Police: Mother Abandons Disabled Daughter At Bar

Lynn Cameron is described as a "severely disabled adult ... unable to care for herself or her personal needs." (CNN)
Lynn Cameron is described as a "severely disabled adult ... unable to care for herself or her personal needs." (CNN)
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Updated: 7/11/2012 11:44 am
(CNN) -- An Illinois woman who left her mentally disabled daughter outside a Tennessee bar will not be charged.

Police in Caryville, Tennessee, said the daughter is 19 and not assigned to a legal guardian.

"As terrible as it is, unfortunately there is nothing we can do," Assistant Police Chief Stephanie Smith said. "There is no doubt we need a law for mental health rights, but pending this investigation, we just don't know what else to do."

According to police, Eva Cameron stopped at the Big Orange Bar in Caryville on June 28 when her daughter, Lynn, needed to use the restroom.

The mother left Lynn by the side of the road and returned to her home in Algonquin, Illinois, according to Smith.

"(Lynn) didn't know her age, she didn't know her address, she didn't know her phone number and she didn't even know her name," Smith said.

Eva Cameron told the Northwest Herald newspaper in Illinois that she brought Lynn to Caryville because of its concentration of Baptists and because Tennessee has the "No. 1 health care system in the United States of America."

The young woman's identity was unknown until Caryville police received an anonymous tip on Monday, having released a picture and requested information from the public.

At their request, Eva Cameron had a brief meeting with Caryville police on Tuesday. She signed a statement saying that Lynn Cameron was now a ward of Tennessee, officials said.

"She basically said, 'I don't want her and I don't want to take her.' Then she got in her car and she left," said Smith.

When reached later Tuesday by CNN, Eva Cameron said, "We understand she lost her ID card and that's how the situation has turned into what happened. She's already an adult. I just have to leave it at that."

Eva Cameron would not answer further questions.

Authorities took Lynn Cameron to a hospital, where she was discovered to have only a basic vocabulary of 30-40 words, according to Smith.

A Campbell County Chancery Court order in the case described Lynn Cameron as a "severely disabled adult, suffering from profound mental deficits, and is unable to care for herself or her personal needs."

According to the court, the mother stated "she could not and would not care for Lynn Cameron."

Eva Cameron said that she has another disabled child and that caring for both was too much to handle, according to the Northwest Herald.

Authorities said Lynn Cameron is being cared for at a facility in Roane County.

When asked how the young woman is doing, Smith replied, "Lynn is doing fantastic."


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The views expressed here do not necessarily represent those of WKRC-TV :: Cincinnati Weather and Forecasts, Cincinnati News, Breaking News, and Sports for the Cincinnati area, Ohio, northern Kentucky, Indiana, and the tristate area

Blitzer - 7/13/2012 2:48 PM
1 Vote
I have a mentally disabled young adult daughter & would never leave her behind anywhere!!!! Muchless in front of a bar,she could have gotten raped or worse!! This woman is a lazy azz,heartless B*tch & she pointed out her daughter was now an adult. She is physically,but not mentally. There ARE agencies that can & will help. Why the hell CALL welfare why not just show her pathetic face & go up there.She will get hers,what comes around goes around.

davmoses - 7/12/2012 4:01 PM
0 Votes
Good luck with those calls to case management, Webb Girl! If you can reach a case worker on the phone (usually voicemails), you would know that there are few programs available for care, and it is not easy to get placement. How many families will take on a mentally disabled but fully grown adult? I am not making excuses for the mother, because it was dangerous to just leave her daughter behind. But, if you think there are programs out there that can handle every situation, you are very mistaken. That is why the justice/ jail system is basically becoming the caregiver for the mentally ill....

Webb Girl 3 - 7/12/2012 2:35 PM
1 Vote
Well once again...........the local news has stunned me!! How in the world could you give birth to a baby and then 19 yrs later, just leave the "damage package" beside the road, like discarded trash! If the so called Mother couldn't take care of her daughter, why didn't she call the Case Management, that I am sure the daughter has and have them make arrangements for her to go to a GOOD facility, where people will care for and care about her!! This makes me angry and Mad at the same time, the criminal who left this poor girl, should have to pay the consequences!!

davmoses - 7/12/2012 12:49 PM
0 Votes
I don't know if anyone here knows how much work it takes to deal with an adult who is severly mentally ill or physically disabled. I have seen situations like this up close and even in my family, and as much as you want to do the right thing, the situation really can become too much, or the ill person is just too much to handle given their disability. I don't know if that happened here, but I have known GOOD people who did everything they could for the family member, but they could only control the mentally ill adult so far. It was a horrible choice society made when we eliminated almost all housing/caring for adults who were too mentally/physically disabled to have unsupervised living. You are saying "shame on her", but you all should be saying "shame on us"....

minime2347 - 7/12/2012 12:05 PM
0 Votes
When will the social media understand that the PERSON comes BEFORE the disability?!?! Very sad story.

Ammys2Cuties - 7/12/2012 11:56 AM
1 Vote
OK...after reading this story a couple more times, I am really freaked now. What did the wench of a 'mother' think would happen by leaving a female of this age & disablility outside a bar? And you know what? Not one damn good thing! BUT, the BAD potential is OFF the charts. People Suck!

buckylastard - 7/12/2012 10:21 AM
0 Votes
Evil, selfish woman. As for "him" getting re-elected, I guess we will find out if people got dumber since the days of Jimmy Carter. Sure seems like it.

damaq - 7/12/2012 8:30 AM
0 Votes
BEERCATMAN - 7/11/2012--> I'm going to laugh at your azz when he's voted back in.

Cincinnatus - 7/12/2012 7:03 AM
0 Votes
Here it is an industry. Take care of a couple disabled adults and you get a section 8 house, food stamps, and enough money for a brand new SUV, and several flat screen TVs.

BEERCATMAN - 7/11/2012 9:09 PM
1 Vote
NO MORE OBAMA
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