Could a Cry for Help Have Saved Baby’s Life?

Even before her stepson’s baby was born, Lea Dowler was so worried about the parents’ ability to care for the newborn that she wrote to a hospital, pleading that someone help them.

No one did.

Within eight weeks of his birth, Tanner Dowler’s arms, legs and ribs had been broken. His burned feet had been wrapped in toilet paper and his face scratched. He died Oct. 12, nine days after his parents brought him to a hospital and were arrested.

“It’s the worst case I’ve ever seen in 30 years,” Lafayette Police Chief Paul Schultz said.

As Joseph and Audra Dowler face charges in Tanner’s death, state authorities are investigating whether Lea Dowler’s plea for help to the hospital -- and later to Boulder County officials -- was ignored. A report from Colorado’s Human Services Department is expected in about six weeks.

State child protection officials, who oversee county agencies, said a letter like Lea Dowler’s would have been too vague to prompt an investigation because it did not provide the Dowlers’ address or an indication that the child would be harmed. The couple had been living in their car.

“We walk a fine line on when we should protect a child or intrude on family life,” said Christine Highnam, director of Boulder County’s Department of Social Services. “A general concern, with no other detail, is probably something that we have no right to go knocking on somebody’s door and intervene in their lives.”

Lea Dowler’s letter to county officials questioned how the parents would feed the baby, wash his clothes and pay for his care without county and state aid.

Lea Dowler and her husband, Woody, did not return a message left at their Brighton residence. A woman who answered the door at the house declined a request for an interview.

Attorneys for Joseph and Audra Dowler did not return calls for comment.

After Lea Dowler wrote the letter, Audra and Joseph Dowler moved into a low-budget motel. Audra worked at a pizza parlor while her husband stayed home with Tanner, according to a police report.

In June, Lea Dowler wrote to Platte Valley Medical Center in Longmont and asked officials to locate the couple and give them parenting classes. The baby was born Aug. 10, and Lea Dowler sent her letter to Boulder County two days later.

“This is a plea for help for them all,” the letter to the county said. “Our grandson has to be protected and raised healthy and happy. We want to be a part of his life -- his long, healthy life.”

Police said Audra Dowler, 19, told authorities that she and her husband pinned the baby’s arms behind his back so he wouldn’t pull out his pacifier and then covered his face with pillows to muffle his cries.

Tanner became lethargic and stopped eating at least two days before he was taken to the hospital, according to the police report.

“I think I broke our son,” Audra quoted Joseph as saying, according to police.

Early on Oct. 3, Tanner let out a shriek that Audra told police sounded like “a cat’s tail in a rocking chair.” She finished her shift later that evening and, together with her husband, took him to a hospital.

Tanner’s death left some officers in tears. A few needed to talk to counselors. Dozens of people attended a public viewing.

“He was such a beautiful baby, so perfect,” neighbor Nancy Audley said.

Joseph Dowler, 34, has been charged with first-degree murder and child abuse. His next hearing is scheduled for Jan. 14. Audra Dowler has been charged with child abuse. Her next hearing is scheduled for Jan. 9. Both are behind bars. His bail has been set at $1 million, hers at $500,000.

Joseph Dowler’s family said he is taking the brunt of the blame to protect his wife.

“She was his first true love,” Lea Dowler told the Boulder Daily Camera.

In 2000, the latest figures available, 31 children died from child abuse or neglect in Colorado. Nationwide, that figure was 1,236, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

“Unfortunately, Tanner Dowler is one data point in these 1,200 deaths a year,” said Dr. Andrew Sirotnak, director of the Kempe Child Protection Team at Children’s Hospital, which has developed national programs to prevent child abuse. “It’s another tragic case of a family that needed help and didn’t get it.”

State Rep. Gayle Berry, a Grand Junction Republican who has sponsored legislation to protect children, said it seemed as if there was nothing officials could have done.

“Resources are out there; the abuse is already illegal, yet these sad tragedies still happen,” Berry said.