Foster parents charged in boy's death

Tuesday, August 29, 2006 The disappearance triggered an intensive search that brought hundreds of volunteers. CINCINNATI (AP) — The foster parents of a missing 3-year-old developmentally disabled boy were charged Monday in his death, and the foster father accused of burning his body. Liz and David Carroll Jr. are accused of leaving Marcus Fiesel in a closet in their Clermont County home just east of Cincinnati while they went to a family reunion in Kentucky on Aug. 4, said Hamilton County prosecutor Joe Deters. Investigators believe the boy was dead when the couple returned home two days later, Deters said. The couple reported the boy missing from a Hamilton County park Aug. 15. A Hamilton County grand jury indicted the Carrolls on charges of involuntary manslaughter and endangering children, and David Carroll was charged with gross abuse of a corpse. David Carroll took the boy's body to rural Brown County and burned it, Deters said. A search for the remains was launched Monday. Deters declined to discuss other details of the investigation. Arrested separately The Carrolls were arrested separately and jailed Monday, he said. The boy's disappearance triggered an intensive search that brought hundreds of volunteers. Liz Carroll had told authorities that Marcus wandered away from her in a suburban park after she passed out because of a heart condition. The search, using helicopters and sophisticated high-tech equipment along with hundreds of volunteers, initially focused on a 5-square-mile area of Juilfs Park in Anderson Township. It was later expanded to other nearby wooded areas and waterways with searchers combing the areas at least five times, according to the Hamilton County sheriff's department. However, as time went on, authorities expressed concern that the search was going to end badly. Police also openly questioned why no witnesses reported seeing Marcus in the park. Liz Carroll, 30, said she was unconscious for about 10 minutes. When she came to, there were three toddlers nearby, but Carroll said she told people trying to help her that she had four children. The other children, her 2-year-old son Bryce, 1-year-old foster child Bradley and Kelly, 1, a child Carroll was baby-sitting, were safe. The search was called off Aug. 19, but authorities said they were following up leads they received. A local businessman put up a $10,000 reward for any information leading to the child or to anyone responsible for his disappearance. Public plea Liz Carroll made a public plea Aug. 22 for help in finding Marcus. David Carroll said Marcus had the mental ability of a child 12 to 18 months old. Marcus joined the family about four months ago and had a history of wandering off, he said. The child once left the home of his biological parents in Middletown in the middle of the night and did the same thing while living with other foster parents.