located her parents, Rudy and Rennie,
36:10
Speaker 1: she could hardly believe what had happened to them. While
36:13
Speaker 1: it was true that her mother had been ill for
36:15
Speaker 1: the past year, there had never been any question about
36:18
Speaker 1: her parents' ability to live in their home. In fact,
36:22
Speaker 1: they hadn't even talked about moving into an assisted living
36:24
Speaker 1: situation because it seemed completely unnecessary. So it was a
36:29
Speaker 1: shock for Julie to discover that this had happened, And
36:32
Speaker 1: even more shocking was the state that she found her
36:34
Speaker 1: parents in, far worse than they'd been just a few
36:37
Speaker 1: days earlier. Living at their home. They were in a
36:40
Speaker 1: medicated days and clearly unkempt, and no one had bothered
36:45
Speaker 1: to explain to them why they were there and how
36:48
Speaker 1: it was legal. Julie also said she got the distinct
36:52
Speaker 1: feeling that she was being watched by the staff the
36:55
Speaker 1: whole time she was there. Julie's name, phone number, and
36:58
Speaker 1: address was always clearly posted on her parents refrigerator in
37:02
Speaker 1: their home. It was there the day that April Parks
37:05
Speaker 1: came to their house and took them away, but no
37:08
Speaker 1: one had bothered to call her, Not April Parks, not
37:11
Speaker 1: anyone from the Lakeview Assisted living facility, and not any
37:15
Speaker 1: of the hospice care workers who knew that Julie lived
37:18
Speaker 1: in town in just a few minutes away and was
37:21
Speaker 1: very close with her parents. Rudy and Rennie had not
37:24
Speaker 1: been permitted to bring anything from their home with them
37:26
Speaker 1: except one bag each packed in a rush. Their room
37:30
Speaker 1: at Lakeview Assisted Living Facility was small and looked like
37:33
Speaker 1: a hotel room. There was a landline telephone in the room,
37:37
Speaker 1: but they had not called Julie either, and Julie thinks
37:40
Speaker 1: this is because they didn't want to worry her, and
37:42
Speaker 1: they hoped the whole nightmare would be over soon, they
37:45
Speaker 1: would be returned to their home and everything would be
37:47
Speaker 1: back the way it was now. That did not seem
37:51
Speaker 1: likely when Julian Scott left that day, Julie's first order
37:55
Speaker 1: of business was to find an attorney and get her
37:58
Speaker 1: parents back.
38:00
Speaker 3: I've got to speak to somebody who knows about guardianship.
38:04
Speaker 3: I've got to figure out how to get them out.
38:07
Speaker 3: So it was tuesdays. By Thursday, I was at an
38:09
Speaker 3: attorney's office with my husband getting all the papers.
38:14
Speaker 1: Were they able to explain to you what happened?
38:16
Speaker 3: So they did tell me that April Parks was a private,
38:20
Speaker 3: for profit guardian, that she is within her legal rights,
38:25
Speaker 3: that what happened to my parents happens to elderly people
38:29
Speaker 3: that cannot take care of themselves, disabled people. It could
38:32
Speaker 3: happen to children, could happen to anybody that's vulnerable. Even
38:37
Speaker 3: told me you could fall and hit your head. You
38:39
Speaker 3: go to the hospital and nobody's there, and social workers
38:44
Speaker 3: can come in and put you in a guardianship if
38:47
Speaker 3: you do not have anybody that can care for you.
38:50
Speaker 1: So, can you explain exactly how April Parks was able
38:54
Speaker 1: to legally do this with your parents? Like, did your
38:57
Speaker 1: parents sign something at some point that they didn't realize?
39:00
Speaker 3: So how it's legal in this specific instance is the
39:04
Speaker 3: guardians are getting It's called a mini mental So what
39:08
Speaker 3: happened was with my dad, his pain doctor had signed
39:12
Speaker 3: a form a letter stating that my dad did not
39:15
Speaker 3: know where he was, who he was, did not need
39:17
Speaker 3: to go to court, and needed a guardian. On that
39:21
Speaker 3: same day, a physician assistant came into my parents' home,
39:26
Speaker 3: met my mom for a half hour and declared her
39:29
Speaker 3: incoonfidence and from there, once they have those letters, those
39:36
Speaker 3: letters went to the public guardian. Once the public guardian
39:41
Speaker 3: has a then she distinguishes she's going to take it
39:45
Speaker 3: or she's going to give it to a private guardian,
39:48
Speaker 3: a guardian that has an LLC, a private party. So
39:53
Speaker 3: they decided to give it to April Parks. That's how
39:55
Speaker 3: April Parks got brought Intregut.
39:59
Speaker 1: But as your in this attorney's office just trying to
40:02
Speaker 1: understand how this happened, the basic pieces that you first
40:05
Speaker 1: start to put together are that your dad's doctor has
40:08
Speaker 1: sign a document saying he doesn't know where he is.
40:12
Speaker 1: And then a physician's assistant has come into your mom
40:14
Speaker 1: and they've both signed documents essentially saying that neither of
40:19
Speaker 1: your parents are either physically or mentally fit to be
40:22
Speaker 1: taken care of themselves. This happened about a month before
40:27
Speaker 1: your parents were taken and there's this document you find
40:30
Speaker 1: out about that this same doctor had signed a document
40:35
Speaker 1: saying your dad didn't know where he was and was
40:36
Speaker 1: not mentally fit.
40:38
Speaker 3: Right, he's incapacitated, he and he does not need to
40:42
Speaker 3: go to court. He needs an emergency temporary guardian. I mean,
40:48
Speaker 3: like right away, he cannot take care of himself, he
40:51
Speaker 3: can't take care of his wife.
40:53
Speaker 1: And had your dad had any signs of any of that,
40:57
Speaker 1: just you know, just for the podcast, like, had your
41:00
Speaker 1: dad ever been diagnosed with anything like dementia? Was he
41:03
Speaker 1: having trouble knowing where he was anything like that.
41:06
Speaker 3: Never my dad had one time when I was helping
41:11
Speaker 3: them when my mom had her cancer was full blown.
41:14
Speaker 3: He had a UTI, so it had remnants of the
41:17
Speaker 3: same thing because the white blood cell count was super high,
41:20
Speaker 3: so it had resembled like stroke like things. And then
41:25
Speaker 3: I thought, oh no, my dad's getting on side of dementia.
41:28
Speaker 3: And then we nipped it in the butt, took care
41:31
Speaker 3: of him and he was fine.
41:34
Speaker 2: And that's, by the way, very common for elderly people
41:37
Speaker 2: to experience severe symptoms from a UTI.
41:39
Speaker 3: Absolutely, yeah, even you know, people in their sixties, if
41:43
Speaker 3: they at a UTI.
41:45
Speaker 1: Is very common and very treatable. Julie's father, Rudy, told
41:50
Speaker 1: her he'd seen his doctor a while back and he'd
41:53
Speaker 1: been particularly tired that day. He confided in his doctor
41:57
Speaker 1: that caring for his sick wife had kept him up
42:00
Speaker 1: all night, but at no point did he say that
42:02
Speaker 1: he needed help or that their living situation was unmanageable.
42:07
Speaker 1: What Julie found out later was that after that doctor's visit,
42:11
Speaker 1: his doctor his interness signed a form without his knowledge
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Speaker 1: stating that he needed immediate guardianship and he was mentally
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Speaker 1: unfit so he would not be able to appear in
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Speaker 1: court that this decision needed to be made for him.
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Speaker 1: Rudy had no idea any of this was happening, and
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Speaker 1: he never consented to it. What's very odd is that
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Speaker 1: about one month before Julie's parents were placed into this
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Speaker 1: guardianship without their knowledge or consent, Julie got a phone
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Speaker 1: call from her mother saying that this same doctor Rudy's
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Speaker 1: internesst had just stopped by their house unexpectedly and the
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Speaker 1: visit was very strange.
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Speaker 3: This sacer came to my parents' house about a month
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Speaker 3: before this all happened with her husband unannounced and said,
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Speaker 3: this just so happened to be in the area and
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Speaker 3: they're walking into my parents' house and the husband is
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Speaker 3: looking in my parents' artwork. And I only know this
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Speaker 3: because my mom called me right after they left and
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Speaker 3: said that was so weird. Doctor just keep to her
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Speaker 3: house with her husband and he was like looking at
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Speaker 3: our artwork and like with a microscope and like that
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Speaker 3: was just very strange, like looking for signatures or whatever.
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Speaker 3: They had, you know, a couple of nice pieces of artwork.
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Speaker 1: Wow, So you're finding this out in the attorney's office
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Speaker 1: and it's not adding up to you, because this doesn't
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Speaker 1: seem like a document that should have been signed, like
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Speaker 1: it just wasn't true, like your dad was not actually
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Speaker 1: incapable of speaking for himself or going to court or
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Speaker 1: taking care of himself. And so what do you do
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Speaker 1: with that information?
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Speaker 3: Well, first I take it too my parents, and you know,
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Speaker 3: I let my mom and dad physically see it so
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Speaker 3: they can start to understand what's going on too. But
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Speaker 3: I'm also have to be really careful with them because
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Speaker 3: they're in a fragile state. And again, your dignity is
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Speaker 3: taken away in a matter of minutes. You know, you're
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Speaker 3: out of your house, you're out of your own limit.
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Speaker 3: You know, you're used to your same environment. They didn't
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Speaker 3: even have really that many clothes. So what I did
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Speaker 3: with those papers was I asked the attorney, well originally
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Speaker 3: id you know, asked him if you can help me.
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Speaker 3: I want to get my parents back home. This is wrong,
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Speaker 3: this is wrong. They have made a mistake. They're not incapacitated.
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Speaker 3: And he basically talked to me for a while. He
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Speaker 3: was my grandmother's attorney for a long time, and he
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Speaker 3: told me that he could not take the case. He
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Speaker 3: said that I was going to have to find a
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Speaker 3: really good attorney. I got told this several times by
44:56
Speaker 3: other people. I mean, my dad knew people that had
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Speaker 3: worked in government and prominent people, and so I called
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Speaker 3: everybody and they told me the same thing. You're going
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Speaker 3: to have to get a really good attorney, not an
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Speaker 3: attorney on the corner, you know, a kid. You have
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Speaker 3: to get somebody who really knows what they're doing. And
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Speaker 3: I'm thinking, oh my god, like what is going on here.
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Speaker 1: What Julie was about to find out is that what
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Speaker 1: happened to her parents was not an anomaly. There were
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Speaker 1: many others under the guardianship of April Parks. This was
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Speaker 1: not a mistake. This was intentional, and this was so
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Speaker 1: much bigger than Julie ever could have imagined. She geared
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Speaker 1: herself up for a fight.
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Speaker 2: That's it for part one. We'll be back next week
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Speaker 2: with part two. If you have a story for us,
45:45
Speaker 2: we would love to hear it. Our email is The
45:47
Speaker 2: Knife at exactly rightmedia dot com, or you can follow
45:50
Speaker 2: us on Instagram at the Knife podcast or a Blue
45:52
Speaker 2: Sky at the Knife Podcast.
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Speaker 1: This has been an Exactly Right production hosted and produced
45:57
Speaker 1: by me Hannah Smith and me Patia.
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Speaker 2: Our producers are Tom Bryfogel and Alexis Samarosi.
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Speaker 1: This episode was mixed by Tom Bryfogel.
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Speaker 2: Our associate producer is Christina Chamberlain.
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Speaker 1: Our theme music is by Birds in the Airport.
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Speaker 2: Artwork by Vanessa Lilac.
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Speaker 1: Executive produced by Karen Kilgarriff, Georgia Hardstark, and Danielle Kramer.