I can not ever recall so many odd stories in such a short time in this state.

Long story short (in case you don't wanna read all this).  Three people arrested for keeping an 11 year old locked in a closet, suffering from 2'nd and 3'rd degree burns apparantly from boiling water, and covered with whip marks or something.  His mother also apparantly abused and deeply BURIED in the back yard!


Abused children, buried body found

Severely injured boy, 11, transported to hospital; 3 adults arrested

By STEVEN WALTERS
swalters@journalsentinel.com

Posted: June 15, 2007

Portage - Police said they made two bizarre discoveries - the body of a 36-year-old woman buried in the backyard and her severely abused 11-year-old son in a closet - Friday after getting a tip 24 hours earlier that took them to a brick, two-story home.

Three adults - two women and a man arrested about 4 p.m. in Milwaukee - were being held in the Columbia County Jail on suspicion of felony child abuse while a murder investigation continues, said Portage Detective Lt. Mark Hahn.

The suspects were identified as: Michael S. Sisk, 26, Candice Clark, 23, and Michaela Clerc, 20.

Milwaukee police arrested Sisk at the Greyhound bus station in Milwaukee at 4 p.m.

The woman, whom investigators did not identify, had been buried "quite deep," apparently during the Memorial Day weekend, Hahn said. He said cause of death was still under investigation. An autopsy is set for today.

Four other children, including a 15-year-old girl identified as the daughter of the woman whose body was found, were also found in the home - and at least two of them appeared to have been abused, Hahn said.

Three girls, between the ages of 3 months and 2 1/2 years, were removed from the home and placed in protective custody. They are all believed to be Clark's daughters, Hahn said.

Hahn said he did not know where any of the adults worked, or why they decided to live in Portage a few months ago.

But one neighbor, Lois Hotchkiss, 24, said she remembered Sisk was a few years ahead of her at Portage High School, which he attended using the name Jeremy Gunther. Hotchkiss also said her husband, Scott, said he worked with Sisk at a local truck wash years ago.

The discovery of the 11-year-old boy, who could not walk and had suffered second- and third-degree burns and appeared to have been beaten or whipped, shook everyone at the crime scene deeply, Hahn said.

The boy was being treated at a Madison-area hospital.

The first visit

At a news conference, Hahn displayed pictures of the boy's burns, after asking reporters to not take news pictures of them.

"He's a fighter," said Hahn. He said the boy had been forced to sleep in the closet, on a bathroom floor or in a crawl space. "He's definitely a child that has been through a lot."

Police first went to the home at about 3:45 p.m. Thursday, only to return and dig up the body and discover the boy on Friday.

Several neighbors said the occupants had moved to the neighborhood only a few weeks ago, and they did not know the four-adult, five-child group. Police said the group apparently moved from Florida and rented 304 W. Oneida St. around Feb. 28.

Hahn said police had not been called to the home since the adults rented it in February. "We're still investigating the lifestyle," the officer said. "There were no signs of ritualistic things."

"It's a decent neighborhood," said Ron Alexander, 51, who owns Sal's Friendly Tavern a few doors from the crime scene and lives in an apartment above his bar and restaurant.

But news reports of how severely the 11-year-old boy had been abused upset him, Alexander added. "How could you just watch it go on?"

A man neighbors identified as the owner of the home and a neighboring apartment complex refused to answer questions.

Call from Florida

Hahn said the two-day investigation started Thursday with a call from Florida about a possible child abduction at the Portage address.

Sgt. Christie Mysinger of the Lake County, Fla., Sheriff's Office said Candice Clark's 2 1/2 -year-old daughter was placed in foster care in Sorrento, Fla., last July.

According to Mysinger, Clark showed up at the foster parents' home in September and told them the case against her that had caused her to lose custody of the child had been dropped.

Mysinger did not know the nature of the case against Clark but said Clark did not have permission to take the girl from her foster parents.

After she left with the child, the foster parents alerted foster care officials, who did not notify the Sheriff's Department until Jan. 25, Mysinger said.

Detectives assigned to the case learned that Clark had left the state with Sisk, whom they identified as Clark's boyfriend, Mysinger said.

Sisk had open arrest warrants in Kentucky and Grand Junction, Colo., where the couple were seen during the next several months.

Thursday, investigators learned that Clark and Sisk were staying at a home in Portage and alerted local police, Mysinger said.

At the home, police and investigators discovered the three young girls, the 15-year-old, and Clark and Clerc. When questioned, "all of them gave false names."

However, after more questioning, police were later told of the boy being held in the closet, Hahn said.

On Friday, they discovered him, malnourished, suffering from burns consistent with boiling water, and apparently having been tortured, according to one professional investigator who examined the boy, Hahn said.

Police were also then told that "a body" was buried in the backyard, so they used a specially trained dog from the Dane County Sheriff's Department, which "alerted," leading them to dig up the woman's body Friday afternoon, Hahn said.

If the woman was murdered, it would be the first homicide in Portage in three or four years, Hahn added.