Back in 2022, TikToker Autumn (@autumnphaynes) relapsed and ended up losing her daughter. She had the opportunity to go to court and earn her parental rights back. Her daughter had been placed with a foster family, a West Virginia cop and his wife.
At first, the couple seemed very supportive of her. They were rooting for her to recover and wanted to have a relationship with her.
They got so close that they went on family vacations together. Autumn and the wife were best friends. She was able to talk to her about anything, including her relationship problems.
Little did Autumn know that they were actually building evidence against her so that they could keep her child for themselves. In September of 2024, Autumn began having some mental health issues after she received custody of her daughter again. In October of 2024, she decided to stay at a mental health facility for three to seven days.
The couple agreed to take care of her daughter in the meantime. They also agreed to pick her up and let her live with them until she got back on her feet. However, that did not happen.
Two days into her mental health stay, she wanted to leave. But as soon as her partner picked her up, she realized that she wasn’t ready to leave.
Later, she finally got to talk to her mom, who informed her that the couple had filed for emergency guardianship under the claim that she was unfit to be a parent and was using drugs.
“Long story short, they wouldn’t let me talk to her,” said Autumn. “They wouldn’t let me call her, nothing. Yes, they were her foster parents before. Yes, they did have permission to watch her for me, but they were supposed to come get me, and they were supposed to give her back.”
Ultimately, Autumn had to go to court. Overall, the court battle took 10 months. Autumn worked with three different attorneys in the process of getting her daughter back.
The judge gave her permission to see her daughter on her birthday. The couple refused to let Autumn or her mom see her child.
Additionally, CPS even showed up to multiple court hearings on behalf of Autumn. The couple eventually gave Autumn her daughter back. She doesn’t know if these people are still foster parents.
“I do feel like I was groomed,” said Autumn. “I do feel like I was manipulated. And I do feel like my daughter was kidnapped and not given back to me. I put my trust in [them].”
So, the moral of the story here is always to be careful about who you trust with your kids because they may not turn out to be good people.
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By Emily Chan
Emily Chan is a writer who covers lifestyle and news content. She graduated from Michigan State University with a degree in... More about Emily Chan
