Fla. Panel Is Stymied in Missing Girl Case

The head of the child welfare agency that lost track of a 5-year-old girl refused Wednesday to discuss case details with a panel investigating her department, citing confidentiality laws and the criminal probe.

Kathleen Kearney, head of Florida’s Department of Children & Families, said the panel members could sign a confidentiality agreement to view case files privately.

“I would like nothing better than to have the records open to the media, but I am also incredibly mindful of the confidentiality and that we have a missing child,” she said at the panel’s first meeting.

The governor’s office and the state attorney general were trying to work out how the panel could then discuss the case in private without violating state laws governing open meetings.

Authorities are trying to determine how Rilya Wilson vanished 15 months ago while in state custody. Detectives are treating her disappearance as a possible homicide.

Gov. Jeb Bush appointed the blue-ribbon panel Monday to assess Kearney’s department, its accountability and adequacy of agency oversight. Bush wants their interim report May 20 and a final report June 3 but panel members were all but stalled Wednesday.

“I would like every piece of information, but the privacy and confidentiality issues and so on, we must respect,” said David Lawrence Jr., the panel’s chairman.

Kearney’s department reported Rilya missing April 25, long after losing contact with the girl. She was placed in state custody in 1996.