The FX Faye Yager Children of the Underground Activist Docuseries Producers

Ted Gesing, Gabriela Cowperthwaite, Dan Cogan, Jon Bardin, Kate Barry and Liz Garbus are Film Makers that will be telling the Faye Yager, Children of the Underground Story. The question for Viewers, Film Reviewers and Critics, did the Producers pursue the truth with honor and integrity or is the Children of theUnderground an Activist or One Sided Docuseries?

Here’s what we know from the reviews so far:

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Faye Yager’s Daughter Michelle “Jones” French Thinks Her Mom Stopped Hiding Families in 1999

With the upcoming releases of the FX/Disney Series Children of the Underground, Faye Yager’s daughter Michelle “Jones” French signed up for a Twitter Account to start promoting the series. She actually responded to one of our tweets claiming that her mother, Faye Yager stopped helping families after the Philadelphia Millionaires Case.

Wrong, Michelle “Jones” French. Here’s a post regarding your mother Faye Yager and her activities as an Inn Keeper helping Underground Mothers.

A post from Natika S. from our comments section on our website in 2012. This post has been public on our website for over a decade.

“I have been volunteering at a homeless shelter in Brevard, NC. It’s a good place run and operated by good people. I consider all of the staff and some of the residents to be friends of mine. There are rules and there is a process to becoming a resident there. The residents MUST be able to pass a background check which is for the safety of the residents and any children that may be there. Some people come and go there quickly but some stay for months at a time due to different reasons. Some are waiting for their disability to start are some and there waiting to be placed in government housing. They are homeless but that does not reflect upon their character except maybe to say they are strong people. It’s not easy to reside with 17 other people that have also had to stay there. That’s 18 different personalities in one room. That’s three bathrooms for 18 people, one washer and one dryer, one kitchen and one refrigerator. It’s hard to live like that but the staff, volunteers and residents make it work with the help of generous donors and the citizens of this small town. There are different churches, organizations and businesses that help as much as they can. The Haven works closely with the Department of Social Services and Brevard Housing Authority to help the residents locate permanent housing. Some of these organizations are also run by donations only. There are a lot of people in this small town that go forth and donate their time, money and resources to helping those that are less fortunate. Some do because they feel it is the right thing to do. Some do because they are happy to look and say “I helped with that.” Still others only do so that they can say they did as a matter of “look at me I did good.” They do for accolades and status. There are still some that just wish to take advantage of someone in a bad situation because they feel like they can.

I recently met a new resident of Haven and he and his family will remain nameless for confidential reasons but I have permission to tell you his story. I’m going to call him Jeff just to simplify things from here on. Jeff came into The Haven more than a week ago with his two children. He had been residing in Brevard for about 6 weeks and was working at a local Inn. There was an agreement for pay plus room and board for him and his two children. As someone that is also a single parent I can honestly say that it would seem like a pretty good deal. When he and his family got here things quickly changed. Jeff has not been paid a dime of the agreed upon amount from his employer so he is essentially destitute. To make matters worse he is now unemployed and without his belongings. He took his kids to the park to play and when they returned to their home which is also where he worked everything was gone. Their clothes, toys, bed, phone and even the kids Wii, system which they had been given as a gift. What was not in their vehicle was gone. Jeff has been told that their things were bagged up and left in the street and someone else must have stolen it. Jeff and his family then made their way to The Haven.

Jeff and his family came to The Haven on a Saturday afternoon. While The Haven wants to help as many as possible it was completely full at that time. Several residents left over that weekend so hopefully he would be able to move himself and his small family in Monday after his background check. That still left the question of where they could stay over the weekend. A volunteer gave them a place to stay Saturday night where they could at least eat, shower and sleep. Another volunteer from another organization housed them on Sunday night. On Monday Jeff and his family became residents of The Haven so things were looking up just a bit. Tuesday afternoon it came crashing down. The Department of Social Services had received a report from his employer against Jeff for child abuse and neglect and they arrived at The Haven to collect Jeff and his children. His children have been in foster care since then and Jeff has been scrambling trying to find a way to have them returned. The employer that Jeff had has a history where she is notorious for helping non-custodial parents to kidnap and disappear with children. The employers name is Faye Yager. Ms. Yager is co-founder of Children of the Underground which is an organization that she created to take abused children from abusive parents. Sounds like a good idea doesn’t it? What happens when she helps to remove children from a home that has no abuse and returns them to a home where they have been abused by an older sibling? That’s what Jeff and his family are going through. Shortly after Ms. Yager tossed Jeff and his children into the streets I started asking questions and have discovered a few things regarding her and her habits.

Ms. Yager has a habit of hiring people from the homeless or near homeless communities and then firing them for theft and not paying them for the work they have performed. I know of five different people with connection to The Haven that she has done this to within the last six months. She offers these people pay with room and board and they work for a few weeks with no pay and then she fires them and they are without a home or a job. Her reason for firing them is always theft. That’s a lot of employee turn over for theft in a busy tourist season. I don’t know about anyone else but it makes me wonder about her employment practices. Ms. Yager is also allegedly under investigation with the North Carolina Labor Board for these hiring and firing habits. I made a few more phone calls to people in other states about Ms. Yager because I don’t want to take just the opinion of one or to rely on Google for my information and I learned a few more things about Ms. Yager. There are still children and parents in her underground network that are hiding from their alleged abusers. In some cases there is no proof of the alleged abuse but she helps these people to disappear. The non-custodial parent is then called a kidnapper and Ms. Yager is called a hero. Ms. Yager has been arrested and tried in the past for what she has done but states that she will continue to help hide the non-custodial parents and their children. From what I’ve learned she will do so with no evidence. The word most used to describe Faye Yager by everyone I have spoken with is “crazy.”
Now that Jeff and his family have been separated due to the actions of Ms. Yager, the children’s non-custodial parent is staying in Ms. Yager’s residence in Brevard, NC, which is called the Inn of Brevard. It has also come to light that Ms. Yager and she have been in contact for some time. Jeff’s children are likely to be returned to the custody of their mother which is a travesty as her older son sexually abused both of them. The older son still resides with the mother and the abuse is likely to begin again. Ms. Yager may call herself helping these children but her actions speak of something else. In the past week Ms. Yager has fired Jeff with no separation notice or pay, emptied storage containers in his room and made it to appear as poor housekeeping and then took pictures, removed his belongings from the room without his knowledge or permission and did so without the presence of the police and then contacted Social Services with her “proof” of Jeff’s neglect. She also managed to accomplish all of this without paying him anything for the work he has done in the last six weeks. Honestly, is Ms. Yager a help or a hindrance to the citizens and children of Brevard? What gives Ms. Yager the right to act as judge, jury and executioner? Honestly, we need to stand up to her and fight back.”

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Editor’s Note: We really hope the producers of the Children of the Underground pursued the truth with honor and integrity rather than just producing an Activist or One Sided Docuseries like Netflix’s Allen Vs. Farrow. Also, we wonder why Michelle “Jones” French would use “Jones” in her name rather than removing it from her full name for the benefit of herself and her new family.

Faye Yager – The Children of the Underground FX – Disney Trailer – But where are the video tapes of the child interviews?

The Children of the Underground Trailer is out and it appears that FX/Disney appears to glorify the controversial Interior Decorator Faye Yager that was once on trial in Cobb County, Georgia and faced up to 60 years in prison for kidnapping and emotional cruelty to children. Prosecutors say that she coerced false statements about abuse. Yager was acquitted by the Cobb County Jury that deliberated for only 3 hours.

Editor’s Note: What is missing from the series is most likely the numerous video tapes with unidentified children that were found in a raid of Faye Yager’s home. Yager was known in the ’90s for browbeating a child in a gestapo-like interview until she elicited a disclosure — a practice that is now considered both unreliable and highly-suggestive by today’s standards. We do wonder if it’s not too late for law enforcement to re-file charges against Faye after this TV Series airs.

The Story of Faye Yager Podcast

On November 24, 2021, Enn and Matt the creators of the Ripped From the Headlines Podcast released Season 3, Episode 12 which included the story of Faye Yager. Click here to listen to that podcast. Of all the journalists writing stories about Faye Yager since the ’80s, this appears to be one of the most independent and unbiased reporting of Faye and her Children of the Underground Group.

With the August 2022 release of the upcoming 5 Episode Children of the Underground FX / Disney Series the now adult-children and their recovering parents and families from these Children of the Underground Cases are wondering if its producers (Ted Gesing, Dan Cogan, Liz Garbus, Kate Barry, Gabriela Cowperthwaite) are going to be sensitive and compassionate to them. Or will these producers allow these Underground Moms to be given another opportunity or forum to re-litigate their Family Law Custody Cases like Netflix did for Mia Farrow. Like Moses Farrow, it is doubtful that any of these now adult-children want FX / Disney to to invade their privacy without their consent.

We are also speculating if there is potential defamation and libel liability for FX / Disney in resurrecting any past allegations in these decades old cases.

Children Of The Underground – Really a Docuseries on FX / Disney+

In the aftermath of the Amber Heard False Accuser of the Decade comes FX / Disney+ with an untimely story of other False Accusers, Faye Yager and the Mothers of the Children of the Underground. This 5 Episode Docuseries airing on August 12, 2022 is by Executive Producers Ted Gesing, Gabriela Cowperthwaite, Dan Cogan, Liz Garbus, Kate Barry and will unlikely show any sympathy toward the emotional abuse inflicted on the victim children and the false allegations against their fathers and extended family members. And like Netflix’s Allen v. Mia Farrow controversial Series, it will provide these false accusers of another opportunity to disparage their former spouse. It is unlikely these Hollywood producers would have been able to comprehend that there was no evidence of abuse in these cases and it has not been until the recent Amber Heard Trial that Women and Mothers can be proven liars, especially in Family Court Custody Cases.

We suspect April Curtis Meyer and her daughter Amanda / Mandy will have appearances on the show and in that case in which there was no proven abuse. That father was given custody in Family Court after April consistently violated court orders including kidnapping her child. She had three different children with three different men and divorced and remarried while in hiding. The Philadelphia Banker’s case will also be injected into the show without respect to the victim families and the adult-children that would more than likely not want their story public — moving on with their lives. But because it makes for good TV and to accompany the family-oriented Disney brand, we will see how these Executive Producers Ted Gesing, Gabriela Cowperthwaite, Dan Cogan, Liz Garbus and Kate Barry respect the privacy of the victims.

It’s clearly wrong to give Faye Yager any further publicity. She was an Interior Designer from West Virginia with no formal Education in Child Protection and should have been found guilty except for the failed efforts of Cobb County Assistant District Attorney Rose Wing and that 1992 jury. 

Finally, we hope these producers are not expecting any Television-Emmy Awards for a show like this in which the victims of these parental kidnappings simply want to move on with their lives. All that being said, Actress Zoe McLellan has been in hiding since 2019 with her son Sebastien and at the very least, maybe this show will bring publicity to that case and help the Los Angeles Police Department find that child and arrest Zoe McLellan.

Chelsea Cullen Fugitive Mom Surrenders

Chelsea Cullen – Parental Kidnapper – Atlanta, Georgia

On May 23, 2106, Parental Kidnapper Chelsea known as “Fugitive Mom” was arraigned in Gwinnett County, Georgia court after being on the run for nearly two years. She is being charged with interference with custody. Custody of her son, now 3 has been returned to the custodial father.

Chelsea Cullen was interviewed by CBS46 in October of 2015 while underground. She vanished on June 29, 2014.

Gwinnett County is the second largest county in Georgia and is North of Atlanta. It is nearby Cobb County, the infamous former home of Faye Yager of the Children of the Underground. Cobb County was unsuccessful in the ’90s in their attempt to prosecute Faye Yager. Danny Porter is the District Attorney for Gwinnett County.

In April 2016, the U.S. Marshal raided the home of Chelsea Cullen’s mother in Alabama (Michelle Cullen). As part of the raid, they retrieved electronic devices including computers and phones.

‘Fugitive mom’ appears in court, surrenders after more than a year on the run by Adam Harding WTOC.COM 05-23,2016

Don’t Arrest the Horse, Just Gina and Doug Dahlen

Gina Dahlen, Protective Parent Network (Photo: Fergus Falls Journal)

Gina Dahlen and Doug Dahlen are clearly using the “Animal Rights“, “Child Protection” and “Religion” as defenses or excuses as to why they helped Sandra Rucki hide the Rucki girls. They are undoubtfully claiming that if law enforcement arrests and charges them, they will be effectively shutting down their ranch for children.

But Gina and Doug Dahlen of White Horse Ranch in Herman, Minesota should have contacted the District Attorney’s Office when they realized they were sheltering children from the court system. Their non-profit should not be an infrastrure for an underground or the protective parent network. Like Domestic Violence Shelters, they should have a process for working with local law enforcement.

In addition, engaging in criminal conduct or an illegal activity such as felony deprivation of child custody would be a violation of their tax exempt status as a 501(c)(3). It would also be a violation and reportable offense as Minnesota Non-profit. (Minnesota Attorney General’s Office – Nonprofit/Charity Complaint Form)

The Dahlens were intentionally hding the Rucki girls for more 944 days. During that time, the father, the children’s siblings, family members, their friends and law enforcement had no idea where the children were. The Dahlens were also directly violating a judge’s cusotdy court order. Even if Sandra Rucki gave them a copy of an old court order, they should have at the very least tried to find out their was a new Custody Order.They did not which led to thousands of dollars of investigative time and resources. That is irresponsible and ignorant for these educated inviduals.

Gina Dahlen also conincidently spent some time in horse training classes in Oregon, just miles from the infamous Curtis Compond in Dexter, Oregon. James and Mary Curtis are long-time protective parent network supporters. Their daughter April and her daughter Amanda both went underground with Faye Yager’s Children of the Underground in the ’80s and ’90s. The daughter as a teen went underground like the Rucki girls. We certainly wonder if Gina Dahlen made a visit to Dexter during her trip to Oregon.

The Dahlen’s use of equine therapy as a treatment program used by kidnap victim Jaycee Dugard is disparaging to those organizations using equine therapy that are not commiting criminal conduct. There is no reason the Dahlens should NOT have been able to setup a legitmate equine therapy organization for children without comitting these acts of civil disobedience.

Again, don’t arrest the Horse, but arrest and prosecute Gina and Doug Dahlen.

The Editor

Sources:

IGC: Gina Dahlen’s Vision Question (Fergus Falls Journal, 02-20-15)

Breaking: Police say Network of Family Court Critics Is Hiding the Rucki Girls

A story in the StarTribune is one of the first to link the Family Court Critics to the “protective parent” movement that police believe are responsible for hiding the Samantha and Gianna Rucki, the two teenager girls from Lakeville, Minnesota.

In this case, the girls mother Sandra Rucki has been arrested and charged with three felony counts of deprivation of parental rights. Her controversial attorney Michelle MacDonald says that her client does not want police to find the girls.

In the story, Faye Yager is now claiming that she is still involved in the underground and that the network is accessed through social media, churches and women’s shelters. Yager has previously said she was retired and is no longer involved.

Amy Neustein, who lost custody of her child (now a successful attorney who has not spoken to her mom in years) is interviewed in the article. Cindy Dumas of San Diego claims to have reliable sources that the girls are underground and safe. Other possible accomplices in the felony counts could be Michael Rhedin and Dale Nathan. Dede Evavold, a campaign manager for Michelle MacDonald is named as a supporter of the Protective Parent Movement.

[Read the Article]

Editors Note: Our Nation’s Family Court System as well as our Child Protection System have many legal options for parents like Sandra Rucki. Kidnapping should never be an option. These teenage girls deserve a life better than being used as pawns or poster girls for the protective parent movement. As these girls approach high school graduation and should be concerned about getting into a good college, their mother was vacationing in Florida with her a new boyfriend. Sandra Rucki and any third party conspirators need to be prosecuted and more importantly these girls need to be found so they can finish high school.

I would really like to hear the Samantha and Gianni Rucki’s side of the story. Are they articulate young adults or naive, misguided teenagers?

Source:

Police: Network of family court critics is hiding Rucki sisters Investigators hit a wall in search for Lakeville sisters by Brandon Stahl (StarTribue November 3, 2015)

Dorothy Lee Barnett Details Emerge in The Australian

Reporter Adam Shand who originally broke the Dorothy Lee Barnett Story recently provided the latest on The Dorothy Lee Barnett International Family Abduction Case: The long road home. Here’s our analysis of this updated news:

• Sales Representative – Alexandra Geldenhuys or Dorothy Lee Barnett worked as a Sales Representative on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast. It is odd that Shand does not disclose what company Alexandra Geldenhuys work for or what she sold.
• Juan Geldenhuys – In all the media coverage, there is no mention what Dorothy Barnett’s former spouse did before he divorced Dorothy and moved back to South Africa. There is also no mention if Juan Geldenhuys knew of Dorothy Lee Barnett’s true identity.
• Friend who Turned in Barnett – Shand’s article alleges that a friend of Barnett’s turned her in by calling the left-behind father. There were previous reports that a friend of Juan Geldenhuys has turned in Barnett. There is no also no mention of the person asking for Reward Money. We recollect at one time, the father had offered a reward.
• State of Deep Confusion – Shand reports that the the victim adult child Savanna is in a “state of deep confusion”.  I’m not sure what that means, but under the circumstances that is expected. We hope that Savanna is getting psychological counseling at this time. There are only a few Therapists in the World that have expertise in this area. We encourage her to call http://www.takeroot.org, the FBI or the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children for a referral.
• Peru – It is reported that Savanna studied in Peru for the past 6 months. We always wonder what happens in cases like this with a child’s citizenship. Technically, Savanna is a citizen of the United States. We wonder how Australia now handles her situation. Savanna has lived and born in the United States, South Africa, New Zealand and Australia.
• The Biological Father – He’s a graduate of Andover and Yale (one of the top schools in America). He’s a stock broker.
• Barnett Work History – Dorothy dropped out of college to run a piggery in Belize, bought Jewellery in Africa and was a flight attendant.
• Barnett Previous Relationship – It is rumored she had a tumultuous relationship with an airline pilot before the biological father. There is no report of the type of relationship she had with Juan Geldenhuys, except that they divorced and he moved to South Africa, away form his family.
• Judge Robert Mallard – This judge noted in 1994 of Barnett’s “troubled” relationships with men had been characterized by “arguments, temper outbursts and occasional physical violence”.
• Barnett’s Courtroom Conduct – Barnett apparently had to be admonished by the judge during her custody trial for her conduct.
• New Mother Dating – As a breast feeding young mother, Barnett went out with five different men since the birth of her child. Now how many breast feeding young mothers did you ever know that dated five men in less than one year? Although as we stated before, we’ve heard of this behavior with other underground mothers.
• Emerald Ring – We wonder what happened to the $9K Emerald Ring? Did she give it to Savanna? When underground moms are on trial, they usually report to the court they are indigent or without funds so that they can be represented by a Public Defender. We wonder if Barnett is currently hiding her assets?
• Faye Yager’s 7000 Women Claim – This is an impossible number. The Underground didn’t start until 1984, and in less than 20 years, Yager would have had to have averaged one call per day. That’s improbable
• Dr. Madelaine Wohlerich Evaluation – In the ’90s, it was typical for a Children of the Underground Mom to get their small network of therapists to perform an evaluation. These would be done after they went into hiding and be used as the legal defense. It sounds like this is exactly what happened.
• Children of the Underground – The video tape and written note that was sent to family and relatives is a sign that Faye Yager’s Children of the Underground was involved and assisted Dorothy Barnett. However, in these cases only if Dorothy Barnett testifies that she received help from Faye would that provide any real proof. The next sign would be if one of the Underground Attorneys shows up as the legal counsel for Dorothy Lee Barnett in the Federal Case. It is possible that Dorothy Lee Barnett gave Yager the $9K Emerald Ring for entrance into the Underground and in exchange would receive lifetime legal defense from the Underground’s Attorneys. So if we eventually see the names Alan Rosenfeld, Richard Ducote, Toby Kleinman, Sheila Brogna, Meera Fox, Seth Goldstein or Joan Zorza — that would provide further evidence.
• Falsifying Passport – Shand is reporting that she falsified the passport herself. But it is very possible that this information is meant to prevent the real person that helped her create a false identity such as Faye Yager from being prosecuted.
• Alexandra Canton – Usually in creating a false identity, the person borrows the birth certificate or identity from another person. If there is a real person named Alexandra Canton, that person could also be charged with the Passport Charges. We wonder if that person exists?
• The Child’s Room in Charleston – The biological father kept the room for the child. This is very common in kidnapping cases. It is a searching parent’s dream to have Samantha walk through the door of that room someday, even as an adult.
•  Comment from Father’s Attorney – “That Lee would leverage her daughter’s emotions to win her freedom demonstrates a depth of her selfishness,” says Sturgis. We’re not surprised here!

In following these cases over the years of these arrested moms, it seems to me that extradition to the United States as well as a fast track to a Federal Prison seems probable. During her future sentencing, it seems the judge would look at the defendant’s conduct after her arrest. The mother still claiming she is terrified at the custodial father seems like a fictional story to a woman who is now claiming to be an abuse victim of both an airline pilot and a stock broker. As they say, a Tiger never loses its stripes. It seems odd if Savanna doesn’t somehow know the truth about her mom that is just starting to make sense now.

The Editor