"Devoted" killer dad had history of child abuse, but police refused to issue Amber Alert when daughter went "missing" (Lake George, New York)

Once again, we see how the police refuse to take a history of child abuse (or domestic violence) seriously--when it concerns a father. Dad ADAM PARCELLS was supposed to have supervised visitation with his now murdered 10-year-old daughter, at least while CPS investigated the claim that he had hit her. Mom called the police to report her missing after Dad picked up the girl--supposedly to go get ice cream--and then didn't return her. But the Rochester Police refused to issue an Amber Alert.

Notice that this father also had joint custody with the mother of the 3-year-old girl (a different mom from the mother of the 10-year-old daughter). He specifically had "legal physical custody" on weekends.

So for much for an anti-father "bias." Quite the contrary. The police refused to take Dad's abduction of the 10-year-old daughter seriously--even though he had a history of "alleged" child abuse. Dad's so-called "supervised" visitation was a joke. In addition, Dad apparently had NO TROUBLE AT ALL getting joint custody/weekend visitation with the 3-year-old, and when that mother called the police after the daughter was not returned--well, the police sat on that matter as well. 

Had there been less daddy indulgence here, is it possible the police MIGHT have found these girls while they were still alive? We'll never know....

http://poststar.com/news/local/abuse-complaint-was-pending-vs-lake-george-campground-killer-dad/article_6b60b342-d97d-11e0-88b7-001cc4c002e0.html

Abuse complaint was pending vs. Lake George campground killer dad

DON LEHMAN
The Post-Star
Posted: Wednesday, September 7, 2011 2:10 pm


LAKE GEORGE -- The western New York man who shot and killed his young daughters before killing himself was only allowed to have supervised visitation with the older girl because of an investigation into allegations he had abused her, officials said Wednesday.

A police source familiar with the investigation said that Child Protective Services in the Rochester area was investigating a complaint that Adam P. Parcells had struck 10-year-old Noel Parcells, resulting in a court order that the father only have "supervised visitation" with her.

Police believe Adam Parcells, 29, killed Noel Parcells and 3-year-old Mia Parcells on Monday in a tent at a Lake George campground, then killed himself. Their bodies were discovered Tuesday.

Adam Parcells took the older girl during a scheduled visit with her Friday, telling the mother he was taking her for ice cream and that they would be back later that evening. When they did not return, she called police at about 7:40 p.m. Friday.

Noel Parcells' mother reported her missing, but Rochester Police did not issue an "Amber Alert" for the missing child and did not enter the case into a nationwide police database for missing persons until Tuesday.

Rochester Police did not return phone calls on the matter Tuesday or Wednesday. The agency issued a statement Wednesday defending its handling of the case and saying the situation did not qualify for an Amber Alert.

"The officers were given no indications that the child was in imminent danger or threat of physical harm," the statement reads. "Mr. Parcells' act of leaving with the child did not rise to the level of a crime nor did it meet the criteria for an Amber Alert."

The mother contacted police again on Monday to report Noel had not been returned, and Rochester Police prepared a complaint for misdemeanor criminal contempt for disobeying a court custody order and began the process of seeking an arrest warrant.

"At this point, officers were still given no indication that imminent danger existed for the child," the Rochester Police statement read.

The mother contacted Rochester Police again on Tuesday, and the department entered the missing persons report in a nationwide computer system. A short time later, the Warren County Sheriff's Office contacted Rochester Police about the deaths.

Adam Parcells had legal physical custody of Mia Parcells for the weekend through a visitation agreement with his estranged wife, authorities said.

He was supposed to have returned the girl to her mother's home Monday night, and when she had not been brought back the mother, Marcie Parcells, filed a report with police.

The Warren County Sheriff's Office said Adam Parcells, of Hilton in Monroe County, shot and killed the two girls in a tent at Adirondack Camping Village in Lake George late Monday, then killed himself.

An autopsy found that Mia Parcells was shot four times, Noel Parcells twice and that Adam Parcells shot himself once in the head.

The Sheriff's Office said earlier Parcells bought the .45-caliber rifle used in the shooting at a Dick's Sporting Goods store in western New York, but a spokeswoman for Dick's said Wednesday the company had no record of a purchase by him.

The Sheriff's Office said Wednesday that the gun's history was being investigated. A receipt for ammunition from Dick's was found in a gun case in Parcells' car, and the agency was tracing where he got the gun itself.

The two girls had different mothers, the mother of the younger girl having filed for divorce from Parcells earlier this year, police said.

Warren County Sheriff Bud York said no suicide note or other correspondence was found at the scene.

Adam Parcells and his daughters had apparently been at the campground since Saturday. The campground's owner checked on the car Tuesday and located their bodies.

A call to the Monroe County Department of Social Services, which was investigating the child abuse complaint against Adam Parcells, was not returned Tuesday.

Parcells' profile on the social networking website Linkedin indicated he worked as a "manufacturing inspector" at a western New York electronics company, Badger Technologies of Farmington, N.Y., for the last 8 months. A call to the company was not returned Wednesday.

His profile also indicated Parcells had degrees in criminal justice from two western New York colleges.

Adam Parcells and his daughter Noel were featured in an online news article last year about a contest he had won through a musical instrument manufacturer, allowing him to buy a clarinet for his daughter. He was described as a "devoted dad" in the article.