Austin Eugene Bryant was adopted with his older brother Edward by Edward and Linda Bryant after both boys entered foster care in Monument, Colorado. Austin was four at adoption in March 2000; both boys were described as having special needs and their adoptive parents received monthly state payments for their care.

Former foster children went to authorities in January 2011 saying Austin hadn’t been seen since sometime between 2003 and 2005; that prompted an investigation which showed Edward hadn’t been seen since as early as 2001. The Bryants never reported either child missing and gave conflicting accounts about when each boy left. Austin was withdrawn from school in August 2003 for homeschooling, but no education or medical records exist for either boy after that year. Extensive searches of the former home turned up no trace of the brothers.

Investigators found the Bryants continued collecting more than $1,700 a month in benefits for the children long after they were last seen. Fraud charges were later brought against the couple; allegations of severe abuse by other children in the household were also reported. If anyone has information about Austin’s or Edward’s whereabouts, please come forward.