OVIEDO, Fla. - One day last month, a DCF worker, a
priest, and an attorney showed up at the Tremont Independent Retirement
Living facility in Oviedo, Ms. Deane's home for the past several years,
and took her away.
Some of her fellow seniors at the Tremont watched it happen.
"All of a sudden you realized you're not seeing her," 92-year-old
Libbie Asher said. "So I asked where is she? And they said she just
went."
The sidewalks in front of the Tremont that line Red Bug Lake Road in Oviedo had been the cleanest in years, thanks to Ms. Deane.
Bernadine Lanzano, the 84-year-old with
severe osteoporosis who is known as Ms. Deane, had been a fixture in
Oviedo. Every day, rain or shine, hot or cold, she'd slowly stroll up
the sidewalk with her walker, grabber and trash bag, picking up garbage.
Some days she'd walk 3 miles.
News 6 first featured Ms. Deane
last year in a Getting Crime Results segment. Ms. Deane's friends and
neighbors contacted News 6 again recently to help "find" her.
"I want to know where she is because I want
to contact her and tell her how much she's missed and that there's
people here who want to contact her," 86-year-old Hattie Goodman said.
Court records show Ms. Deane is now in the care of a court-appointed guardian for her own well-being and protection.
A Seminole County judge appointed a
temporary guardian to care for Ms. Deane after someone from her church
became concerned about her health and finances and notified Department
of Children and Families.
She'd shrunk to 77 pounds, according to court records.
Court-appointed doctors examined Ms. Deane and determined she is incapacitated and cannot care for herself.
Her court-appointed guardian's attorney,
Kyle Fletcher, said the couple that was supposed to be caring for her
had taken advantage of her.
"They were writing checks to whoever they
wanted to, and she had no say whatsoever," Fletcher said. "This is a
woman who is a math genius and knows her numbers and she'd forgotten
what was going on. They'd taken over and were benefiting from her money,
not her."
Fletcher said the couple transferred almost
$750,000 of her property to themselves for a fraction -- $36,000 -- of
what it's worth, they were paying themselves more than $14,000 a month
from Ms. Deane's accounts, and they changed her trust to give them all
of her assets -- worth millions of dollars --when she dies.
"They put themselves in a position to become
multi-millionaires and they're trying to become multi-millionaires
before her death, using her money," Fletcher said. "That trust was going
to colleges and people other than them. And eventually it kind of
evolved to multiple changes so they got everything, more or less."
Fletcher said there is a criminal
investigation into the couple by the Seminole County Sheriff's Office
Economic Crimes Unit and he is suing them for the assets and to have
their names removed from Ms. Deane's trust.
The couple has not been arrested or charged with a crime.
They told News 6 that Ms. Deane was like family to them and they always had her best interests in mind.
They said Ms. Deane was paying them willingly but they said they earned it for the care they were giving her.
They denied changing the trust to make them beneficiaries of all of Ms. Deane's assets upon her death.
Ms. Deane's court-appointed guardian's
attorney said she is in better health and has gained weight but will not
reveal her new location in order to protect her.
Full Article & Source:
Where is Ms. Deane? Little old litter lady disappears
4 comments:
Were criminal charges filed against the alleged thieves?
I would be interested in a brief timeline of events particularly the date of the referenced trust along with background information on previous estate planning records etc. as well as family, former friends including parishioners from her Church.
How much are the thieves that moved her taking from her trust and estate! Boy they are clever! Now the Attorney and his friends own her and all her money! What are their fees! People being stolen by the Judicial system for money!! In Florida! lots of money!!! We want to know what they are doing with these people they steal!
before you blast this people you need to really know the real story.... how about the recent abduction of this Wealthy woman? WHO TOOK HER.. there is so much stories... gossip but im sure who ever took Deane is after with her money.
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