Tampa girl, 8, is witness in father's dismemberment murder case. Family wants her home.

[Zorro]

Robert Kessler, 69, was arrested in connection with the murder of a woman found in McKay Bay. His daughter, 8, has been with the Department of Children and Families since. Her family wants her to come home.

An 8-year-old girl is a witness in the gruesome death of a woman whose dismembered body was found in Tampa’s McKay Bay. Her father, Robert Kessler, is charged in the homicide. The girl’s family hasn’t seen her since.

The child, whom the Tampa Bay Times is not naming because of her age, has been in the custody of the Department of Children and Families since her father’s arrest on Nov. 24, according to her maternal grandparents, Michael and Beth Gray. The girl’s mother, April Thompson, 34, died in September of an accidental drug overdose, they said.

Sarah Gray, Thompson’s sister and the 8-year-old’s aunt, said they didn’t get a clear answer on where her niece was until Monday. They’d been searching for answers since Kessler’s arrest. The Gray family is hoping to gain custody of the girl.

Robert Kessler previously had full custody of the girl and Thompson had visitation rights.

https://www.tampabay.com/news/crime/2021/12/01/tampa-girl-8-is-witness-in-fathers-dismemberment-murder-case-family-wants-her-home/

Hope this kid turns out OK in the future.

[Jilly_in_VA]

1. Seems like

DCS should have tried to find her other relatives, not just keep her in their custody. That's just WRONG.

[Phoenix61]

3. Once a child enters care it gets complicated.

If her father had placed her with relatives that would have been the end of it. If he wouldn’t or couldn’t the child is placed in DCS care. Any relative that would want to care for the child would have to complete background checks etc. and the court would have to sign off on it. That can all take several months.

[abqtommy]

2. I'll go along with the Department of Children and Families on this one. This is

a terrible trauma for this young girl and she deserves every chance to heal properly.

[Jilly_in_VA]

5. And what's wrong with the mother's family?

How do you know that the father didn't gain custody under false pretenses? That has been done.

[abqtommy]

6. I can't base my opinion on any facts, it's just what I feel is best for the child

at this point.

[Jilly_in_VA]

7. DCS is rarely best for the child

if there is loving family who are willing to care for her. They are supposed to be about keeping families together, or didn't you know that? /s Besides which, they should at least be looking for any family she has, not keeping her away from any of them, which is MORE traumatizing.

[Jilly_in_VA]

4. The mother had visitation rights prior to her death

so ISTM that DCS could just as well have notified her family where she was, especially seeing as how HE is a murderer.

[abqtommy]

8. NOTE: I refuse to bullied for expressing my opinion on this or any other thread. nt

[Jilly_in_VA]

9. Looks to me like YOU

are the one trying to do the bullying, if anyone is. I hold to my opinion that DCS is rarely the best for anyone's child. I asked you to give me some reasons why it is and you can't, then you accuse me of bullying. Nope. Won't wash.