Foster mother begs public to help find boy

The woman said she passed out while in the park with the children.
CINCINNATI (AP) -- The foster mother of a 3-year-old developmentally disabled boy missing since Aug. 15 made a public plea for help in finding the child.
"I'm asking that anybody that saw me with my kids, or saw me, or saw Marcus, to please contact the authorities, the news, anybody ... anybody," Liz Carroll said at a news conference she asked Hamilton County authorities to arrange. She said that to help jog memories, she was wearing the same clothes and her hair pulled back in the same style as she had last Tuesday.
Authorities say they have no significant leads in the case, in which Carroll said she passed out because of a heart condition in a suburban park and couldn't find the boy, Marcus Fiesel, when she regained consciousness. Police are continuing their investigation but called off the massive search that was triggered last week.
Meanwhile, Butler County Children's Services has removed eight foster children placed in foster homes by Lifeway for Youth, the nonprofit organization that sent the boy to live with Liz Carroll and her husband, David, in May. Children's Services spokeswoman Dawn Grady said Tuesday they were removed for various reasons since the boy went missing, but she declined to go into details.
The Carrolls have expressed frustration at scrutiny of their backgrounds and stories, insisting they love the boy and wouldn't have harmed him. A domestic violence allegation against David Carroll in June stemmed from his bipolar disorder, his wife said. She called police because he had been drinking beer that interacted with his medication and she wanted to make sure he didn't drive, she said.
The charge was dismissed.
The Carrolls have four biological children of their own and provided day care in their home besides taking in foster children, Liz Carroll said.
"I've been an excellent mother," she said.
Other details
Police have said they've found no witnesses who saw the boy at the park. Carroll said there were people at the park who saw the boy with her on the Juilfs Park playground.
"Any detail can help," she said. "We need more help than just the detectives."
She said the boy has been prone to wandering away, and she's still hopeful that someone has him and will return him safely.
County caseworkers are checking on all 116 children they placed in foster homes through Lifeway, Grady said.
"There is no effort to remove children from Lifeway homes," she said. "This is normal protocol; we are making additional assessments of the rest of Lifeway homes."
Foster children can be removed if any of a number of state regulations are violated, including failure to report an arrest or interfering with attempts to reunify the foster children with their biological parents, Grady said.
A message was left Tuesday at Lifeway for Youth's office in the Cincinnati suburb of Sharonville.
The county contracts with the organization to provide training for foster parents and placement for abused and neglected children. Lifeway then monitors the placements.