The bad news just keeps piling up for the family of Isabel Celis, the 6-year-old Arizona girl who went missing last month. Police in Tucson are now saying that child welfare workers made a visit to the Celis home way back in December. That's in addition to the news earlier this week that little Isa's big brothers are now living with mom Becky and dad Sergio has been barred from contacting them.
Police won't say much about the alleged CPS incident in December, beyond the fact that something happened. And they're still saying that Isabel's abduction could have been by a stranger or a family member -- they can't (or won't) say which. But let's be real.
Even if neither of Isabel's parents was in any way involved in the little girl's disappearance, the fact that they've tangled at least twice now with child protective services means that theirs is anything but a happy home. Are there are ever times where CPS is called and it turns out to be a false alarm? Of course. We all know at least someone with a disgruntled neighbor or cranky ex-aunt-in-law who has decided to enact a vendetta with some bogus charge about child abuse.
But we also all tend to know at least someone -- even if we don't know them very well -- who has had real dealings with a CPS-like agency. Nine times out of 10 -- the 10th being that rare exception for a bogus call -- these things are real. Nine times out of 10, at least one parent made a mistake.
So take the fact that police now say that the Celis family has had at least two dealings with CPS. Based on the law of probability, it's looking less and less likely that it could be "bogus," more and more likely that somebody is screwing up here.
I hope little Isabel is found. I hope her parents didn't play a role in her going missing. But even if she is and they didn't, there will be a lot more to be dealt with in the Celis household.
How do you feel about a visit from CPS?
Image via National Center for Missing & Exploited Children