Adoptive Parents Allegedly Collected $174K Years After Sons Went Missing

Affidavit: Son was "repeatedly observed ... being physically abused" by parents.

ByABC News
March 11, 2011, 5:36 AM

DENVER, March 11, 2011— -- A newly unsealed arrest warrant paints a picture of alleged abuse against two adopted Colorado boys who have been missing as far back as 2001, including starvation and confinement by being "rolled like a burrito."

The boys' adoptive parents -- Edward E.R. Bryant, 58, and Linda Bryant, 54 -- are being held on multiple charges, including continuing to collect $174,816 in government money to care for the boys, even though the two had been missing for years. Bail is set at $1 million each.

They have not been charged in connection to the disappearance of the boys, who would now be teenagers and might never be found, authorities concede.

"We've received inconsistent stories about what happened to the boys," El Paso County (Colorado) Sheriff Terry Maketa said. "Everything from, 'They went to live with an uncle' to, 'They ran away' to, 'They've been institutionalized.' Their stories have been all over the map."

Detectives consider the case an "ongoing homicide investigation" and are trying to find out exactly what happened to Austin Eugene Bryant and brother Edward Dylan Bryant. Court documents say that the last time anyone can verify Austin's being alive is 2003, when the boy was 7. He would now be 15. Edward was last seen alive when he was 9, in 2001. He would be 18 now.

Authorities have turned to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children to age digitally photographs of the boys to try and estimate what they might look like today. A spokesman for the FBI's Denver Division says agents have been asked to help the investigation.

Sheriff Maketa said the case came to light after a tip provided "out of the blue" by two young men who were part of Austin and Edward's extended family. Brothers Ricky and Bryan Pennington had recently begun wondering what ever happened to Austin.

Ricky and Bryan were placed into foster care in 2003 with Tammy and Robert Falgout. Tammy Falgout is the daughter of Linda Bryant, who adopted the missing boys.

Bryan Pennington said he had "repeatedly observed Austin Bryant being physically abused" by Edward and Linda Bryant, according to an affidavit. He told detectives the Bryants would roll Austin in blankets "so he could not move and looked similar to a mummy."