Ten years after Boko Haram gunmen abducted his daughter from her school in the Nigerian town of Chibok, Yama Bullum feels as if he has lost her once again.
His daughter, Jinkai Yama, was one of 276 girls kidnapped from the secondary school in the early hours of 14 April 2014 by the Islamist fighters.
Fifty-seven of them escaped shortly afterwards. Then between 2016 and 2018 an additional 108 were either rescued by the military or released through negotiations.
Ninety-one others remain missing, but Ms Yama is one of 20 “Chibok girls” rescued over the last two years from Boko Haram hideouts in Sambisa Forest in north-eastern Borno state, the epicentre of the 15-year insurgency.
But her father has been outraged to discover that like some of other recently freed women, she has decided to remain married to one of the fighters who once held her captive.
These couples now reside in the city of Maiduguri – Borno’s capital, 125km (78 miles) north of the remote town of Chibok – in housing organised by the state’s governor Babagana Umaru Zulum.
“I am not happy with what the governor did. The girls managed to come out of the forest and the governor married them off again. Her mother is very angry,” Mr Bullum said.
L: Jinkai Yama pictured after her release R: When a teenager she was part of the cadettes brigade and in the church brass band [PRNigeria.com/BBC]
He found out when his daughter called him up to tell him last August – and handed over the phone asking him to talk to her husband, the former insurgent.
Until then, Mr Bullum had assumed she was with other freed Chibok captives and her three children in a special welfare programme.
Like a number of other Chibok parents, Mr Bullum is disturbed by what seems to be the Nigerian government’s approval of marriages between their rescued daughters and the men who abducted them.
Allowing the freed women to live with their former captors as wives, while their accommodation is provided by the government, is perceived by the parents as Governor Zulum sacrificing their daughters in the quest for stability in the region.
They see these marriages as a way to appease the former militants.
Most of the girls taken from the Chibok school were Christian.
“”Some people in Chibok are saying: ‘How is it possible after the rescue of the girls they are still remaining in the Muslim faith?'”, Source: Yakubu Nkeki, Source description: Chairman of the Association of Parents of the Missing Girls from Chibok, Image: Yakubu Nkeki
The recent news of the continued “marriages” has further upset parents whose children were forced to convert to Islam during captivity.
“Some people in Chibok are saying: ‘How is it possible after the rescue of the girls they are still remaining in the Muslim faith?'” said Yakubu Nkeki, chairman of the Chibok parents’ association.
The state appears to be grappling with the dilemma of respecting the girls’ wishes while fulfilling the desires of their parents.
“My only interest is that we don’t want these girls to go back to the bush again,” Borno Governor Zulum told me.
“Even before they came out [of the Sambisa Forest], some of them gave us conditions – that they will not come without their husbands.”
Mary Dauda, pictured here just after she was found by the army, said she planned her escape with her militant husband [AFP]
One of these women, Aisha Graema, told me that she would not have left the forest if she could not be with the militant she married two years after being abducted from the Chibok school.
“We have been married for eight years,” said the mother of three.
“I first came out of the forest and then he followed me. There in the bush, we had no relative, no brother, no sister, that is why we decided to come out.
“He finished deradicalisation before we were allowed to stay together. The government welcomed us well, gave us food, shelter, everything.”
Another Chibok girl, Mary Dauda, explained to me that she would not have been able to escape from Sambisa without her husband, who helped her sneak away from the militants’ hideout.
“We had agreed that he would join me afterwards and present himself to the governor for rehabilitation,” said the 27-year-old.
Hajj Camp in Bulumkutu is the main rehabilitation camp for former Boko Haram fighters and their long-term captives, where they are taken directly after their rescue.
After going through weeks of rehabilitation there, the men are reintegrated into society under the government’s ongoing amnesty programme for repentant Boko Haram members. This has so far processed about 160,000 people, according to Mr Zulum.
“They are the ones that insisted that without their husbands, they will not stay in Maiduguri””, Source: Zuwaira Gambo, Source description: Borno state commissioner for women affairs and social development, Image: Zuwaira Gambo
The welfare of the 20 most recently freed Chibok girls falls under the remit of Zuwaira Gambo, the Borno state commissioner for women affairs and social development, who insists the women were in no way coerced into staying with their spouses.
“They are the ones that insisted that without their husbands, they will not stay in Maiduguri,” Ms Gambo said.
“I asked them: ‘How can you want to stay with this man who destroyed your life?’ and they told me: ‘You will not understand.'”
Rather than have the couples return to the forest, she said the authorities sought a different path.
The 20 women – along with 31 children – were moved to a secure facility in an affluent area of Maiduguri. Seven are with their Boko Haram husbands; some of the others are engaged to former fighters they met while in Bulumkutu.
Training is offered to the women in skills like tailoring and computer literacy.
They share a large mansion, surrounded by expansive grounds where they gather on mats beneath trees to chat while their children play in the sand.
The recently freed women share a large house in Maiduguri and often gather outside to socialise, along with their children [Yakubu Nkeki]
Each couple is provided with their own room.
The freed Chibok girls are not alone in wanting to stay with their Boko Haram husbands.
One 16-year-old told me back in 2016 that if she had had a gun, she would have shot the soldiers who came to rescue her from captivity.
Experts attribute this to several factors, including the sense of belonging fostered by being part of the insurgent group, indoctrination into its extremist beliefs, the development of romantic attachments over time and the formation of family bonds, particularly when they have children together.
Additionally, acts of kindness and care, such as showering them with gifts, by their captors may contribute to these feelings.
“These people took the time to convince them that what they had known before was the wrong way,” said Fatima Akilu, a psychologist who has worked with many freed captives taken in their formative years.
The secondary school in Chibok was destroyed by the militants on the infamous night of 14 April 2014 [AFP]
But the situation of the Chibok girls stands out because of the government’s active support for them and their husbands staying together.
Governor Zulum believes this will encourage those still in Sambisa to come out of hiding.
The chair of the Association of Parents of the Missing Girls from Chibok says he finds himself torn between the grievances of the parents and the rights of the young women.
“The girls told me that they can’t do without their husbands,” Mr Nkeki told me.
“Me, myself, I am a freedom fighter and I want them to be free from the Sambisa Forest regardless of the situation they find themselves when they come out, whether Muslim or married or not.”
He recounted being urgently summoned to the childhood home of Saratu Dauda, one of the recently rescued Chibok girls, last year during a heated argument between her and her parents regarding her decision to remain married to her former captor.
“They said: ‘Come and hear what this girl is saying. You were calling for them to be released, yet look at how they are behaving’. I told them it was not her fault, that they have to be patient.”
Aisha Muhammed-Oyebode from the Bring Back Our Girls activist group and head of the Murtala Muhammed Foundation, which supports both the parents and the freed girls, believes that issues like this might have been avoided if the government had been better prepared with comprehensive plans for the girls upon their release.
The Bring Back Our Girls campaign garnered global attention [Reuters]
“Not having a structure around these kinds of situations is what is causing this kind of chaos,” she said.
After the explosive family argument, Ms Dauda cut short her visit to Chibok and returned to Maiduguri. Her father is so upset that he has chosen to no longer participate in the parents’ association or any events commemorating the anniversary of the abductions this year.
This includes the yearly gathering of parents of all the kidnapped schoolgirls, both free and missing, held at the school premises.
Ms Yama is also estranged from her family. Whenever they try to contact her, her husband answers her phone instead.
The 29-year-old has declined to respond to my questions about the situation, telling me that her relationship with her parents is no-one else’s business and how happy she is that her kidnapping led to her finding the “true religion”.
Her clearly distressed father said: “She doesn’t want to have anything to do with us at all.”
Map
Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani is a freelance Nigerian journalist and novelist based in Abuja and London.
A Texas appeals court on Friday upheld a lower court’s injunction blocking the state from investigating parents who provide their transgender children with gender-affirming medical treatments, which Gov. Greg Abbott has called abusive.
Abbott, a Republican, had ordered the state Department of Family Protective Services to carry out child abuse investigations into families whose children were receiving puberty-blocking treatments in February 2022.
A month later, a district court judge imposed a statewide temporary injunction on such investigations, saying the probes endangered children and their families.
The appeals court in Austin upheld the district court judge’s injunction in a pair of rulings on Friday, delivering a victory to LGBTQ groups, medical professionals and civil liberties advocates opposing moves by conservative politicians in dozens of states to criminalize the provision of gender-affirming treatments for trans youth.
“This is a much-needed victory for trans youth and those who love and support them,” the American Civil Liberties Union said on X on Friday.
Representatives for Abbott and the DFPS did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The ACLU and Lambda Legal challenged Abbott’s order on behalf of the family of a 16-year-old transgender girl targeted for investigation.
The child had taken puberty-delaying medications and hormone therapy. Her mother was a DFPS employee and was put on paid administrative leave after asking what Abbott’s directive would mean for her family.
In 2022, the district court judge said the governor’s order could cause “irreparable injury” to families, given the stigma attached to being targets of a child abuse investigation, as well as the loss of livelihood.
Texas restricted gender-affirming care for youth in 2023, making it one of more than a dozen states that currently bars young transgender people from receiving certain puberty-blockers and hormone therapies, according to the Human Rights Campaign.
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Most parents whose children are on tech platforms such as Snapchat and Discord aren’t using parenting tools the companies designed for them, despite rising concerns around online child safety.
Data shared by Discord and Snapchat, both tech platforms favored by teenagers, after the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in January on online child safety shows staggeringly low rates of adoption of platform-provided tools for parents to monitor their children’s social media activity.
On both platforms, fewer than 1% of minors have parents who use tools to monitor them.
During the congressional hearings, the CEOs of some of the biggest social media companies were grilled about the issue of child sexual exploitation on their platforms. Written follow-up questions from various senators were then submitted to each platform, and those platforms sent their responses to the Judiciary Committee in late March.
In their lengthy responses, Discord and Snapchat disclosed how many parents are using their parenting tools. X does not have parenting tools, while TikTok and Meta did not provide detailed data about the use of their parenting tools.
Discord CEO Jason Citron noted that out of more than 150 million global users — with approximately 2.7 million monthly active users under age 18 in the U.S. alone — only 15,000 parents are connected to 15,500 children’s accounts through the Discord Family Center. That means less than 1% of underage Discord users have a parent monitoring their account with the platform’s tools.
Most of the social media platforms called in front of Congress have resources called “parent centers” or “family centers.” These digital centers offer guides and tools to help parents monitor and even control the ability of their children to access certain content or features within each platform. The tools involve syncing a parent’s account with their child’s account. The only platform that doesn’t offer parent-child account syncing is X, formerly called Twitter.
Discord launched its family center in the summer of 2023, soon after NBC News reported an “explosive growth” in child sexual exploitation cases involving the platform. The family center, according to the Senate documents, allows parents to receive insights about the Discord communities and servers that their teen children have joined, the online friends they’ve chatted with on the platform and the amount of time their children spend on it weekly.
Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel wrote that, out of 60 million global daily active users under the age of 18, only 200,000 parents are linked to 400,000 teens’ accounts using Snapchat’s family center. That’s slightly better than Discord’s rate of adoption, but still less than 1% of underage Snapchat users are being monitored by their parents with Snapchat’s tools.
Similar to Discord’s family center, the Snapchat family center allows parents to view and manage how their children are using the platform on a weekly basis, including whether and if they can chat with Snapchat’s “My AI” artificial intelligence chatbot.
Parent and family centers have been some of the favored solutions of social media platforms to escalating concerns about child safety. Many lawmakers and parents have pushed for harder regulation of social media platforms that would force the companies to limit capabilities for minors or set default settings for minors as more restrictive. Despite the existence of parental control tools, parents have complained that children can oftentimes sidestep or circumnavigate them.
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DAJABÓN, Dominican Republic — Kelvin Vensy sits for hours on end on a metal barricade that separates Haiti from the Dominican Republic, holding on to a cardboard box with wax candles.
“Two candles for 15 pesos,” Kelvin, 13, shouts in creole over and over, as people rush by.
Kelvin said he takes every cent he makes to his single mother in the border town of Ouanaminthe in Haiti. She and Kelvin’s 10-year-old brother and 14-year-old sister are also street vendors.
“I try to go to school Monday through Thursday,” he said. On Fridays, he works all day at the market.
Kelvin Vensy. Erika Angulo
The 13-year-old is one of many Haitian children working in this binational marketplace, selling items in order to support their families. Last year, before the violence escalated, UNICEF estimated that 4 million children needed humanitarian assistance in Haiti.
Between family needs and minimal safety to attend schools throughout Port-au-Prince, many parents are scrambling to ensure that their children not only stay out of direct harm, but also continue their education amid the ongoing strife caused by violent groups.
More than 500,000 children had lost access to education as of 2022, UNICEF said last year. Nearly 1,700 schools have been closed in Port-au-Prince since gang violence increased in April 2022, according to the Ministry of National Education and Vocational Training.
“No child can go to school while bullets are flying in the air, it is dangerous and it should not be,” said Bruno Maes, a UNICEF representative in Haiti. Some schools have turned into shelters for the 377,000 people estimated to have been displaced across the country in recent years, including 15,000 more displaced since February.
Danielle Nesly, 41, and her husband, Pierre Nesly, 47, said they and their two daughters left their home in Port-au-Prince for the northern part of the country, in Cap-Haitien. But the fear of gang violence spreading and the deterioration of the country’s economy prompted them to flee to the Dominican Republic.
Danielle and Ruth Nesly. Erika Angulo
It took them two years to get work permits and the required documents to get the children in school. The girls are now 14 and 5. They speak creole at home but are learning Spanish and trying to fit in.
“It was too difficult living there,” Danielle said. “This is still difficult, but better.”
In an effort to control gang violence, the 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew in Port-au-Prince has been extended until Tuesday March 26. Haitian Finance Minister Michel Patricio Boisvert announced said the extension of the curfew has the goal of “re-establishing order and taking measures to control the situation.”
Boisvert has been acting as the highest government official in Haiti since gangs prevented Prime Minister Ariel Henry from landing in Port-au-Prince after a February trip to Kenya.
If you or someone you know may be experiencing a mental health crisis, contact the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by dialing “988,” or the Crisis Text Line by texting “HOME” to 741741.
After her teenage daughter attempted suicide and began to cycle through emergency rooms and mental health programs during the past three years, Sarah Delarosa noticed her own health also declined.
She suffered from mini strokes and stomach bleeding, the mother of four in Corpus Christi, Texas, said. To make things worse, her daughter’s failing behavioral and mental health caused Delarosa to miss hours from her job as a home health aide, losing out on income needed to support her family.
“Access to help, when it’s needed, it’s not available,” said Delarosa, about the hopelessness she felt as she sought support for Amanda, 16, who has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, oppositional defiant disorder, and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Amanda has at times lashed out in anger or shattered light bulbs and used the broken glass to cut herself.
Delarosa often feels overwhelmed, and she has noticed her youngest son acting out. “Now we have a whole family that needs help,” she said.
A national shortage of mental health care providers, and the search for affordable care, has exacerbated strain on parents, often the primary caregivers who maintain the health and well-being of their children. Their day-to-day struggle has led to its own health crisis, say psychologists, researchers, and advocates for families.
As parents navigate the mental health care system’s shortcomings, stress can start to take a physical and mental health toll that disrupts their ability to continue providing care, said Christine Crawford, the associate medical director at the National Alliance on Mental Illness, an advocacy group that helps families find care. Parents pour their energy into helping their kids, often at the expense of their own health, Crawford said.
“When you are worrying about whether or not your child is going to survive the day, you are constantly living on edge,” she said. “Your fight-or-flight is constantly activated.”
And the number of parents in crisis is greater than it seems.
Recent reports from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the surgeon general’s office, and medical providers all show an alarming number of kids in the U.S. are experiencing severe mental health challenges. About 40% of U.S. parents with children younger than 18 say they are extremely or very worried their children might struggle with anxiety or depression at some point, according to a January study from the Pew Research Center.
Evidence-based therapies to address a child’s mental health should include the parents, say researchers and pediatric mental health specialists. But the focus on the adult caregivers and their anxiety and stress too often falls short. For example, parent-child interaction therapy coaches parents to manage their young child’s behavior to prevent more severe problems in the child later on. While this may help the child, it doesn’t directly support the parent’s health.
“I have so many parents sit across from me on the couch and cry,” said Danielle Martinez, a behavioral health specialist at Driscoll Children’s Hospital in Corpus Christi. The hospital is creating peer support groups, to launch by the fall, for family members whose children are under the facility’s care.
“They felt so alone, felt like bad parents, felt like giving up,” Martinez said, “and then felt guilty for wanting to give up.”
When the parent’s mental and physical health deteriorates, it complicates their ability to prevent the child’s condition from getting worse, said Mary Ann McCabe, a member of the board of directors at the American Psychological Association, an associate clinical professor of pediatrics at the George Washington University School of Medicine, and a psychologist in independent clinical practice. Parents are a kid’s most important resource and need to be a concern, she said.
Delarosa said many residential treatment centers cited a shortage of providers in refusing to admit her daughter. Amanda, who is covered through Medicaid, would be on weeks-long waiting lists while she “spiraled out of control,” running away from home and disappearing for days, said her mom.
In April, Amanda was admitted to an inpatient residential treatment facility nearly 200 miles away, in San Marcos, Texas. With Amanda away, Delarosa said, she had a “chance to breathe,” but the reprieve would be temporary. She wants to see a therapist but hasn’t had time amid the demands of caring for Amanda and her youngest child, a son. Before Amanda left for treatment, her 7-year-old brother started cussing, throwing and breaking objects in the home, and saying things like he wished he weren’t alive, though his behaviors settled down while his sister was away.
Other parents also said they are feeling the strain on their mental and physical health.
“The children are in crisis. But the families are also in crisis,” said Robin Gurwitch, a professor in psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Duke University. “They are struggling to figure out how best to help their children in a system that doesn’t come with a manual.”
Brandon Masters, a middle school principal in San Antonio, developed a rash on the back of his arms and neck last year that he says his doctor told him was connected to stress.
Brandon Masters at his home in San Antonio. Masters spent about $22,000 last year caring for his teenage son Braylon, who has bipolar disorder. When Masters developed a rash on the back of his arms and neck last year, his doctor told him it was connected to stress.
Lisa Krantz for KFF Health News
Even though he is insured through his job, Masters estimates he paid about $22,000 last year on care for his teenage son Braylon, who spent 60 days in residential treatment centers in Texas and California following a diagnosis of bipolar disorder. Braylon spent an additional month in juvenile detention later in 2022 after he bit his dad and brandished a knife. So far this year, Braylon, now 17, has attempted suicide twice, but Masters has been unable to find a residential treatment center he can afford and that will admit Braylon.
“There is this huge wave of anxiety that comes over me that makes it difficult to be around him,” Masters said.
Anne Grady’s 20-year-old son has autism, severe mood disorder, developmental delays, and other conditions. For nearly 17 years he has been on a Texas waiting list to receive full-time care.
Grady, who lives in a suburb of Austin, Texas, developed a tumor in her salivary glands and temporary facial paralysis, which added to the stress she faced navigating care for her son.
“It’s mentally exhausting for families,” Grady said. The lack of care is “punishing the kids and punishing for families,” she said.
Medicaid is the state-federal program that pays medical and other health-related bills for low-income and disabled people. Yet while many state Medicaid programs pay for family therapy and parenting programs, they don’t address the parent as an individual patient affected by their child’s health under a child’s plan, said Elisabeth Burak, a senior fellow at Georgetown University’s Center for Children and Families. Parents who live in one of the 10 states that haven’t expanded Medicaid, including Texas, face an additional challenge getting care for their own mental health.
Still, states are starting to recognize that caregivers need more support. Many states allow Medicaid to cover services from certified family peer specialists or navigators, who have experience raising a child with mental illness and additional training to guide other families. In July, California awarded money to support parents as part of a child mental health initiative.
“The most important thing that we should give families is a sense of hope that things will get better,” said Gurwitch. Instead, the lack of quality mental health care services for youth exacerbates their risk for illnesses. Without appropriate help, these conditions follow a child — and their parents — for years, she said.
With Amanda returning home from the residential treatment program this month, Delarosa worries she won’t be equipped to manage her daughter’s bouts of depression.
“It’s the same thing over and over, nonstop,” Delarosa said. “I have driven myself crazy.”
When Grady’s son turned 18, she acquired continued guardianship so she could continue arranging his care outside their home. “I love him more than anything in the world, but I can’t protect him,” she said.
Masters, whose skin conditions have worsened, is just trying to get Braylon through his final year of high school, which starts this month. He’s also renewing his search for a residential treatment center, because Braylon’s negative behaviors have escalated.
“When they are born, you have all these dreams for your kids,” said Masters. Instead, health professionals who have cared for Braylon told Masters, he needs to be prepared to look after his son even after he finishes high school. “No parent wants to hear that,” he said.
KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF — the independent source for health policy research, polling, and journalism.
This story originally aired on Nov. 5, 2022. It was updated on Aug. 5, 2023.
Bart and Krista Halderson had everything a couple could want: a beautiful home in Windsor, Wisconsin, and two sons they adored. Mitchell, 24, who worked in tech, Chandler, 23, a college student living at home.
Chandler had big ambitions – he talked of getting his IT degree, of his promising internship at an insurance company, and was especially excited about a new job he landed at Space X—founded by one of the richest people in the world, Elon Musk.
Bart and Krista Halderson
Dane County Sheriff’s Office
Everything seemed to be going well for the Haldersons. So, on Friday morning, July 2, whenKrista just didn’t show up at the office, Daniel Kroninger remembers becoming concerned.
Erin Moriarty: How unusual was it for, number one, for Krista not to show up for work, not to call and just not show up? How unusual?
Daniel Kroninger: Extremely unusual.
Kroninger and Krista not only worked together, but they were also close friends.
Daniel Kroninger: So, when she hadn’t said anything to me, I was like, “we’ll that’s kinda weird” you know … It wasn’t something that she would ever do.
Kroninger says he texted and called her several times but got no response. Later that afternoon, he and his girlfriend drove over to the Halderson home. A neighbor’s security camera shows them arriving.
Daniel Kroninger: You know, knocked on the door, didn’t hear anything … peered through the window. The only thing that seemed weird was there was a coffee table on its side. … you look through the door it was kinda off to the right over by … they had a fireplace over there.
Then, Kroninger says, he walked over to the garage window.
Daniel Kroninger: I looked in. Both cars were there. And I was like, “what?” You know, why are both cars here? And I was starting to go around the back of the house, and then Chandler came out the side door … and he came out in a towel saying, “Oh, I just got outta the shower,” you know, “hey what’s goin’ on?” I was like, “we’re just looking for Bart and Krista.” And he said, “Oh yeah, they went … had to go up north this morning for an emergency up at the cabin.”
Kroninger says he was relieved to know that Bart and Krista were at the family cabin. Over the holiday weekend, he kept in touch with Chandler to see if he had heard from his mom and dad.
Daniel Kroninger: He said, “yeah, they don’t have very good service up there so you kinda have to wait till the clouds clear before they get a message.”
On Sunday July 4, Kroninger says Chandler called him and said he was “bored and needed something to do.” So, Dan invited him over to watch the fireworks and asked Chandler about his parents.
Daniel Kroninger: He mentioned that he talked to them and they’re gonna be back Monday.
Erin Moriarty: When he said that he talked to them, did he say, he talked to both his parents or just his mom? What did he say? Do you remember?
Daniel Kroninger: I don’t think he was specific … I mean, I was asking about his mom because I knew she had a doctor’s appointment coming up that she was really, really wanted to be at. I think it had been rescheduled before.
But Krista didn’t show up for work on Monday and again on Tuesday. By Wednesday July 7, when there was still no word. Dan knew something was wrong.
Daniel Kroninger: And now she’s missed her appointment
Erin Moriarty: So, now it’s all out concern.
Daniel Kroninger: Right.
Erin Moriarty: You know something’s happened to her now.
Daniel Kroninger: Right, right.
Kroninger pushed Chandler to file a missing person’s report that morning.
Det. Sabrina Sims: Chandler Halderson walked into one of our precincts to report his parents missing.
Detectives Sabrina Sims and Brian Shunk with the Dane County Sheriff’s Office would lead the team to track down the missing couple.
Det. Brian Shunk: We had a lot of detectives assisting us with the caseload.
Their first stop: the Halderson home on Oak Spring Circle Drive
Erin Moriarty: So, when you first got there, who was home?
Det. Brian Shunk: It was just Chandler.
Det. Sabrina Sims: We’re inside the house with him and detectives are getting information outside and so we’re either getting phone calls or text messages of you know “hey, maybe ask about this.” We’re walking around the house with him. He’s pointing out things at the house, things that were missing that his parents took when they traveled to the cabin.
While deputies began interviewing neighbors and friends, Barbi Townsend, Krista’s first cousin, who lives in southern California, knew only what she had seen on the news: that the Halderson’s 23-year-old son Chandler had gone to the police telling them his parents were missing.
Barbi Townsend: What does that mean? What does missing mean? And that they had gone up to our cabin … the family cottage and didn’t return.
Bart and Krista had not mentioned to coworkers, or their older son Mitchell, that they’d been planning to go to the cabin that weekend. But according to Chandler, another couple, who he didn’t know, picked up his parents and drove them there.
The cabin was a remote, rustic lakeside retreat, and a treasured family heirloom. Barbi and Krista’s grandparents built it in the 1940s.
Barbi Townsend: You know, you start to think of crazy things cause our cabin’s up in the woods … and so we were worried are they being held hostage somewhere? … Are they tied up somewhere?
The day after Chandler reported them missing, his brother Mitchell and his fiancée drove three hours up north to see if he could find any sign of his parents.
Barbi Townsend: Why would they not call? Why wouldn’t there be a text or something?
Barbi Townsend: Your mind starts to go down really murky trails because you are trying to figure out what’s going on.
OFFICER (body cam): Hi there.
MITCHELL HALDERSON’S FIANCÉE: Hi there.
OFFICER: Are you guys uh …
MITCHELL HALDERSON’S FIANCÉE: The Haldersons.
OFFICER: You — OK you are affiliated with them?
MITCHELL HALDERSON’S FIANCÉE: Yes.
OFFICER: OK, maybe we could just take a walk around and see, you would know the property probably better than we would.
The police met Mitchell and his fiancée at the cabin — prepared for the worst.
SEARCHING FOR KRISTA AND BART
When the Haldersons disappeared, it stunned everyone who knew them. Barbi Townsend said neither her cousin Krista nor her husband Bart would just leave on a whim
Barbi Townsend: He was more structured. She was more nurturing – you know, indulging mom. It was a wonderful combination.
She worked as a customer service representative for an auto body shop and loved art projects. He was a managing director for an international accounting firm and enjoyed woodworking.
Barbi Townsend: They were 100 percent about family … and very involved in the scouting.
Chandler, left, Bart, and Mitchell Halderson on Father’s Day 2021.
Haldersons were together on Father’s Day in June 2021, less than a month before Bart disappeared. In a photo taken that day, Mitchell is smiling and Chandler, who had a mild concussion from a fall, is wearing a neck brace.
Investigators, anxious to find out what had happened to Bart and Krista Halderson, asked deputies from the Langlade County Sheriff’s Office to help Mitchell, who brought along his fiancée, search the family’s cabin – a three-hour drive north of the family home.
When they got inside, it was dark. There were no signs of Krista and Bart. They also checked a shed; the canoe was there. It was obvious. No one had been to the cabin in a very long time.
OFFICER (body cam): They’re believed to be with another couple?
MITCHELL HALDERSON: Someone else at least.
OFFICER: OK.
When Mitchell was with the police searching the family’s cabin, Chandler was on his own hunt throughout the neighborhood.
He is seen on video doorbell cameras going door to door asking homeowners if they had seen or heard from his parents.
As detectives began investigating Bart and Krista’s mysterious disappearance, Chandler Halderson knocked on neighbors’ doors asking if they’d seen or heard from his parents.
Dane County Sheriff’s Office
CHANDLER HALDERSON (doorbell camera video): It’s kinda difficult to track them down.
Reporter Adam Duxter, now with CBS station WCCO in Minneapolis, worked in Madison, Wisconsin, at the time. He immediately started calling his sources.
Adam Duxter: So, we’re waiting to hear back from the sheriff’s office, and my boss at the time, he was like, “Well you can’t just sit around, you gotta go start shooting something” … and so … packed my gear in my car and drove out to their street in Windsor.
He knocked on the Halderson’s front door. The missing couple’s son Chandler answered.
Adam Duxter: And, so, I’m like, “If you’d be willing … I’d love to do a quick interview” … And he was like, “Yeah, I’ll do that. … but I don’t want you got film me. I don’t want to be shown, but you can record my voice.”
CHANDLER HALDERSON INTERVIEW AUDIO: So, my last message I got from them, they were going to White Lake for the Fourth of July … Other than that, their plan or from to my knowledge they were going to Langlade County to a cabin, their cabin …
Adam Duxter: At the time, I got the sense that he was in shock … This is someone who is roughly my age … And so, I’m thinking like, “Yeah, if my parents just went missing” – he probably hasn’t slept, he’s probably really nervous.
Alex Gravatt knew Chandler well.
Alex Gravatt: I was roommates with Chandler for a little while. … I called him Chaz.
The two friends shared an apartment from 2019 to 2020.
AlexGravatt: We grew up together and we played soccer together, did cub scouts together, and just hung out together. … he was a great swimmer, so I know that the swim team really got along with him.
Gravatt says his friend Chandler, who went by the name “Chaz,” could be a playful guy.
Alex Gravatt: He was a goon, a hooligan in a lot of — in a lot of senses.
Erin Moriarty: What do you mean by that?
Alex Gravatt: Yeah, I mean, so he would play pranks and … he would make lots of jokes or poke fun at people.
Gravatt described “Chaz” as popular with women. College student Cathryn Mellender, known as “Cat,” was his longtime girlfriend.
Alex Gravatt: He was a relatively attractive guy. … I mean he looked good. He had great hair. He kept up on appearances.
According to Gravatt, when they were roommates, “Chaz” often bragged to friends about “hooking up” with different women behind Cat’s back. When she found out about it —
Alex Gravatt: She grilled him. She was like “are you seeing other people?” … and he just kept denying it.
But Mellender remained suspicious and began tracking her boyfriend on social media. Gravatt says Chaz became more secretive and moved back home with his parents. And now those parents were missing. Detectives Shunk and Sims began follow-up interviews.
Det. Sabrina Sims: At that point, you know, what do we really have? We don’t know what we have.
Then they got a tip they desperately needed from the owner of a farm outside town.
Det. Sabrina Sims: We received information … from someone that, “yes … Chandler has been out to my property over the Fourth of July weekend.”
The owner was a friend of Chandler’s girlfriend Cat Mellender. The owner said she was with the couple at her farm on July 4. She told deputies she was surprised to see Chandler again, the very next day, and this time he was alone.
Det. Sabrina Sims: You know, and I saw him coming from the wood line. His car was parked backed up to the field. … So, of course right from that interview, we want to go search that property.
As deputies began searching, detectives wanted to know why Chandler had never mentioned he’d gone back to the farm by himself. Police picked Chandler up and took him to the station.
Detective Brian Shunk asked him to once again describe the last time he had seen his parents.
CHANDLER HALDERSON: It’s Thursday morning. I wake up.
DET. BRIAN SHUNK: What time do you think?
CHANDLER HALDERSON: Six.
Chandler said his dad Bart was at home working, and that later he had dinner with both his parents.
CHANDLER HALDERSON: That’s where they told me, while they were eating it … they were gonna go with their friends, and I was like, “Oh, cool.”
DET. BRIAN SHUNK: And they had said they were going to the cabin.
CHANDLER HALDERSON: Well, “we’re going up north.”
While detectives questioned Chandler, deputies were out searching the farm and made a discovery that quickly changed the tone of the interview.
The police interview lasted about two hours. Chandler Halderson told detectives his parents had gone to the cabin to take care of a plumbing emergency and that he helped them pack tools for the repairs.
Dane County Sheriff’s Office
DET. HENDRICKSON: Listen to me. This is the only chance you’re gonna have to tell us the truth. OK? … What we, listen, listen — I can’t tell you what we know, but we know you’re not telling us the truth … you need to tell the truth.
CHANDLER HALDERSON: There’s — (sighs)
DET. HENDRICKSON: Listen, listen, you need to tell the truth about what happened. And just tell us why it happened. I’m not B.S.in’ you, OK? So, can we do that?
CHANDLER HALDERSON: OK … yeah, OK. Lawyer.
Chandler’s request for a lawyer ended that interview. Detective Sims remembers the moment she learned what deputies told her they had found near that field.
Det. Sabrina Sims: You know, Brian and I were in the command post together … And I said, “What did you say?” You know I just couldn’t believe what I was hearing.
They had discovered human remains.
A DISTURBING DISCOVERY
On Thursday, July 8, 2021, in the village of Windsor, Wisconsin, the community struggled to make sense of the disturbing news.
The remains of an adult male had been found on a farm 20 miles from Bart and Krista Halderson’s home.
SHERIFF KALVIN BARRETT (to reporters): At this point, it’s very early in our investigation. I don’t want to make any uncorroborated speculations at this time.
Dane County Sheriff Kalvin Barrett warned residents not to jump to conclusions.
The gruesome discovery was made the day after Bart and Krista had been reported missing by their son, and it was something detectives Brian Shunk and Sabrina Sims had never encountered.
Det. Sabrina Sims: The grass had been matted down. And they followed it to a trail which led to the discovery of a male torso that was concealed with sticks and twigs.
Erin Moriarty: That was really the moment, right?
Det. Brian Shunk: It was huge.
Det. Sabrina Sims: I think of other death investigations or homicide cases we’ve worked and, I don’t remember a time that I’ve worked a dismemberment case.
Erin Moriarty: And what other evidence was found out there?
Det. Sabrina Sims: We found some cutting instruments that were hidden in an old oil drum … some scissors, pruning shears – a broken bow saw.
An inside look at the Chandler Halderson case
20 photos
And it was all in the same wooded area where the Halderson’s son, Chandler, had been seen earlier in the week. Detective Sims had a pretty good idea who the victim was.
Det. Sabrina Sims: Knowing in my gut that that was most likely Bart Halderson, and his son was seen in that area …
Police turned their full attention to Chandler Halderson; he was now a person of interest and the prime suspect. While tests were being done to confirm the victim’s identity, detectives arrested Chandler and charged him with lying to them.
SHERIFF KALVIN BARRETT (to reporters): The arrest was based on him providing false information in regards to a missing person.
Erin Moriarty: What did you think? They arrested him … for giving false information about a missing person.
Barbi Townsend | Krista Halderson’s cousin: That was the first day that I started to suspect foul play from their — from their own son.
Alex Gravatt: I checked my phone … and I saw that — that he had been arrested … and it was pretty wild.
Alex Gravatt, his childhood friend, learned about it on social media.
Alex Gravatt: My eyes got wide, I kinda just sat there for a second reading it … my first thought was if he’s being arrested for giving misinformation to the police … I didn’t think that there was really much chance that he wasn’t involved somehow.
But there’s someone who had a hard time imaging Chandler was involved – his girlfriend Cat Mellender. She spoke to police just before his arrest.
DETECTIVE: You don’t think he had anything to do with his mom and dad being unheard from?
CAT MELLENDER: No. I just — no. … that’d be crazy. … but I just don’t see him killing Mr. and Mrs. Halderson. Like, he had SpaceX. Like, why would he jeopardize something he, like, would dream of, you know? Like, they’re his parents. For Christmas, they got him and his brother matching tool sets. Like, come on.
DETECTIVE: OK.
CAT MELLENDER: He cooks dinner for them. They have root beer floats together. They play Mario Kart whenever his parents want to.
But, on Saturday July 10, 2021, the victim found in the woods was identified as Bart Halderson.
Det. Sabrina Sims: It just changed everything, like that moment changed everything …
Preliminary autopsy results would reveal Bart had been shot at least two times in the back. And there was still the troubling question: where was Krista?
SHERIFF KALVIN BARRETT (to reporters): Krista Halderson remains a missing person and we continue to ask for citizen involvement.
Krista’s co-worker Dan Kroninger ran through all the different possibilities.
Erin Moriarty: Did you at that moment … wonder, like, maybe Krista was involved in this too?
Dan Kroninger: It had definitely crossed my mind … you start to wonder, “well, why is Chandler lying? Is he covering for himself is or he covering for perhaps his mother? Is she involved?”
But the more investigators looked, it seemed the only person Chandler Halderson was covering for was himself.
Det. Sabrina Sims: You know, he just lied to everybody.
And in his lies, police started to believe they found a motive for murder. For months he’d been telling everyone, including his childhood friend, Alex Gravatt, that he was enrolled at Madison College during the 2021 spring semester.
Erin Moriarty: Did you have any idea he had flunked out?
Alex Gravatt: No.
Erin Moriarty: He didn’t tell you?
Alex Gravatt: No, it was surprising.
Detectives believe his parents had no idea he wasn’t in school. They say when his parents questioned him about his transcripts, the computer savvy Chandler Halderson crafted a chain of emails that seemed to come from the college.
Investigators say Chandler Halderson had made up a series of fake e-mails to make his parents believe he was still enrolled in school.
Dane County Clerk of Courts
Det. Sabrina Sims: Chandler creates people that work for Madison College and communicates via email with them. You know, Bart’s on some of them as well, talking to who he believes is employees of the school.
Erin Moriarty: And do any of those people actually exist?
Det. Sabrina Sims: No.
In June 2021, Bart Halderson called Madison College, pretending to be Chandler, and got an answer he wasn’t expecting:
MADISON COLLEGE OFFICIAL (phone call audio): I don’t see that you were admitted in any program
BART HALDERSON: you said there, the IT degree is in there, right?
MADISON COLLEGE OFFICIAL: No, those are just classes … You might have just took the classes but not be in the program.
Bart learned that not only had his son been lying about that IT degree, but there was no internship with an insurance company, either. And remember that big job with SpaceX? It turns out that was just another elaborate lie.
Barbi Townsend: The delusional reality that he concocted … that is shocking to me.
According to detectives, Bart was planning to meet at the college with his son on Thursday July 1. Around 2 p.m. Bart, who was working from home, sent his son this text: “I’m ready whenever you are.”
That text is believed to be the last message Bart sent.
Seven days later, Bart’s remains were found. Investigators got a search warrant for the Halderson home. No weapon was found there, but a shell casing was discovered in the basement, and several areas inside the house tested positive for blood.
SHERIFF KALVIN BARRETT (to reporters): Chandler middle initial, M, last name Halderson, age 23 of Windsor, is now being charged with first-degree homicide, hiding a corpse, and mutilating a corpse.
Chandler Halderson was charged with his father’s murder and with dismembering and hiding a body.
Dane County Jail Records
On July 15, 2021, Chandler Halderson was formally charged with his father’s murder.
SHERIFF KALVIN BARRETT (to reporters): Chandler is currently being held in the Dane County Jail.
Barbi Townsend: I mean I don’t know what else to say … How could you do that to your father?
But where was his mother, Krista? Chandler Halderson had lawyered up and wasn’t talking, but someone very close to him was.
Det. Sabrina Sims: She had communicated with him that whole weekend.
That loyal girlfriend, Cat Mellender, had a potentially damning piece of evidence about her boyfriend on the social media app Snapchat.
Det. Sabrina Sims: She actually consented to a download … of her phone.
Erin Moriarty: So that was a breakthrough.
Det. Sabrina Sims: (nods her head yes to affirm)
THE SNAPCHAT CLUE
Chandler Halderson was charged with his father’s murder, but his mother’s whereabouts were still unknown. Lead detectives Sabrina Sims and Brian Shunk knew if Krista was alive, they needed to find her fast.
Det. Brian Shunk: At that point, we were hoping for the best … it was one of those things we just needed to push on.
Detectives turned to Chandler’s girlfriend for help. She had given them permission to download information from her phone.
Det. Sabrina Sims: Chandler had lied to her before and had cheated on her before. And so she — you know, would track his location.
Cat Mellender had convinced Chandler to let her track his movements using Snapchat — the popular social media app which allows users to send messages and share their location in real time.
Det. Sabrina Sims: And that was an agreement that … “Yes, you will have your locations on so I can see where you are going…”
Detectives were most intrigued by messages posted early on the morning of July 1, the day Chandler Halderson and his father were supposed to meet with Madison College officials. Chandler Halderson, whose online name was “chazzzledazl, messaged Mellender at 7:30 a.m.
chazzzledazl: I hardly slept
Cat: I’m sorry b. Why?
chazzzledazl: Idk stuff hasn’t really been going well for me lately so I’m tryna plan for the next thing to f*** me over
Cat: B it’s gonna be okay
chazzzledazl: Yeah I just had a great future planned and it’s falling apart
According to detectives, the tone of those messages worried Cat. So, two days later when Cat checks Snapchat and noticed her boyfriend’s avatar — “Hubby” on her screen—indicated that he was nearly 25 miles from home – Cat saved the image to her phone.
A screenshot of Cat Mellender’s Snapchat app, showing her boyfriend Chandler Halderson’s avatar — “Hubby” on her screen — at a remote location near the Wisconsin River days after his parents went missing.
Dane County Clerk of Courts
Det. Sabrina Sims: It was a Snapchat screen shot of Chandler … almost nine in the morning out by the Wisconsin River.
Detectives Sims and Shunk took “48 Hours” to that location on the river where they had hoped to find Krista.
Erin Moriarty: So where are we exactly? What would you call this area?
Det. Brian Shunk: It’s the Wisconsin State Lower Riverway.
This photo of Chandler holding a knife was taken near the Wisconsin River a year earlier.
Dane County Clerk of Courts
And it’s a familiar place to the former high school swimmer Chandler Halderson — close to his favorite swimming hole where he was photographed a year earlier, holding a large knife.
Law enforcement throughout Dane County searched the wooded area.
Erin Moriarty: And how long was he here?
Det. Brian Shunk: Forty-five minutes, I believe.
Det. Brian Shunk: And just keep in mind, in July … it was definitely far thicker than what you’re seeing here now.
Still no sign of Krista Halderson, but search teams refused to give up.
Det. Sabrina Sims: “Let’s go hit one more area” and that was where they ended up discovering the remains.
Erin Moriarty: And what exactly did they find there?
Det. Brian Shunk: They ended up findin’ two legs – cut into different sections.
The remains of Bart Halderson were discovered at a farm located about 20 miles away from the Halderson home. Krista’s remains were found in a remote area near the Wisconsin River.
Maria Falconer
DNA tests confirmed it was Krista Halderson. The concerned son who had reported his mom and dad missing was now charged with both of their murders. Krista’s cousins were horrified.
Barbi Townsend: You couldn’t write this. … it just wasn’t anything that you could possibly come up with in your head.
Erin Moriarty: How do you make sense of it?
Barbi Townsend: We don’t. And that’s the hard part. We don’t have a why.
In January of 2022, at the Dane County Courthouse, Chandler Halderson went on trial for the murder of his parents. He was also facing charges for lying to the police and for mutilating and hiding their bodies.
ADA WILLIAM BROWN: Our job is to, over the course of the next couple of weeks, present evidence to show you the path of what we believed happened –
ADA WILLIAM BROWN: That Chandler Halderson killed his parents, dismembered their bodies and hid them around southern Wisconsin.
In January 2022, Chandler Halderson went on trial for the murder of his parents. He was also facing charges for lying to the police and for mutilating and hiding their bodies.
WISC
Prosecutors laid out a motive. They say Chandler murdered his parents when his lies were about to be exposed and that for months, he had been trying to hide the truth from them.
Among the evidence: those fake e-mail accounts he created.
ADA ANDREA RAYMOND (in court): No one uses a Gmail account as their official Madison College email?
KATE JOCHIMSEN | MADISON COLLEGE: No.
And his fictious internship with an insurance company
LORI SNAPP | AMERICAN FAMILY INSURANCE (in court): I found no record of that person working for American Family.
Investigators believe the murder weapon was a semi-automatic rifle that had been hidden in a barn at that farm where Bart’s remains were discovered.
The rifle came from Andrew Smith, who testified that he was in the military when he met Halderson online.
ANDREW SMITH (in court): Playing video games, while stationed in Germany, sir.
Halderson had wanted a gun. Smith testified he had no idea what Halderson wanted to do with the weapon, and in June 2021, he gave him that semi-automatic rifle as a gift — and nearly 480 rounds of ammunition.
ANDREW SMITH:I’m going to give it to someone who might actually appreciate this weapon and take care of it.
ADA WILLIAM BROWN: How did Chandler react when you gave him the gun?
ANDREW SMITH: Oh, he was happy.
ADA WILLIAM BROWN: How did you know he was happy … how do you know that?
ANDREW SMITH: Because he had a big smile on his face when I had given it to him as a gift..
But the most anticipated witness in this trial would be Halderson’s girlfriend who gave police that Snapchat screen shot.
ATTORNEY: What is that?
CAT MELLENDER: Screenshot of Chandler by the Wisconsin River.
A JURY DECIDES
For three hours, Cat Mellender, sat on the stand telling the jury about the young man she thought she knew: Chandler Halderson.
ADA WILLIAM BROWN: Did you go on a lot of dates together?
CAT MELLENDER: Yeah, we would grab dinners, um have movie dates … just sit at home and watch movies, go on walks quite often.
Mellender told the jury that she was working on July 1, when authorities believe the murders happened, and didn’t see her boyfriend in person that day.
ADA WILLIAM BROWN: You weren’t with him?
CAT MELLENDER: I was not with him.
ADA WILLIAM BROWN: Did you know that Bart and Krista Halderson had died?
CAT MELLENDER: No (cries).
According to investigators, Chandler asked Mellender to bring a few cleaning supplies to his home the following day. He told her he’d stepped on some broken glass from the fireplace. She brought him a Swiffer mop and a bottle of hydrogen peroxide.
ADA WILLIAM BROWN: Cat, did you have absolutely anything to do with cleaning anything up or their disappearance?
CAT MELLENDER: No.
Investigators say there is no evidence that Mellender had any involvement in the murders. They believe Chandler Halderson acted alone. Prosecutors showed the jury police video from inside the Halderson home. At first glance, it seemed neat and clean,but test results revealed what appeared to be blood.
A forensic expert testified that there appeared to be blood in the basement of the Halderson home. The expert also told the jury there appeared to be evidence of a cleanup.
Dane County Clerk of Courts
ATTORNEY: Is that all blood that it’s reacting to?
OFFICER: This could be blood that it’s reacting to, and it appears to be some wiping or clean up.
For Barbi Townsend, the most disturbing part was when the jury was shown a view of the Halderson home from a neighbor’s security camera.
Barbi Townsend: I was talking to one of my cousins. We said one of the images that is gonna be seared in our minds is when they showed that video of the window. … And it was the flickering glow from the fireplace, for like hours. that is haunting, knowing what was happening,
A forensic expert testified more than 200 bone fragments were discovered in the fireplace.
ATTORNEY: there’s a white area in the middle of that base.
FORENSIC ANTHROPOLOGIST: Based on my training and experience that appears to be bone.
Halderson’s defense attorney Catherine Dorl did not address the bone and blood evidence found in the home but insisted that did not mean her client was the killer.
CATHERINE DORL: Chandler Halderson did not murder his parents. He is not guilty of those crimes.
She reminded the jury there were too many unanswered questions.
CATHERINE DORL: What happened to the Haldersons? What happened in the Halderson’s home? … You just are not going to know what happened.
Chandler Halderson himself didn’t testify and his defense didn’t call any witnesses.
Instead, defense attorney Crystal Vera, closed the case, and urged the jury to find reasonable doubt. She admits Chandler told a lot of lies, but she argues there isn’t enough direct evidence to tie him to the murders.
CRYSTAL VERA: You have to go back and look at everything.
CRYSTAL VERA: I guarantee you that the 12 of you that are going to go back and deliberate are all gonna have 12 different theories on what happened. And that’s a problem. I’m asking you to find him not guilty of first-degree intentional homicide.
Prosecutors had the final word.
ADA WILLIAM BROWN: This is a first-degree intentional homicide. You cannot shoot someone in the back, you cannot chop them up, you cannot scatter their remains and come to any other conclusion. And there is only one person who did those things here and that is Chandler Halderson. We’re asking you to find him guilty. Thank you.
It didn’t take long for the jury to decide.
JUDGE JOHN D. HYLAND (reading verdict): “We the jury find the defendant Chandler M. Halderson guilty of first-degree intentional homicide as to Bart A. Halderson. Guilty of providing false information. Guilty of mutilating a corpse. Guilty of first-degree intentional homicide. Guilty of mutilating a corpse. Guilty of hiding a corpse.”
Guilty on all eight charges.
Det. Sabrina Sims: I think it was just overwhelming … from all the work that we put in on it.
In March 2022, at his sentencing hearing, Chandler Halderson, who had been silent during his trial, surprised everyone by indicating he finally had something to say.
JUDGE JOHN D. HYLAND: Mr. Halderson wishes to make a statement.
CHANDLER HALDERSON (addressing the court): Your Honor, I want to take this opportunity to state my intent to appeal my convictions. If there are any lawyers listening and willing to take on my appeal, take a moment to please reach out to me. It’s not that I do not have feelings, it is that I was warned to not show them due to the scrutiny of this case. Thank you.
Erin Moriarty: What was your reaction when he had the chance to speak and all he did was ask for a lawyer to take an appeal? What was your reaction?
Barbi Townsend: I was actually disgusted. I just couldn’t believe it. Like, you can’t even say I’m sorry.
Chandler was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Erin Moriarty: When do you miss ’em?
Dan Kroninger: Oh, I think about ’em just about every day.
Erin Moriarty: Really?
Dan Kroninger: Yeah … we’re building a pond in our backyard or … and just, you know, they would love to see that, and love be a part of it.
Mitchell Halderson, Bart and Krista’s oldest son, is now living with an unimaginable loss. Barbi Townsend shared a text and a photo thatKrista sent to family just three months before she died
Barbi Townsend (reading text): “Happy Easter. Yes, the boys and their women . Mitchell is still at Epic Systems and will turn 25 this year. Yikes. … Chandler is currently interning with American Family Insurance as an IT administrator. But his other degree, sustainability management, has given him an edge …”
“Happy Easter. Yes, the boys and their women,” Krista Halderson texted to relatives.
Barbi Townsend
Barbi Townsend: You see in her text how proud she was of her boys … and how 100 percent completely believing Chandler.
She can’t help but wonder what would have happened if Chandler had just been honest with everyone.
Erin Moriarty: If he had just gone and thrown himself at the mercy of his parents, what do you think Krista and Bart would have done?
Barbi Townsend: They would have helped him. … they definitely would have confronted him on it. But after the confrontation and the truth telling, would have come to grace. “How do we go forward? How do we help you? How do we get your life back on track?” They would’ve helped him.
In April 2023, two of Chandler Halderson’s convictions related to hiding his parents’ corpses were vacated on procedural grounds. He continues to serve a life sentence with no possibility of parole for the murder and dismemberment of his parents.
Her has filed an appeal.
Produced by Marcelena Spencer. Iris Carreras is the field producer. David Dow is the development producer. Mike McHugh and Greg McLaughlin are the editors. Patti Aronofsky is the senior producer. Nancy Kramer is the executive story editor. Judy Tygard is the executive producer.
It’s a familiar sight around the world: a teenager glued to their cellphone as their parents implore them to put it down.
But youngsters in China may have the choice taken away from them under new rules that would limit screen time to a maximum of two hours a day for people under the age of 18.
A girl uses a mobile phone in Beijing on March 4, 2021. Wang Zhao / AFP via Getty Images
Proposed Wednesday by the country’s powerful internet regulator, the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC), if drafted into law, smartphone-makers, apps and app stores would be required to offer a “minor mode” that restricts usage. This would allow parents to manage what their kids see and internet service providers to show content based on a user’s age.
The rules, which it said were designed to “prevent and intervene teenagers from getting addicted to the internet,” would limit screen time on mobile devices to 40 minutes a day for kids under 8, one hour for those ages 8 to 16 and two hours for those above that age.
It would also manage the type of content they are allowed to view, with songs and audio-focused content for children under the age of 3, while those between 12 and 16 would be allowed to watch news and educational content.
The proposals were welcomed by Gu Zhenzhen, who told NBC News by phone Thursday that her 10-year-old son wouldstart to play games when he opens his eyes in the morning till he goes to the bed, if she let him.
Gu, a nurse from the eastern province of Zhejiang, said there were times when she could encourage her son to study “because he can have more time to play on the phone.”
Alina Wang, a mother of three from the southern city of Guangzhou, echoed her thoughts.
“I really support it,” said Wang, 32, adding that she imposed strict time restrictions on her children’s smartphone use and she worried about the impact of the internet on her offspring.
While accepting that her children would “definitely be exposed” to the internet, she said it was also up to parents to guide their children.
While the proposed legislation would allow for some exceptions like regulated education products or emergency services applications, a parent would have to verify attempts to take a device out of minor mode.
Although the rules have not yet been passed and are open to public consultation, they are part of a broader push by the CAC to limit the use of apps and smartphones. In 2021, the regulator banned teenagers from playing mobile games on weekdays.
A young model looks at her mobile phone as she waits backstage during the China Fashion Week in Beijing on September 3, 2021.Wang Zhao / AFP via Getty Images
Minors on the microblogging site Weibo have also been barred from reading about trending topics if parents turn on an adolescent mode.
Some questioned whether the new proposals would be effective if they were drafted into law.
Calling the rules “crazy,” Dorothy Shi, an English teacher from Zhejiang, said the proposed time was too short.
“They are only several years younger than me and we see things in similar ways,” Shi said.
Others questioned the plans on Weibo. “It is the parents’ responsibility to protect teenagers,” one user wrote.
Some, such as Wang, also questioned whether the rules would be enforceable because a lot of children use their parents’ phones and accounts.
“How can they be restricted? How does it recognize this is an underage or someone else?” she said.
Cao Fan, an associate professor of educational and cognitive psychology at the University of Hong Kong, agreed that it was important for parents to “take the lead” rather than relying solely on the regulation.
“Children will definitely be affected if their parents hold a cellphone or watch videos all day long,” she said. “This is not just a problem for children only.”
Larissa Gao
Larissa Gao is a fellow on NBC’s Asia Desk, based in Hong Kong.
Cheng Cheng
Cheng Cheng is an intern on NBC’s Asia Desk in Hong Kong.
Zhenzhen Liu
Zhenzhen Liu is an intern on NBC’s Asia Desk in Hong Kong.
Riley Zhang
Riley Zhang is an intern on NBC’s Asia Desk in Hong Kong.
PONTIAC, Mich. — A teenager who killed four students at his Michigan high school in 2021 was like a “feral child,” deeply neglected by his parents during crucial years and mentally ill, a psychologist testified Tuesday at a hearing to determine if the mass shooter will get a life prison sentence.
Ethan Crumbley’s lawyers also played disturbing videos from jail showing the 17-year-old in deep distress as deputies restrained him while he wailed. In one incident, his head is completely covered with a hood. No dates were disclosed.
“Why didn’t you stop it? I’m sorry. … Stop it, God, why?” he said.
A psychologist, Colin King, said the shooter was experiencing psychosis, a break from reality. He later predicted that the boy “absolutely” can be rehabilitated.
“A number of my clients have had issues with the law,” said King, who has testified in many homicide cases. “Through psychotherapy and support, they’ve been able to make progress. … Ethan’s brain is still maturing.”
Crumbley pleaded guilty to murder, terrorism and other charges in a shooting that killed four students and wounded seven others at Oxford High School, about 40 miles north of Detroit.
Because of his age — 15 at the time — the shooter can’t automatically be a given life sentence. Oakland County Judge Kwame Rowe first must consider the shooter’s maturity, mental health, unstable family life and other factors set by the U.S. Supreme Court.
He still can order a life sentence, but it would be a rare outcome for a teen. Crumbley otherwise would face a minimum sentence somewhere between 25 years and 40 years in prison, followed by eligibility for parole. A decision isn’t expected Tuesday, the third and likely final day of the hearing
King said he spent more than 20 hours with the shooter during several meetings, interviewing him and running him through a series of psychological tests. He also reviewed the teen’s dark journal entries and text messages.
King disclosed for the first time that the boy believed that a gun was going to be found in his backpack on the day of the shooting when he was sent to the office for drawing violent images in class.
“Ethan said for the first time in his life he felt relieved,” King testified. “He said he just knew the sheriffs were going to burst into the office and arrest him because there was no way, after all that they saw, they weren’t going to search that backpack.”
But the backpack was never checked, and the boy was allowed to remain in school. He later emerged from a bathroom and started shooting.
King said the shooter was raised in a turbulent home by parents who left him alone for hours, argued in front of him and weren’t discreet when discussing infidelity, divorce and suicide. The boy was even forced to figure out what to do with his beloved dead dog.
“He can be considered a feral child,” King said.
“It is essentially a child who has been abandoned. … Someone who is abandoned has what is called arrested development,” he said. “They lack social cues. They become misfits in society.”
The shooter, King concluded, has major depression, anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorder.
“He’s mentally ill,” the psychologist said.
His parents, James and Jennifer Crumbley, are separately charged with involuntary manslaughter. They’re accused of buying a gun for their son and ignoring his mental health needs.
Prosecutors want a life prison sentence with no chance for parole. During cross examination of King, they suggested the psychologist was giving the shooter a break.
People with depression “all don’t become mass shooters, do they?” assistant prosecutor David Williams said.
Williams repeated evidence that was entered last week: journal writings and a video made the night before the shooting in which the teen declared his plan to attack the school.
He noted that victim Justin Shilling was executed in a bathroom. “You think that’s the product of a juvenile brain?” Williams asked.
“I do,” King replied.
King said adults repeatedly missed opportunities to help the shooter. But Williams noted that help was just a few days away if the boy really wanted it. His parents had assured school staff that he would get counseling within 48 hours after they saw his violent drawings.
Prosecutors last week called four people who witnessed the shooting, including a staff member who was wounded and a student who saved a wounded girl. It was the first time their details were personally aired in court.
The parents of late Stanford goalkeeper Katie Meyer are, like millions of other Americans, passionately cheering on the U.S. women’s soccer team at the World Cup.
But few are doing so with the same amount of conflicting joy and sadness as Steve and Gina Meyer.
It’s been a little more than 16 months since the couple’s daughter died of suicide, so it’s been an emotional roller coaster watching the Americans play on this world stage.
“It’s a mix,” father Steve Meyer told NBC News on Monday. “We miss her dearly and there’s a real sadness that she’s not with us, that she’s not there with them cheering them on. She would’ve been there one way or another. But there’s also some happiness and joy, through her former teammates there, we see her spirit living on.”
U.S. starters Sophia Smith and Naomi Girma have been open about honoring their former Stanford teammate while in Australia and New Zealand this summer.
“I’m proud of them,” Steve Meyer, 55, said of his daughter’s college teammates. “They didn’t have to do that. They cold have just gone over there and played their games and done what they do. But they have chose to stop and acknowledge it.”
Just before the Women’s World Cup began, Girma wrote a touching personal essay dedicated to Meyer in The Player’s Tribune.
She called Meyer her “truest friend” and described the goalkeeper as the “most unapologetic, positive, caring person in the world.”
After scoring a second goal against Vietnam, Smith celebrated by copying one of Meyer’s favorite post-goal gestures: zipping her lips.
Naomi Girma during a Women’s World Cup match against Netherlands last Thursday.Kim Price / Cal Sport Media via AP
“They’re using their platform to talk about something bigger than soccer, shedding some light on it and starting the conversation,” Gina Meyer said. “It’s amazing. I’m so proud of them.”
Girma told reporters Monday that self-care and mental health are high priorities and having loved ones at the tournament has been a boost.
“Yeah, I think for me, my family’s here,” Girma said. “So that’s been great just to get away and spend time with them.”
The stress of 90-plus minutes on the pitch and the non-stop hours of practice and strategy sessions have to be offset to stay in top form, she said.
“And I think really just making sure that I’m decompressing — in moments when we’re not in meetings, we’re not in training or preparing for games — and making sure that there’s some balance so that I can make sure I’m at my best once we step on the field,” Girma said.
Sophia Smith of the U.S. during a Women’s World Cup match against the Netherlands last Thursday.Catherine Ivill / Getty Images
The Americans need a win or draw in their final Group E match against Portugal, which kicks off at 3 a.m. EDT on Tuesday, to advance to the knockout stage.
“The fact that this group is talking about it, honestly, is not surprising to me,” said Gina Meyer, 53. “They really, as a team, rise to the occasion to bring out topics that needs to be talked about, whether it’s equal pay, equality or injustice.”
If you or someone you know is in crisis, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255, text HOME to 741741 or visit SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources for additional resources.
David K. Li
David K. Li is a senior breaking news reporter for NBC News Digital.
Doha Madani
Doha Madani is a senior breaking news reporter for NBC News. Pronouns: she/her.
The Associated Press and Hayley Walker contributed.
