Genie Wiley. The feral child

On the 4th of November 1970, a mother and her young child arrived, by accident to Social services offices in temple city California. Social workers we instantly alarmed and concerned by the young girls appearance. She was struggling to walk, couldn't talk and looked so much younger than her 13years, what the go on to discover is years of isolation, severe child abuse and neglect and that this girl, for almost her entire life, had Ben strapped to a make shift potty chair made by her father. She had been kept in a dark room on her own, away from the outside world. This is the unthinkable case of Genie Wiley. The feral child 

Transcript

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On the 4th of November 1970, a mother and her young child arrived at social workers' offices in Temple City, California. Social workers were instantly alarmed and concerned by the young girl's appearance and behavior. Looking like she was struggling to walk, she couldn't talk, and looked so much younger than her 13 years. Now, what they go on to discover is years of isolation, severe child abuse and neglect, and this poor girl for 13 years of her life has been restrained to a makeshift potty chair built by her father. She was left in a room on her own in the dark, kept away from the outside world, forbidding anybody to talk to her. This is the unthinkable case of Jeannie, the feral child. Now, before we get started, let me introduce myself. I'm Lisa and welcome to Unthinkable. This is a true crime podcast. This is actually only my second recording, and I'm still learning. Listening back to my first episode, there's definitely a lot of stumbling over sentences and a lot of pauses, which I will try and work on. But I am very new to it, so still bear with me. So this case today is about uh Jeannie, known as the Feral Child. This is a really sad story, and when I was researching this, I couldn't stop thinking about what could have been, and you know, like who she would have been if what happened to her hadn't happened. And I guess you can say that about a lot of these cases, it's just very thought-provoking. Uh, it's just a really, really sad. Um, anyway, so that being said, let's get started. So, Jeannie, that wasn't actually her birth name. We don't know her birth name, um, and we don't know her exact date of birth either. Um, she was born in 1957 to her mum, Dorothy Irene Wiley, and her father, Clark Wiley. The couple actually had four children, but two of them died um when they were young. The firstborn um he died at 10 weeks old, um, and this was reported that Clark left the boy, the baby boy, out in a cold garage because he couldn't cope with the child crying. Um, Dorothy was still in hospital um after giving birth, but she would actually gone to hospital because Clark had strangled her. So he'd strangled her so severely that she was hospitalized to recover, and it was while she was recovering she gave birth. Um Clark took the baby home, and Clark hated noise, like he hated any sound. So the baby crying, he couldn't cope with, so he left the baby out in the garage, and the baby caught pneumonia and passed away. Um, their second baby, a baby boy called Robert. So Robert was born with RH incompatibility, which is when the mother and baby have mismatched blood types. So the mother's immune system treats the baby's blood as a foreign invader and creates antibodies to attack the baby's red blood cells. So this is a condition that is preventable, but in some cases it can be fatal. And unfortunately for baby Robert, he died two days later. So, three years after this, the couple had uh their third child, so they had a son, baby John. Now, I should mention that Clark hated children, he didn't want them, and it's reported that if John cried or made any noise, Clark responded with violence based towards Dorothy. Clark just he hated any kind of noise, like traffic outside, anything. He just he didn't like noise. And he would try and force Dorothy to keep the baby quiet. And I mean, he's a baby, you know, he's doing what babies do, but Dorothy knew if John made a sound, Clark was going to attack her. Uh so life goes on, and five years pass, and the couple's fourth child is born, a baby girl, known only as Jeannie. I just wanted to talk a bit about the parents in this case. Um, so Clark had quite a sad childhood. His father was actually killed by a lightning strike when he was a young boy, and Clark's mother showed little to no interest in her son. Um, she ran a brothel, and his mother had given him um a name of Mildred, so he had quite a feminine name, and this caused Clark to be bullied, as you can imagine, and he really started to harbour some resentment towards his mother. Um, he spent time in orphanages growing up, um, and when he was an adult, he changed his name to Clark. He did see his mother but infrequently, and although in later years his mother did try to reconnect, um, but Clark showed little interest at this, um, they did see each other at time and at times, and Clark's mother did spend some time with baby John, so there was some, you know, they they did connect on some level. Um, so Dorothy was about 20 years younger than Clark, and she met Clark whilst her family were fleeing the Dust Bowl in Oklahoma. So the Dust Bowl was a period of severe dust storms that damaged or destroyed farmland, and the family fled to Southern California. Now, Ginny's mother, as a child, so she fell from a great height, which caused her to have a severe head injury and sight loss in one eye. So Dorothy is young when she meets Clark and marries soon after, and the Clark's true colours are revealed. He quickly starts to isolate Dorothy and prevents her from leaving the house. And he beats her. This is a woman with a head injury, and this man beats her for any any reason he seems fit. He beats her when she was pregnant. I touched earlier how he strangled her towards the end of her first pregnancy. I mean, he's just horrid. Um, so let's get to Jeannie. So Jeannie's name was given to her by the researchers who'd go on to study her. She was born about five years after her brother John, and around this time, Clark had begun to isolate himself and his family from the outside world. Ginny was born by C-section, and she had RH incompatibility as well, like baby Robert, but Ginny survived after having a blood transfusion, and she recovered and was healthy. Now, around three months old, Ginny was found to have hip dislocation. She had to wear a spleen from about four months to 11 months, which this understandably caused her to start walking later. But this kind of sparked her father to have thoughts that she might be mentally retarded. That's not my words, that's what it says in the research. Um, so when Jeannie was around 14 months, she came down with a fever, a fever, and her mother took her to a physician. No, took her to a pediatrician, and this pediatrician said that it was possible that she was mentally retarded, adding to her father's suspicions. So when Jeannie was about 20 months old, Clark Clark's mother was killed in a hit and run. I couldn't find much information on Clark's relationship with his mother at this time, but his son John was actually with her when she was killed. Um, so she so she was around, so she did see um John. She didn't see Ginny, from what I can tell, but she did see John. Um but because John was with her when she was killed, Clark actually blamed John. Um the driver of the hit and run was a drunk man, and it was in no way John's fault, but Clark blames him. So after his mother's death, Clark quits his job and moves his family into his mother's home. He demands that his mother's bedroom is left as a shrine to her, and therefore the family would sleep in the living room. So it's weird, so he doesn't really have a relationship with his mum, but when she dies, he almost obsesses and creates a shrine to her. So it's yeah, it's very strange. Um, so the the family they all sleep in the living room apart from Jeannie. So Clark's mother's house was two bedrooms, one was his mother's shrine, as I said, and the other was Ginny's prism. So for around 13 hours a day, Jeannie was tied to a child's toilet seat and she could only move her fingers and toes. And at night he tied her to her cot and covered it with like a metal screen, so so she couldn't move. Jeanie was literally isolated from everyone and everything around her. She's not allowed to move. Like it's just horrendous, and it just begs the question: why? What's the reason for this? Like, why Jeannie? Jeannie's father, Clark, treated Jeannie appallingly. He would beat her if she made any sound, and he would bare his teeth and growl at her like a dog. He even grew his nails so long that he could scratch her like a dog. And because of this, Jenny developed a real fear of cats and dogs. It's just so sad. And I mean, you don't you don't know me very well, but I I work with dogs and they are wonderful to be around, especially in childhood. You know, they they become your friends, you know, they're lovely. So it's just so sad that with everything else, she's now got a fear of cats and dogs as well. And there's no I can't find any reason to why he did this. It's just it's awful. So he would growl, he would bark at her, he'd bare his teeth, like scratch her, it's just awful. So because of the beatings, Jeannie tried to stay as quiet as possible. This child is confined to a dark room, like restrained day and night, and not allowed to make any noise. Ugh. And it gets worse. So Jeannie's father didn't want to feed Jeannie. He fed her as little as possible and only baby food. There was no solid food out and liquids. Um, she had cereal and occasionally a boiled egg. Um, but even this, he would feed her so quickly, like he would like feed her with a spoon quickly, so she would choke, and when she choked, he would then beat her. I mean, can you be any crueler? And there are reports that if she choked or she was struggling to eat her food, he would then rub her face in the plate of food. Jeannie's mother said that she would sneak her food at night while uh Clark was sleeping, which I imagine for Dorothy this was terrifying. If Clark caught her, he would punish them both, he would beat them both. You know, we don't know why Dorothy didn't leave and take the children. I imagine fear and threats from Clark maybe. Um, you know, she was parti-sighted and had a head injury injury, so maybe she was very reliant on Clark, and I mean he had isolated the whole family from everyone. Um, he he almost never let Dorothy or his son leave the house. Um, I think for a time John was allowed to go to and from school, but when he arrived home again, he would have to show some form of ID to show that it was him returning. It's very strange. Um but as I said earlier, Clark hated noise of any form, and that that was his thing. He didn't allow a TV or a radio, and even Dorothy and John wouldn't be allowed to talk to each other. They had to have permission to speak, and then it was in a whisper. And if they hadn't asked permission and they spoke, he would beat them. And they were absolutely forbidden for speaking to or around Jeannie. And Clark didn't let anyone else in the house or near the house. He actually kept a shotgun by the door. Um, neighbours said they never heard a sound from the house, they didn't even know that there was another child beside John. So this was their life for the next 13 years. So Clark was convinced that Jeannie wouldn't survive past 12. And if she did, he wouldn't allow Dorothy, he would allow Dorothy to seek help for Jeannie. But when Jeannie did make it to unpass 12, he changed his mind. And Jeannie's 13th birthday came and went. However, in October 1970, Dorothy and Clark had a huge violent argument, and this time Dorothy said that she would leave if he didn't let her call her parents. Now, shockingly, Clark agreed and left the home. Dorothy left with Jeannie and went to her parents' house. Oh, I should say as well, um Jeannie's brother John, now 18, so he's 18 at this time, he had run away and he was living with friends and with very little contact with the family at all. Um so now Dorothy had escaped with Jeannie, but she didn't seek help for Jeannie. It was only by chance that Dorothy ended up walking into the to the general social services with Jeannie. She actually had been planning to claim disability for her eyesight, which was the business next door, and due to her poor sight, she accidentally walked into the wrong place. Now, social workers instantly knew straight away something was very wrong with her, and after social workers questioned Dorothy, they immediately called the police. Jeannie's parents were arrested, and Jeannie Jeannie was up uh sent to the children's hospital in Los Angeles. Now, news of Jeannie reached the media and as you can imagine, sparked huge national attention. Huge crowds went to see Clark, and although he didn't speak to anyone, you know, this is a man that hated noise. This would have been incredibly tough for Clark, like lots of people talking at once, cameras flashing, it would just been hell for him. Um, so on the 20th of November, Clark was due to appear in court on child abuse charges, but he shot and killed himself. So he committed suicide before any of the questions could be answered. So there was never, you know, now we would never know why, like what why he was doing this. Um, he did leave a note, well, he left two notes, so he left a note for his son that read, Be a good boy, I love you. And then he left one for the police, which said, The world will never understand. He's got that right, hasn't he? Um, so yes, so we don't have any answers from him, from Clark as to why he did this. Um, now the charges towards Jeannie's mother are dropped. She's claimed with the beatings and with her near total blindness, this made her unable to protect her children. Um, physician James Kent was assigned to conduct could to conduct Jeannie's first examination. Kent stated that this is the most severe case of child abuse he'd ever seen. Ginny um she could stand but not straight, and she couldn't straighten any of her limbs. Um, unbelievably, she could walk, which is amazing when you think she's been tied to a chair her whole life, um, or to a bed her whole life. Like she literally hasn't been able to walk around since she was tied to that chair. Um, her walk is described as bunny-like. And if you Google Jeannie, there are videos of her walking, and her arms are like tucked in, um, and she does like an almost hopping movement. Um, she's very hesitant, um, but it does kind of look like a little bit like a bunny walk. Um, she's very pale, so she's been inside her whole life. Um, she's very malnourished, she weighs 27 kg, she had nearly two full sets of teeth in her mouth. Uh, she had an undersized rib cage, um, she had good vision in both eyes, but it was found that she couldn't focus on anything that was more than three feet away, and she kind of had like a vacant expression. Uh, she could not chew, she couldn't swallow solid food or even soft food. She would spit it out and then like mash it with her fingers to allow her to swallow it. She was incontinent, which she would be, um, as she'd been tied to a potty uh her whole life. Um, she hadn't uh learned to communicate, how to eat, walk, or talk. Like it's just so sad. Um at this time, oh no, sorry. As time went on, Jeannie was being tested and observed, and she started taking interest interest in objects. She seemed curious of new sounds. Jeannie at first didn't allow anyone to touch her, but she did start to show interest in hospital staff and she used to follow them around. Um, and she did start to make eye contact. Um, Jeannie remained almost completely silent, but when she was upset, she would attack herself, but she would remain expressionless, and she never cried. Uh and there are reports that she actually couldn't cry. But of course, when she was a baby, she was beaten if she if she cried. So has she, you know, just stopped doing it? Um, now in January 1971, Jeannie could say a few words, she could say her name, some some people around her, people that she knew well, she could say their names, um, she could say some objects. So Jeannie's isolation and lack of exposure to language during her childhood had prevented her from being able to speak. So she's doing well. Um, Jeannie was improving, she was growing and putting on weight, and her coordination started to improve. And Dorothy began visiting her daughter twice a week. Now, in June 1971, Jean Butler, so Jeannie's special education teacher, she petitioned to foster Jeannie. Um, uh Jean Butler had been she would be dating a man who tried to help Jeannie with her fear of cats and dogs, and eventually Jeannie could tolerate a dog if it was fenced, if there was like a fence between her and the dog. Um, not cats though, but there was some improvement with the dogs. Whilst in Jean's care, Jeannie had pretty much stopped attacking herself and her incontinence had improved. Now, Jean she disliked researchers of Jeannie. She prevented James Kent and other um others from visiting Jeannie. Researchers believed that Jean had good intent, but they were annoyed by her unwillingness to work with them. And in mid-August, Californian authorities informed um Jean Butler that they had rejected her application for foster custody. So Jeannie was placed with David Wrigler and his wife Marilyn, and these are good people. So Jeannie stayed with them for almost four years. It was initially meant to be three months, but she ended up staying for four years. Um and Jeannie would meet up with her mum at least once a week. They would go to restaurants, they would go to the park. So things were looking okay for her. Um, so in the late in late uh 1971, Jeannie for the first time would use language that could be describing past events. So she started to say say things like father hit, Jeannie cry, father hit big stick, father angry, father hit face, father spit. So it's it's like has she just learnt these words so she can now express some of the things that happened to her? So she doesn't say like full sentences, but she's saying words, and where she's saying like father hit, that's that's obvious what she's saying, isn't it? And while she is with the Wrigglers, Jeannie in her own way would ask where her father was, and she was afraid that he would come and get her. Um, and Jeannie did say uh she did start saying father dead, so so we think she knew that he had died. So in 1975, Jeannie was 18. Her mother stated that she wanted to care for her. So the Wriglers ended their foster parenting. And Jeannie moved in with her mother. However, after a few months, Jeannie's mother couldn't cope. And she contacted the California Department of Health to find care for Jeannie. But she did this without the Wriglas' knowledge, which is I just don't understand because the Wriggles were so good for her. And, you know, she was improving with them, and they would have had her back. They would have had Jeannie back. So I don't know why she didn't. So the authorities transferred Jeannie to her next foster home and she continued to move around. There were reports that Jeannie suffered further abuse. There were reports that she vomited and she was beaten, which made her frightened of eating and speaking again. This is an extreme deterioration in Jeannie's progress, and David Wriggler actually intervened and managed to get Jeannie removed from this location. So from January 1978 to the early 1990s, Jeannie moved to at least four foster homes, some of which are reportedly to have subjected her to extreme physical abuse. It's just never-ending for this girl, is it? And it's like, how can one person survive so much? It's just it's so sad. Um so as of 2016, Jeannie was a ward of the state of California living in an undisclosed location in Los Angeles. And according to reports, she's living a simple lifestyle in a small private facility for mentally underdeveloped adults, and appears to be happy. Apparently, she only speaks a few words, but now communicates well with sign language, so this is good. So she is communicating as far as we know. Um, she's very much under the radar now, yet there's not, you know, or sort of the reports end, and then there's not, she's very much under the radar, which I think is good for her. Um, Dorothy, her mother, so she died aged 87 in 2003 of natural causes. Her brother John, so he died in 2011. Now there is an interview that John did, he's only done one interview. Um, you can find it on YouTube. Um, he stated that he only visited his mum and Jeannie once in 1982, and he refused to watch or read anything about Jeannie and his mother until he was going to do the interview, so just before. Um, so Jeannie is now out of the public eye, and we can only hope that she is happy and at peace after everything she's been through. It's a very sad story. So that's that's it. That's the case of Jeannie Wiley, the feral child. There are documentaries about this case and lots of videos and photos of Jeannie if you're curious about her and want to know more about her. It's a terribly sad case. Um, but as I said, I just I hope she is happy now and she is at peace and you know she's as happy as she can be. Um, so yes, so yeah, if you are curious, have a look. Um I actually can't remember the name of the documentary I watched, but if you um look on YouTube, you can you can find them all, and there's lots of videos of Ginny Jeannie when she was younger. Um, thanks everyone for listening. And I like to finish by saying in a world where you can be anything, be kind. Take care.