Brenda Daniel and her husband Doug LeFevre
fighting to FREE her MOTHER FROM FORCED MISUSE OF A POA
"Free Poochie"
This situation with Poochie has been brutal, but Doug and Brenda remain steadfast in their commitment to advocate for Poochie.
Fighting the system:
Inside the effort to ‘Free Poochie’
Poochies whereabouts are unknown after she was moved into a care facility; and appears to have been kidnapped by sisters who control the money -
Poochie has been stripped of her home and her belongings and was placed in an assisted living facility with her whereabouts kept secret from family members and friends.
That's the nightmare situation facing Brenda Daniel and her brother after their two sisters and their husbands secretly seized control and put their 95-year-old mother, Ana Daniel – known as Poochie – into a Maryland facility.
It’s the latest in a family saga that’s eerily reminiscent of the film “I Care a Lot,” in which a court-appointed guardian separates elderly individuals from their families and drains their savings.
According to Daniel, the nightmare began when her oldest sister and her husband – who is a lawyer – quietly had themselves named powers of attorney, gaining control over Poochie and her estate.
“My sisters placed Mom in an assisted living facility in Frederick, Maryland, in May 2019,” Daniel said.
“My brother and I were shocked that my sisters weren’t honoring our mother’s wishes to age in place, and we spent many worrying hours before learning where she was. She’s since been moved to a different location and they refuse to tell us where she is. I’d describe it as a kidnapping.”
For 14 months of Poochie’s confinement at the initial Frederick facility, Covid lockdowns meant Daniel and LeFevre could visit her only through the window in her first-floor room.
“Mom indicated she was lonely and missed our hugs. She begged to go home with us but I didn’t have the heart to tell her my sisters had made that impossible,” Daniel said. “Doug and I visited daily. We sang, danced, and teased each other. We reminisced about her friends and her life growing up in Puerto Rico. Our goal was to keep her spirits up.
“Mom was trapped – isolated in her room and in a deadly situation. I still don’t understand why they forced her to stay there through the long months of Covid. We’ve been told that at least 50 percent of residents in one building didn’t survive. Mom would have been much safer, not to mention happier, if they’d let us bring her into our home – or if they’d been willing to take her into theirs, which they were not. Even worse, they kept her in lockdown after Covid ended and that’s something I’ll never get over. She couldn’t even go outside on the grounds to enjoy the sunshine or fill her bird feeder. They even took her phone from her.”
Last April, Daniel, and LeFevre went to visit Poochie and she didn’t come to the window. When they asked administrators why she wasn’t in her room, they were told that HIPAA prevented them from providing any information other than that she had been taken to the hospital by ambulance.
“My sisters wouldn’t return our phone calls to answer our questions,” Daniel said. “When Mom returned to her window a few days later, her entire face was horrifically bruised. We were shocked by her condition and unsurprised to later learn the facility is under investigation by the Maryland attorney general’s office.”
As bad as things were, the situation continued to deteriorate: Daniel was told she could no longer visit her mother, per her eldest sister’s wishes. She took legal action and was relieved when Eric Schaffer, administrative judge of Maryland’s 11th District Court, ruled last August that she could see Poochie. Despite the victory, the facility continued to block access to her mother, citing her sister’s wishes. Even worse, Poochie was moved to a different, undisclosed facility. Neither sister will reveal where their mother is, and Judge Oliver John Cejka Jr. ruled last month that they don't have to.
“I just cannot understand why my sisters would treat Poochie this way – and be so cruel to my brother and me,” Daniel said. "Poochie was happy and thriving in her home. She loved her garden and her cats. Friends and neighbors visited regularly and she adored her live-in tenant. She has a wonderful sense of humor, can beat my husband and me at Scrabble, is fabulous at word puzzles, and is vibrant and fit. She wanted to age in place and my brother purchased long-term care insurance to make it happen for her."
Now the beloved garden and Poochie's home of more than 40 years are gone, sold by Daniel’s sisters. Most of the memories the home contained are gone, too: Brenda and her brother were given short notice and a time limit to grab a few precious items before the house and its contents were closed to them forever, with Poochie's treasured mementos tossed into dumpsters.
"I'd heard of this happening with other families, but never imagined it could happen in mine," Daniel said through tears. “I'm devastated and I can't imagine what Poochie is going through. I'm sure she thinks my brother and I have abandoned her. I fear I’ll never see my mother again. It’s heartbreaking.”
Daniel and LeFevre have vowed to continue their battle to "free Poochie" and are determined to find out where she is. They’ve even offered to give up any inheritance and to care for her in their home – at their expense – if given the opportunity.
"The court system is an uneven playing field, and the battle is expensive. Cases like Mom’s are difficult. Just look at what Britney Spears had to go through to gain her freedom," Daniel said, adding that the situation is even more challenging because her sister’s husband – who holds the secondary power of attorney – is a local lawyer.
"My mother is suffering and we are suffering by not having her in our lives,” Daniel said. “At 95, she doesn't have that much time – and it’s simply a fact that the life expectancies of elderly individuals in care facilities are shortened. We need help."
For more information, including photographs, documents, correspondence, and videos, message Brenda Daniel or Doug LeFevre.on Facebook
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