CANTON – Lindsey Abbuhl paraded her 11-year-old daughter to local fundraisers, and flew her halfway across the country to be the guest of honor during Texas A&M softball games.
The Canton mom described the girl's medical condition as a central nervous system malfunction. It had prematurely ended Rylee's softball career. Worse yet, it would end her life, mom said.
Rylee was dying.
At least that's what everyone believed.
Wishes Can Happen believed it. Lindsey's friends believed it. Softball players from colleges near and far, who'd created videos for Rylee, believed it. Players on her own travel team believed it. Media, including this newspaper, believed it. Even Rylee herself believed it.
It was all a lie, say Rylee's dad and authorities who have now intervened.
Why daughter was removed from Lindsey Abbuhl's home and her mom is being investigated
On Thursday, the Stark County Sheriff's Office and Stark County Division of Children Services took Rylee from her mom's home and temporarily left her with a family friend. Then, on Friday, Stark County Family Court Judge Rosemarie Hall placed Rylee in custody of her dad, Jamie Abbuhl, for the time being.
"It needed to be done," said Jamie's attorney, Christine A. Johnson.
Not only was Rylee removed from Lindsey Abbuhl's home, but the 34-year-old mom is also the subject of an ongoing criminal investigation. Stark County Sheriff's Major C.J. Stantz confirmed the agency is looking into the case, based on a complaint it had received that Rylee was not gravely ill.
Although Lindsey has not been charged with a crime, a neglect and abuse complaint filed by Children Services in Family Court alleges Lindsey "has been using Rylee's 'medical condition' to obtain funding for trips, housing and other expenses for the last several years."
What does the complaint say?
The document, obtained via a public records request, notes a medical professional reviewed all of Rylee's medical records involving neurology, genetics, gastrointestinal, hematology, rheumatology, pulmonology and podiatry and concluded:
"There is no evidence to support mother's claim that Rylee is terminally ill."
It goes on to detail how Rylee has seen a counselor for the past three years to learn how to "process her own death." The counselor, though, recently learned Rylee was not terminally ill.
"(Lindsey) also told the counselor, who is going on maternity leave, that Rylee may not be alive when the counselor returns," the complaint states.
It describes how authorities went to Lindsey's home Thursday to further investigate. When confronted with a suggestion she'd fabricated her daughter's medical condition, Lindsey denied it, so they exercised a "Rule Six" legal provision, which allowed them to immediately remove Rylee for her own safety.
Jerry Coleman, chief legal counsel for Children Services, said the agency stepped aside on the temporary custody issue Friday because Rylee's dad requested and was awarded custody.
Technically, Judge Hall signed an order that temporarily supersedes terms of the 2017 divorce of Jamie and Lindsey Abbuhl — which made Lindsey custodial parent. The judge's order also states Jamie must cooperate with Children Services until a hearing next month.
'We don't know if tomorrow will come'
For at least two years, Lindsey had shared information on social media about her daughter's medical condition. Those posts, sometimes with a photo or two, typically generated a wave of sympathetic replies and support. The situation, as she described it, was dire.
"This little lady is my best friend! Continue to say prayers for her as we navigate through her medical concerns. We don't know what her future holds, and we don't know if tomorrow will come for her each time we go to bed but the prayers and faith of all those we love helps keep us going!"
Along the way, Lindsey invited her social media contacts to events such as bowling fundraisers and a "Rylee's Warriors" youth softball tournament in Plain Township two weeks ago to help defray medical costs.
"Come out and join a short fun league! 10 weeks long — will skip the Sunday of Easter. Part of the weekly money goes to the bowling alley, the rest goes to Rylee. Message me if you'd like to sign up!"
In December, Wishes Can Happen sent Lindsey and her daughter on a trip to Key West, Florida.
Rylee's condition drew nationwide attention a few months ago. It started when coaches and players from softball teams at Malone and Walsh universities joined for a "Rylee Day" at Hall of Fame Fitness Center, an event surrounding an indoor exhibition game between the two Stark County schools.
How the community responded to help
Motivated by the belief the diminutive brown-haired, home-schooled fifth-grader had a bucket list of wishes, players at both local universities laid out a special day for her. It included a mock recruiting war, with the prize being a ceremonial scholarship to play college ball.
"She has two months," Lindsey told a Repository reporter that day, Feb. 26, as she watched her daughter throw out the first pitch, then joined the Malone dugout to call pitches for the game.
All while Rylee's travel ball teammates watched and cheered from the balcony above. At the time, Lindsey said Rylee's organs were shutting down and the main goal for her was "quality of life."
Malone and Walsh players had also reached out to college teams and pro players across the country, asking for well-wishes to present to Rylee.
The tight-knit sisterhood in the softball world responded in a big way. Personalized videos to the girl rolled in from the likes of pro star Sierra Romero, as well as dozens of colleges from Penn State to UCLA and everywhere in between.
And the topper was a special four-minute segment from Notre Dame University players in South Bend, Indiana, Rylee's dream school. In it, players took her on a virtual tour of campus, including a stop at the scaled-down replica of the Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes, where an Irish player lit a candle for Rylee, then shared a prayer from the chaplain.
The attention garnered stories and interviews on local radio and TV and a story in The Canton Repository. Texas A&M's softball team invited Rylee to fly out to College Station; she and her mom visited Sea World on the trip — another wish Lindsey had said was on her daughter's bucket list.
When doubts about the illness surfaced
But some began questioning Lindsey's motives.
Several contacted The Repository, wondering if Rylee was as sick as Lindsey portrayed.
Their skepticism was based on some allegations that Jamie, Rylee's dad, later alluded to in his court filing seeking temporary custody. Accusations that Lindsey herself had once claimed to have a brain tumor and had even interviewed families to adopt Rylee after she died.
Lindsey did not respond to a request for comment for this story. However, in several prior interviews with The Repository during the past two months, Lindsey insisted it was former friends with ulterior motives who were merely trying to disparage her and Rylee.
When asked, Lindsey declined on multiple occasions to release her daughter's medical records for The Repository to review. She also was reluctant to allow physicians at Akron Children's Hospital — where she said Rylee had been treated — to speak to the newspaper.
"She has a whole team of doctors working on her," Lindsey said.
Lindsey said they'd run countless tests on Rylee, but were unable to determine the root of her illness. She said her daughter regularly suffered nighttime seizures, could barely eat, was on an ever-changing array of pain medications and was nearly always exhausted.
"That's sad people have to cause drama," she'd said. "Rylee sits in during her (doctor) appointments; she knows what's happening to her. So calling me a liar is calling her a liar."
None of it made sense to some of Lindsey's friends. They'd watched a seemingly healthy Rylee continue to play, eat and travel. They'd see Lindsey's social media posts of the girl climbing a mountain of steps to go sledding, while supposedly fighting for her life.
Is it a case of Munchausen syndrome?
Katie Marksell, a mom herself, is one of those friends.
"Maybe it was motherly instinct," she said of her epiphany.
She'd met Lindsey through softball two years ago. Rylee and her daughter became friends. Rylee, she said, visited so often she even had her own account on their Hulu and Netflix.
Marksell said soon after they'd met, Lindsey told her Rylee had lesions on her brain, then on her lungs. She also recalled Lindsey's tearful breakdown over the fact Rylee had been diagnosed with leukemia.
"She was always trying to have more tests run," Marksell said.
Marksell said her doubts grew, though she tried to support her friend. Maybe, she thought, this was just one of those rare cases where it takes years for doctors to finally get to the bottom of it.
"All my friends know I'm a researcher," Marksell said.
Then, she watched a mini-series, "The Act," on Hulu. It's based on the true story of Gypsy Rose Blanchard and her mom, Dee Dee. The Missouri woman for years pretended her daughter was seriously ill to garner sympathy and attention — a phenomena called factitious disorder imposed on another, but commonly known as Munchausen syndrome by proxy.
The similarities to Rylee and Lindsey were striking, Marksell said.
"I think Lindsey is very sick and needs help," Marksell said, adding she needs to be held accountable for damage she's done. "She thrives on attention, but doesn't know how to get it."
Marksell said Rylee is a gem of a child.
"But she's endured way more than any child should have to ... such a good kid and I love her to death," she said.
Father: 'If she needed my heart, I'd give it to her today'
Lindsey had told The Repository and others that Rylee's dad, Jamie, had no interest in his daughter and was mostly absent after the couple divorced.
Jamie Abbuhl said that's an outright lie, like so many of Lindsey's stories. Although his ex-wife had custody of Rylee, Jamie said, he regularly visited his daughter and added he hoped for a larger role now.
"If she needed my heart, I'd give it to her today," he said.
Jamie said he'd grown increasingly concerned about his daughter in recent months. Not because of her health; rather it was the stories Lindsey was telling others about an imminent death for Rylee.
He said Lindsey even recently asked a friend to be a pallbearer at Rylee's funeral — a request supposedly made by Rylee.
"What kid even thinks about something like that?" Jamie said.
He said he believes the extent of Rylee's medical issues are limited to slow digestion and constipation.
"As far as her going to die ... no," he said.
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On Twitter: @tbotosREP
