Last spring, we brought you the harrowing story of Lilly Everett, also known as Lilly Baumann. Her mother, Megan Everett, disappeared from Sunrise, Florida with then two-year-old Lilly than let her spend a week with her dad, Robert Baumann. Neither have been heard from since. Even though Everett is facing federal and state charges for absconding with Lilly, the investigation has dragged along for a year. Well, Lilly’s relatives decided to enlist the help of John Walsh to give the effort to bring little Lilly home the equivalent of a mega-shot of adrenaline in the arm. Walsh is due to profile Lilly’s case on tonight’s edition of “The Hunt with John Walsh” on CNN.
For those who missed it, the seeds for Lilly’s disappearance were planted when she was eight months old. At that time, Everett moved in with Carlos Lesters. Everett had been trying to cut Baumann out of her life for some time before then. In short order, Everett adopted Lesters’ virulent opposition to vaccination and rabid enthusiasm for guns, and wanted Lilly homeschooled rather than have her learn about black history.
According to an article that ran last summer in New Times Broward-Palm Beach, Baumann found a disturbing situation when he first visited Lesters in 2012. Lesters’ house was not carpeted or babyproofed, and Lesters carried a Glock at all times. While perusing Everett and Lesters’ Facebook pages, Baumann saw pictures of Lilly playing with live ammo, and also noticed numerous pictures of guns just sitting on the counter.
Credit: AATTP.
Baumann managed to download most of those pictures before Everett and Lesters deleted their Facebook accounts last May. Most of them have been posted to “Bring Lilly Home,” a Facebook group Baumann set up to help rescue his daughter. Baumann also decided to enlist the help of Everett’s mother, Pam, and older sister, Stephanie. Both of them are very concerned about Everett’s mental state, and believe Lilly belongs with her father.
I’ve spoken with both Pam and Stephanie a number of times over the past year on Facebook. They told me that Baumann managed to get his hands on a number of pictures that were too disturbing to share online. Among them are several pictures where Everett and Lesters are laying in bed or on the couch with a gun within easy reach of Lilly.
However, Broward County Circuit Judge Steven Feren did see them when Baumann sought full custody of Lilly last spring. Even though this situation screamed in capital letters that Lilly needed to be out of that house yesterday, Feren awarded both parents joint custody. Feren paid for this folly last summer when he was defeated for reelection.
Only a month later, Baumann came to pick Lilly up, and found Lesters waiting for him. Apparently Everett had taken off hours earlier with Lilly in tow. Everett left a note to Lesters saying that while he was a “great dad” to Lilly, she was not willing to let the courts tell her how to raise her daughter. They haven’t been heard from since. Everett has since been indicted on federal charges of flight across state lines to avoid prosecution, in addition to state charges of kidnapping, interference with custody and concealing a minor contrary to a court order.
Sunrise police detective Louis Fernandez told “The Hunt” that Lesters has been cooperating with the investigation. Not that Lesters has a choice; he could have and should have been arrested a long time ago for child endangerment. While there is no evidence as of yet that Lesters actively helped Everett leave, Fernandez suspects that Everett had help in taking off with Lilly.
I talked with Pam Everett last week, and she told me that Lilly is most likely in the Richmond area. Lesters and Everett frequently went to events sponsored by the Virginia Flaggers, a Richmond-based group of Confederate enthusiasts. Lilly went along on some of those trips contrary to a court order. Pam also told me that Lilly may be in south Georgia, where Lesters has family. Either way, Pam believes that someone is helping her daughter stay on the lam. She really wouldn’t have any choice but to enlist the help of someone, since as Pam put it, “you can’t live with a toddler for free.”
Regardless of where Everett is hiding with Lilly, someone out there needs to do the right thing. If you know anything at all about Lilly’s whereabouts, call 866-843-4868 (866-THE-HUNT) or leave a tip online at The Hunt’s Website.
