Adam Fravel, the father of missing 26-year-old Madeline Kingsbury, was involved in a custody dispute in the days after the mother’s disappearance, according to reports.
A petition from the Winona County Health and Human Services, obtained by Fox News Digital, alleges that Mr Fravel did not cooperate with authorities when they placed his two children on a 72-hour hold after Ms Kingsbury went missing.
The document claims Mr Fravel does not have custodial rights to his children but he took his two children to his parents’ home anyway.
Social workers and law enforcement went to Mr Fravel’s parents’ home on 4 April, just three days after Ms Kingsbury’s disappeared, to take the children into state custody. However, once they arrived Mr Fravel was non-cooperative and wouldn’t allow social workers to access his children.
“Father took the younger child into the residence and locked the door despite being told that the children were in the care and custody of Winona County,” the document reads.
“While Father was in the home with the younger child, Social Worker could hear Father shouting expletives.”
The document alleges that Mr Fravel called his attorney who “advised” him to “take the children in the home so that they could not be removed.” He also made threats to sue Winona County.
Eventually, when Mr Fravel placed his children into a vehicle, he refused to let social workers help put the kids into car seats and ended up putting them in the wrong car seats. He also refused to gather the children’s belongings so they left only with the clothes they were wearing.
The report paints a different picture of Mr Fravel’s communication with authorities than how he described in a statement he released earlier this week.
Mr Fravel stated, “During these last 12 days I have cooperated with law enforcement at every turn, including sitting down for multiple interviews with Winona County law enforcement.”
However, the report indicates Mr Fravel was not cooperative with authorities about his children, despite not having custodial rights.
Mr Fravel has been subject to online speculation from those following Ms Kingsbury’s disappearance as many believe he is involved.
In his statement, Mr Fravel said “Law enforcement advised me on April 2nd that they would not recommend that I attend the press conference or that I assist in the searches due to safety concerns. However, my non-attendance and silence has been inferred by many as a sign of apathy, or worse. That could not be further from the truth.”
Ms Kingsbury was last seen with Mr Fravel on the morning of 31 March after the two dropped their five-year-old and two-year-old off at daycare. Mr Fravel told law enforcement they returned from daycare dropoff around 8.15 am then he borrowed her dark blue Chrysler Town and Country van at 10 am.
He told law enforcement that when he returned to Ms Kingsbury’s residence later that day, she was not home.
Police have not named any suspects in Ms Kingsbury’s disappearance thus far. Searches are still ongoing in the hunt for the missing mother-of-two.
As for her children, Megan Kingsbury, the sister of Ms Kingsbury, confirmed to the public that Mr Fravel currently does not have custody of his children but assured people that they are safe and in good hands.
