We have concerns regarding the number of child deaths at Giving Hope
Rescue Mission. We will be outlining some of the concerning situations here on this page.
We take these deaths
incredibly seriously. We have remained silent about our concerns for so long simply because we
would never want to unjustly accuse someone of lying or playing games with
children’s lives.
Story III: Adopted child murdered during visit to birthmother sometime prior to 2010
An excerpt from the article (click here for full article):
"Elyse - originally Heather Elyse Savage while growing up as an adopted child in a minister's family - believes missioning is in her blood. "My father planted more than 40 churches overseas," she said. "I traveled with him as much as possible."
After graduating from high school at the age of 15, the California native entered a Bible college in Oklahoma. At 21, she married a pastor only to learn he was abusive. The marriage was annulled. "I thought we would be married forever," she said, "but it didn't turn out that way."
Crushed, Elyse decided that if David could slay a giant, she'd adopt kids. By the time she was 26, she had adopted six children no one wanted - and had her heart broken again when the first child, a girl named Victoria, was brutally murdered by her biological mother's boyfriend on an approved weekend visit. She since named another daughter Victoria, but continues to display framed photos of the first Victoria."
Immediately below the article is this comment:
Posted: Saturday, November 5, 2011
Article comment by: Karl Gilpin
"This article is not accurate, to say that Heather is an adopted child is crazy! The child she says was murdered is alive and well in Oklahoma, please check your facts, this is not an attack on anyone just a plea for responsible and accurate reporting please. Manipulations of the truth by the the subject of the article should not be recreated by the author. Please check your facts before printing something that is forever posted."
If anyone knows Karl Gilpin please have him contact us.
Story II: Baby girl murdered in spring of 2012
To the best of our knowledge this baby girl entered Giving Hope Rescue Mission's care in March of 2012. Some of us met her shortly after her arrival. She was very plump and seemed healthy. Approximately 10-14 months old?
In spring of 2012 Heather commented under her photo on the private Voice of the Orphan Adoptive families facebook group that she had gone home and been murdered by her birthmother.
If you have any information about this situation please email us.
Story III: Adopted child murdered during visit to birthmother sometime prior to 2010
An excerpt from the article (click here for full article):
"Elyse - originally Heather Elyse Savage while growing up as an adopted child in a minister's family - believes missioning is in her blood. "My father planted more than 40 churches overseas," she said. "I traveled with him as much as possible."
After graduating from high school at the age of 15, the California native entered a Bible college in Oklahoma. At 21, she married a pastor only to learn he was abusive. The marriage was annulled. "I thought we would be married forever," she said, "but it didn't turn out that way."
Crushed, Elyse decided that if David could slay a giant, she'd adopt kids. By the time she was 26, she had adopted six children no one wanted - and had her heart broken again when the first child, a girl named Victoria, was brutally murdered by her biological mother's boyfriend on an approved weekend visit. She since named another daughter Victoria, but continues to display framed photos of the first Victoria."
Immediately below the article is this comment:
Posted: Saturday, November 5, 2011
Article comment by: Karl Gilpin
"This article is not accurate, to say that Heather is an adopted child is crazy! The child she says was murdered is alive and well in Oklahoma, please check your facts, this is not an attack on anyone just a plea for responsible and accurate reporting please. Manipulations of the truth by the the subject of the article should not be recreated by the author. Please check your facts before printing something that is forever posted."
If anyone knows Karl Gilpin please have him contact us.
Story II: Baby girl murdered in spring of 2012
To the best of our knowledge this baby girl entered Giving Hope Rescue Mission's care in March of 2012. Some of us met her shortly after her arrival. She was very plump and seemed healthy. Approximately 10-14 months old?
In spring of 2012 Heather commented under her photo on the private Voice of the Orphan Adoptive families facebook group that she had gone home and been murdered by her birthmother.
If you have any information about this situation please email us.
 |
| Photo taken March 27, 2012 by visitors to the creche |
Story I: Murder of 3 cousins in August 2012
Without
having come to a final conclusion about what took place, we propose that there are several
conflicting accounts of a specific murder that took place last year.
Facebook
account – posted by Heather Elyse to the VOTO adoptive families group, August
7, 2012 (names changed to initials and we added approx. ages) Date of murders listed on Heather's public blog as August 3, 2012.
Heather
Elyse
Little
did I know that the below video would be the last one I would take of my
daughter “A” (age 3?) Elyse adopted child #10. And her cousin “C” (age 4?) were
victims of a hate crime in Haiti. They were brutally murdered and died
instantly. “C” was not adopted by us, but he lived with me and my children, and
we considered him family and a ELYSE. He is an Elyse.
The following were told to witnesses directly by Heather Elyse:
Account
1: Someone came to GHRM to pick up the two children to go someplace for
paperwork that had to be filed. A car pulled up behind them, Heather and the
kids, two guys got out and demanded the kids back; got in a fight with heather
and her security guy from GHRM. The two guys had guns on them and demanded the
kids. They put the kids in the car and took off. The two kids were shot to
death in the car.
Account
2: I sat in Colorado in November 2012 as Heather gave a tearful personal testimony
of how she was on her way out of the country, getting on the plane with her
other children. Wesmin was taking "A" to her visa appointment when the bio
mother stopped the car in the middle of Montrouis (the small town where Giving Hope is located), grabbed the children out of
the car and shot them in the street while Wesmin stood by and did nothing. She
told us that she visited the mom in prison to forgive here.
Account
3: We attended a memorial/funeral
service for "A" "C" and their cousin "baby C" in Colorado in August 2012. We asked Heather
after the service to tell us exactly what happened. She said that on the day of
A’s visa appointment in Haiti the nannies were getting her ready to go when the
birthmom (aunt to C) arrived at Giving Hope Rescue Mission crèche in a car with
a man who looked very big/tough. There was a tussle over A and C – the birthmom
wanted to take them. Birthmom was trying to pull the kids out of the gate while
staff were trying to keep them in. Finally after a crowd formed outside of the
gates Wesmin released the kids to A’s bio mom. The staff then called the police
in Montrouis. The police set up a road block in the town (there is one road out of town). When the car reached the road
block, bio mom pulled both children from the car, shot them point blank and screamed
that she’d rather they die than live with Heather. Heather was in transit back
to the US when she got the call.
When
we asked what happened to the third child being memorialized that night at the
funeral (baby C) she said “basically the same thing.” We didn't understand what that could mean - another separate murder?
Account
4: My missions team visited Giving Hope Rescue Mission in November of 2012.
Heather told us that A and C were cut down by machetes in the street of
Montrouis (by birthmom.) She specifically said machete, not gun.
Heather
posted about visiting the bio mother in prison and writing “I forgive you”
across her hands in January 2013. Title of the blog post was Going Through the Fire and it has recently been removed. Excerpts below:
"I took a deep
breath as the guard opened the door to a cold and dimly lit room where I
would sit face to face with the woman who stole my children’s light."
"I began to whisper a
prayer: “Dear God, how can I even begin to comprehend what happened
that day? Why couldn’t it have been me? I would have gladly taken
those bullets. I have lived a full life. I have accomplished my dreams.
God, please wake me up and tell me this is just a dream.”
"I sat down and looked at
the woman who murdered my children. She wouldn’t even look me in the eyes.
She just sat there, chanting curses over my life, saying that she had won,
and that she had destroyed me."
"She refused to look
at me. She kept spitting on me and mumbling chants. I grabbed the hand
which had once pulled the trigger, the hand that stole my children’s last
breaths,and kissed it. I took a permanent marker and wrote “I FORGIVE YOU” on
the palms of her hands."
"I will never forget
returning to Haiti just a short time after the murder of my children.
I could still see the two blood stains in the road where they had lain
bleeding to death. No one knew what to do, and because of the fear of
death in that country, my children had simply been left to bleed. No 911
call was made, and there were no ambulances to come to the rescue. I got
out of the vehicle and fell to the blood-stained ground – and I sobbed."
.....................
We
think it is important to determine exactly what happened to these three
children. Possibly they were murdered. However, despite numerous attempts by members of this group, missionaries on
the ground in Haiti and locals in Montrouis there has not been
one external confirmation that children were either shot or cut down by machetes in Montrouis in August
2012.
Please
send us an email if you have any information about the death of these children or where the accused birthmother is being held. We will not publicly share photos
of these children on the website in order to protect their privacy. But we can
cross check photos via email if you believe you have information about A, C or baby C.
More stories to come...
