In North Carolina, police arrested a mother after discovering the burned remains of two of her adoptive children in a barrel.
The children had reportedly been there for several years.
Avantae Deven, 63, faces charges including two counts of first-degree murder, concealment of death, kidnapping, and felony child abuse, as announced by the Fayetteville Police Department.
She is accused of murdering her adoptive children, Blake Deven and London Deven, with London having special needs.
Blake had reportedly not been seen since 2022, while London had last been spotted in 2019.
Despite this, their mother only reported them missing in March of this year.
The investigation began when officers responded to a mental health crisis at the Deven residence in November.
During this incident, a family member revealed to detectives that they had not seen Blake in five years, noting that the last time they saw him, he had a broken arm, according to Fayetteville Police Chief Kemberle Braden.
This revelation prompted a deeper investigation, leading police to discover that another family member, London, was also missing.
Avantae Deven had adopted a total of five children, including London, who required special assistance.
Sgt. Jeff Locklear mentioned that Avantae Deven initially tried to mislead investigators, claiming that Blake was at a Buddhist retreat in the mountains.
She repeated this story when she reported the children missing to a 911 dispatcher in March, stating, "He is generally religious. He used to go back and forth about a Buddhist retreat…but this time he never called back. My daughter did one once for 6 months, and she called, so I thought OK. He’s really independent, strong and brave and bossy, so it’s not really unlikely of his character."
However, further investigation revealed this story to be false.
With the FBI's assistance, police searched the family's former home, where they lived from November 2016 to June 2019.
During the search, authorities discovered a burn barrel containing partial human remains.
Last week, results confirmed that the remains belonged to a female aged 15 to 19 and a male aged 7 to 10.
The female was identified as London Deven, while the male is believed to be Blake Deven, Chief Braden stated.
According to Sgt. Locklear, investigators suspect that Avantae Deven subjected the children to severe abuse, including confining them in a dark room with little to no food.
She allegedly forced them to write hundreds of paragraphs to earn food as punishment for their behavior.
After the children died, she reportedly coerced another individual from the home to help dispose of their bodies in the burn barrel.
Authorities believe the children likely died before 2019, during the time they lived at the residence where the remains were found.
Avantae Deven is currently being held without bond at the Cumberland County Detention Center.
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