Toogood's Visit to Daughter Canceled
Sept. 24 -- A planned meeting between a 4-year-old girl and the mother who was videotaped beating her in an Indiana store parking lot was canceled today because the child was sick, officials said.
Martha Toogood has the flu, and was too ill for the scheduled supervised visit from her mother, Madelyne Gormon Toogood, said an official with the Indiana Office of Family and Children.
Toogood, 25, became the subject of a nationwide search after she was videotaped shaking and hitting her daughter for about 30 seconds on Sept. 13 in the parking lot of a shopping center in Mishawaka, Ind. Toogood, who has two other children, turned herself in to authorities on Saturday. She faces a felony charge of battery to a child and is free on $5,000 bail.
Martha has been placed in foster care, but her mother will be allowed to supervised visits once or twice a week. Today's visit would have been the first since Martha was taken from her mother.
If the child is well enough, Toogood will be able to see her Wednesday, child welfare officials said.
Meanwhile, officials are weighing Toogood's unusual nomadic "Irish Traveler" background as they decide who will get custody of Martha.
St. Joseph Probate Court Judge Peter J. Nemeth told child protection officials they had two weeks to recommend who should care for Martha.
Charles Smith, the director of the St. Joseph County Office of Family and Children, said his agency tries to schedule family meetings quickly, but Toogood's link to the Irish Travelers will play a role in whether other family members get temporary custody of the girl, and whether Toogood and her husband regain custody.
Close-Knit and Private
Toogood revealed her connection to the Irish Travelers when she surrendered to police Saturday. The Travelers, a close-knit groups of wanderers who have been compared to Gypsies, consist of members who are mostly of Irish descent.
A closed society, the Travelers do everything in their power to avoid public attention, but this story has brought them out into the open.
