Two young girls kidnapped from their home in Round Rock in late December will remain in foster care until further notice, after a hearing Tuesday in a Williamson County courtroom.
The girls have been at a foster home, in the custody of Child Protective Services, after being rescued in Colorado at the beginning of January.
Terry Miles, 44, has been charged with kidnapping in the case, and is also a person of interest in the suspicious death of the girls' mother, Tonya Ellen Bates. Bates was found dead in her home on New Year’s Eve. That’s when investigators discovered her daughters were missing.
At the hearing, CPS said within the next month they're going to complete a home study at the girls' aunt and uncle's (on their mother's side) home in Arkansas to see how well it would suit the children.
The girls' attorneys said while it's best the children stay in foster care right now to assist with their progress, they added that eventually, the girls would hope to be moved to Arkansas because of fond memories they had there.
Since the girls returned to Central Texas, friends and family have spoken out to KVUE about their hopes to keep the girls together.
“Getting them back to an environment that they're going to know is going to be a way to help them heal,” Leann Dornhoefer told KVUE as she explained how it would be beneficial to keep the girls in Central Texas.
One of the girls' fathers, Gregory Griffith, who lives in Louisiana, also wants custody. Authorities will also be conducting a home study at his home.
Bates' common law husband, Josef Scheffler, wants to have input on where the girls end up, his lawyer told the court Tuesday.
A status hearing and a motion to strike intervention is scheduled for March 1 at 1:30 p.m.
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