Kristen Lynn Tatar

Kristen Lynn Tatar

January 29, 1999 - August 7, 2003

Kristen Lynn Tatar was born on January 29, 1999 to Janet Crawford and James Tatar. She was born with a stomach problem that was treatable, and within a few weeks of her birth, doctors also diagnosed Kristen with failure to thrive syndrome. This was not a problem due to Kristen, however, this was caused by her parents. They would leave Kristen in a chair with only her pacifier for hours. They didn't feed her properly at all, and in addition to that, she was not bathed. Her parents avoided bringing her to the doctor's office for routine check-ups, and they avoided various social workers by moving around often.

On August 7, 2003, Kristen died due to malnutrition and dehydration. Her body was found in a cooler. The cooler had been wrapped in plastic bags and then put in a trashcan. Kristen was four years old, but her body only weighed twelve pounds. Janet had been accused of abusing her three other daughters before this. When Kristen's older half-sisters decided to have contact with their mother again, they often asked to visit with Kristen, but their mother always made excuses as to why Kristen couldn't be visited, or why she wasn't present. 

To add to the suspicious behavior, one of Kristen's sisters asked to go to Kristen's room, but her mother insisted that she not. There was a strong odor that seemed to be coming from Kristen's room, and when she asked her five year old half-brother about Kristen, he informed her that when Kristen was "bad" she had to go to the attic, and that he thought Kristen was still in the attic from the last time she had been "bad". 

Kristen's sister went into Kristen's room, but was afraid to go into the attic. It appeared that the room was now being used as a storage room, and she saw no signs of her little sister there, other than a pair of tiny shoes, a toddler-sized bed, and a teddy bear. Kristen's mother said that the foul odor was caused by water in the crawl space, when in fact, it was due to the fact that Kristen's body was kept there, and then moved to the attic shortly afterwards.