No One Even Knew She Was Gone- Khaleesi Cuthriell

No One Even Knew She Was Gone- Khaleesi Cuthriell

The three-year-old little girl went to live with a friend of her mother’s. It was because her mother was going back to jail again, and she had made the decision that this would be the best place for the little girl to stay in her absence. But this decision would be the worst decision of her life.

The story I have today is about a sweet and kind little girl who was treated absolutely horrendously by somebody that her mother put her trust in. This is the story of Khaleesi Cuthriell.

Khaleesi Cuthriell was born on December 5th, 2016. Her dad is named Ted Cuthriell, and her mother is Amanda Alley. Khaleesi had beautiful blonde hair and blue eyes, and was a very happy, sweet, and smart little girl. Her favorite color was purple, and she could not wait to go to school in a few years.

Khaleesi was said to be very empathetic and was able to cheer up anyone who was having a bad day. Khaleesi lived in Waynesboro, Virginia, for the first few years of her life with her parents, but unfortunately, her mother struggled with methamphetamine use, and she had been in and out of prison all of Khaleesi’s short life.

Khaleesi’s father also struggled with addiction, though I’m not sure what his drug of choice was. Due to Amanda’s struggles with addiction, the three children that she had prior to Khaleesi had all been removed from her home and placed with other family members.

So, when Khaleesi was three, in April of 2020, Amanda was released on bond from Middle River Regional Jail in Staunton, Virginia. And then just a few months later, in summer, Amanda was discharged from her intensive outpatient group after her substance abuse case manager had said that she failed to show up for any of her mandated sessions.

So, Amanda’s probation was revoked, and since she failed to turn herself into the authorities, a warrant was issued for her arrest. So the police arrested her yet again in October of 2020. Amanda said that the reason she did not turn herself in was because she did not know where Khaleesi was going to go.

Child Services said that Khaleesi was not allowed to stay in the house with her father, so she was removed from the home. Now, this is said to be because Ted had substance abuse problems, and it’s also alleged that his older son did some bad things to Khaleesi, and that’s why she was not allowed to stay in the home. But that’s alleged, so…

And Khaleesi could not go live with Amanda’s sister in Covington because she had an open CPS claim, or so Amanda said. Family would later say that they were able and willing to take Khaleesi, but they believed Amanda told authorities that Khaleesi could not go with any family members because she was afraid that once she got out of jail, Khaleesi would permanently stay with her family, just like her other three children had.

So, in a panic, Amanda called Candy Joe Royer and asked if she could take care of Khaleesi. She was a friend of Amanda’s and she had offered to watch Khaleesi in the past. Candy also had a three-year-old. So, with such little time to decide, Amanda figured that this would be her best option, and Child Protective Services signed off on Khaleesi going to live with Candy.

So, on October 20th, 2020, Khaleesi was sent to live with Candy Joe. Now, Candy Joe also had a live-in boyfriend by the name of Travis Brown, and it’s said that Child Protective Services was not aware that Travis lived in the house when Khaleesi was sent to live with Candy.

Candy was actually not able to go pick up the little girl from where she was because Candy was actually on house arrest at the time. Yeah, she was on house arrest for prior criminal convictions, and CPS allowed her to still take custody of Khaleesi. I don’t even think they looked into her history to see why she was on house arrest.

So, instead, a CPS worker drove Khaleesi to her new home at 249 Cattle Scales Road in Waynesboro. Candy’s live-in boyfriend, Travis Brown, had a long criminal history as well. His criminal history included larceny as well as violent crimes such as assault and battery of a family member and strangulation. This is where the little girl was going to live.

Amanda knew that Travis lived in the house with Candy, though I’m unsure if she knew about all of his criminal past or not. Khaleesi’s life in her new home would not be a happy one. Unfortunately, it would be quite the opposite. The Child Protective Services worker who dropped her off said that she tried to return to check on Khaleesi a few times afterwards, but she was unable to make contact with the family.

Shortly after Candy Joe had taken Khaleesi into her home, she posted on her personal Facebook page about the new addition to her family, with pictures of Khaleesi being shown with it. She seemed very happy to be welcoming the new little girl into her home at first, but that changed very quickly.

Less than three weeks after Khaleesi had moved into Candy’s home, the abuse started. There were pictures taken of Khaleesi shortly after she moved in, and in the pictures she had a bruised forehead, a swollen cheek, and an abrasion to her bottom lip.

Then, just three days after this, there was another picture taken of Khaleesi, and she was missing most of her hair, and the bruising was even more noticeable in this photo as well. Khaleesi also thinned considerably during her stay in Candy’s home. There’s also a photo of her where it looks like she has cigarette burns on her ears.

Amanda would call and speak with Khaleesi from time to time. It got more and more difficult to try to get a hold of Khaleesi and Candy. On January 12th, 2021, Amanda had what she did not know would be her last phone call with Khaleesi. After that, Candy would just give her excuse after excuse as to why she could not speak with her daughter.

One of these excuses was because CPS said that she was not allowed to speak to Khaleesi. Whether that’s true or not, Amanda was worried—why would she not let her speak to her daughter? In March 2021, Amanda sent her cousin Daniel Mullen with money and a cell phone to give to Candy so that she could talk to Khaleesi. It didn’t work.

In August of 2021, she again sent her cousin with more money to give to Candy, and again this did nothing. She was still unable to talk to her daughter. Then suddenly, Candy and Travis cut off all communication with Amanda. They would not respond or answer any of her phone calls.

Then, on September 4th, 2021, Amanda was watching the jail television when she saw that Candy Joe had been reported as missing the previous day by her family. When she heard this, Amanda alerted the jail authorities and told them that Candy had her daughter Khaleesi, and she was worried because she had not spoken to her in months and now Candy was missing. So she had no idea where her daughter had gone.

Candy was believed to be with Travis when she was reported as missing on September 3rd. Travis at the time was also a wanted fugitive by police in five different jurisdictions. But of course, Candy in fact was not missing. Her and Travis had actually gone on a crime spree through Virginia and Pennsylvania. They had, among other things, stolen a car and passed some bad checks.

The law finally caught up with Candy and Travis on September 12th, 2021. Both the Pennsylvania State Police and the United States Marshals Service were able to arrest Travis and Candy at the Knights Inn in South Greensburg, Pennsylvania. They had been hiding out in the motel and did not have Khaleesi or their own daughter with them at the time. The couple had left their own daughter with family members.

Following their capture, the Augusta County Sheriff’s Office and the Virginia State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation traveled to Pennsylvania to get in contact with and interview Travis and Candy. They were hoping that if they spoke with them soon enough, maybe they could still find Khaleesi alive.

Initially, during his lengthy interrogation with police, Travis claimed that a Child Protective Services officer in a state car had come about nine months earlier in January of 2021 and taken Khaleesi away. But police already knew that what Travis was telling them was complete BS. Child Protective Services had not taken Khaleesi away, so she had been missing from January to September before anybody noticed.

After the CPS story didn’t work, Travis told police that one of his friends actually came and picked up Khaleesi and he had not heard or seen the little girl in a long time. So you just gave her to a random friend without her mom’s permission? Hmm, that doesn’t sound legal either.

Finally, after hours of interrogation, Travis told the investigators that Khaleesi had actually intentionally rammed her head into a door frame and killed herself in the process. “It’s what she did, man,” is what Travis said to officers. He also said that he attempted CPR on the little girl, but was unsuccessful. Sure you did.

Being a heavy drug user, Travis then said after Khaleesi’s death he passed out. When he awoke the next day, he was in a panic and didn’t know what to do with her body, so he wrapped her up in a blanket and threw her in the trash can like she was nothing. He said he didn’t know what else to do.

And earlier in the same interview, Travis had told police officers that Khaleesi liked to be smacked and she acted possessed all the time. He also told officers that one night he had gone down to the kitchen to grab something to eat and he saw Khaleesi strangling his three-year-old daughter. Oh yeah, sure. What were they even doing out of bed if they’re three years old, and you came down at night to get a snack out of the fridge or whatever? What were two three-year-olds doing in the kitchen alone strangling each other? Again.

He also made some other strange accusations, telling officers that Khaleesi was sexually aware, often masturbated, was prone to falling all the time, and was suicidal. She’s four! Travis even had the nerve to tell authorities that he had done everything a good Christian person would do for Khaleesi.

He also said that him and Candy had called Child Protective Services a number of times to try to get them to come take Khaleesi because she was out of control in their home, but they never responded or came to help them in any way. It was later proven that neither him nor Candy had called Child Protective Services while Khaleesi was in their care even once—not even once. But at the end of the long interrogation, Travis still adamantly denied that he killed Khaleesi.

In addition to the charges that they already both faced, Candy and Travis were each charged with a single felony count of abuse and neglect of children. They were held in the Westmoreland County Prison where they awaited their court hearings and extradition back to Virginia to face numerous other charges.

It was the worst case scenario. Authorities now knew that Khaleesi was dead, but they did not know where her body was yet. After finding out about Khaleesi’s death due to Travis’s partial confession, the Virginia State Police went and searched Candy and Travis’s home on September 20th. They brought search and recovery vehicles to Cattle Scales Road, at the house where Khaleesi was last known to be living.

Inside the home, authorities found bloodstains on the wall and door frame, and the DNA matched Khaleesi’s. There was also blood that was as high as six feet up on the wall. Police had also located a wire hanger whose handle was made out of tape, and there was hair stuck to the tape. When they took DNA from the tape and the hair, it came back with DNA matching both Khaleesi and Candy.

During the search of the home, police also noticed that the doorknob on Khaleesi’s room was turned inside out so that she could be locked in from the outside.

In November of 2021, Candy and Travis pled guilty to their lesser charges in a Pennsylvania court. They were sentenced to 2 to 12 months in prison. In May of 2022, it was announced that both of Khaleesi’s caregivers were being charged in connection with her death. Travis and Candy had been indicted on murder charges. They were each charged with aggravated murder, felony murder, unlawfully concealing a dead body, conspiracy to commit aggravated murder, conspiracy to commit child abuse, and conspiracy to conceal a dead body. Travis was also charged with child abuse and neglect resulting in serious injury.

Travis’s case went to trial in August of 2023. During his trial, video and photographic evidence of Khaleesi’s abuse and torture were shown. Investigators had found about 46,000 pictures on Candy’s electronic devices. These pictures showed Khaleesi’s cuts, burns, and bruises, along with videos of the psychological torment that she endured.

In another video that was taken just one month after the little girl came to live with the couple, Khaleesi is seen looking solemnly at Candy and Travis as they are heard telling her they may kick her out before Christmas time. They were also telling the little girl that nobody liked her—adults telling a child that.

In a video of Khaleesi taken January 12th, 2021, which is thought to be her last day alive, Candy is seen verbally berating the little girl while she stands there frightened in a dry shower full of her own feces. And of course, during his trial, Travis’s attorney was trying to put all of the blame on Candy. When one person is torturing a child inside of a house, there’s no way that other people living there don’t know what’s going on. It’s just not possible. So both Candy and Travis are 100% responsible for what happened to Khaleesi.

During the trial, there was a witness who was called to the stand by the name of Brittany Southern. Britney said that she had a brief fling with Travis Brown before he fled the area with Candy. During their time together, Britney said that she did not know Travis was already in a relationship, believing that Candy was his ex.

Britney testified that her and Travis were in a Burger King parking lot in Verona when he made a startling confession to her. He told her that he had murdered somebody, though he did not say who. Britney had said that Travis also used her cell phone a few times to text and call Candy.

In one text message exchange, Candy wrote: “I hope you rot in hell. You are a poor excuse for a person. Do you lay in bed at night thinking about what you did to that little girl because it’s eating me alive?” Candy also told Travis that he should tell Britney about the brush handle, the burns, and the bruises. Britney said that when she found out about Khaleesi and asked Travis about the toddler, his response was to storm off and throw his cell phone at her.

So on August 30th, 2023, the jury deliberated, and after only four hours they came back with a verdict of guilty—guilty on all charges, which were felony homicide, aggravated murder, and child abuse. He has yet to be sentenced, but is expected to be in February of 2024.

Two weeks after Travis’s conviction, Candy Royer pled guilty to first-degree murder and cruelty with intent to injure a child. In exchange for her plea, her other six charges were dropped. Candy is set to go to trial in October of this year, and she faces 20 years to life in prison.

Sadly, Khaleesi’s body has never been located, but police said they are not giving up the search. They do believe she may be in a landfill, which they said would take them about four years to completely search.

A memorial for Khaleesi was established at the Augusta County Sheriff’s Office in Verona, the office who had handled her case. This memorial, which is located on the outside of the main door to the Sheriff’s Office, is for family, friends, and other community members to remember her life. There is also a memorial that was put up in Waynesboro to remember Khaleesi.

A candlelight vigil in September of 2021 for Khaleesi was held, as well as a fourth birthday celebration in December of the same year. Both of these events were held by the community for the little girl who was forgotten about by so many others.

Well, thank you for listening to all of Khaleesi’s story today. It’s very sad that neither her biological parents nor the two adults that said they would take care of her ever made sure that Khaleesi was safe and happy. Nobody even knew she was missing from January to September. I am so sick of these selfish adults who put their needs and wants before the well-being of their own children.

Amanda, Khaleesi’s mom, could have sent the little girl to live with her family and she would have been safe there. But instead, being selfish because she didn’t want Khaleesi to be taken away from her permanently, she sent her to live with somebody who had a criminal history and was currently on house arrest. Great idea.

I know there’s so much more to it, and the adults that surrounded Khaleesi were mainly the ones at fault, but I do feel like Child Protective Services played a small role in Khaleesi’s death as well. They were the ones that signed off on her going to live with Candy without doing any checks clearly. What do you think? Does Child Protective Services have any blame in this, or is it all on Candy and Travis?