Seven years ago, the community reached out to support the Groene family, after the murder of three family members and the kidnapping of the two youngest Groene children, Shasta and Dylan, at the hands of convicted killer Joseph Duncan.
But the children's father, Steve Groene, said thousands of donated dollars have gone unaccounted for and on June 7 he filed a lawsuit against the children's aunt Brandy Hoagland.
"I just find it disappointing that as a family we have to fight over money," Brandy Hoagland said.
Groene claims in the 11-page complaint that Brandy Hoagland mishandled a fund set up for Dylan and Shasta at U.S. Bank. The total missing, he claims, is $48,000. Groene states the money was raised by the public, misused, and he's asking for all of it back.
Hoagland, Groene also claimed, wrote the checks to herself instead of the account's beneficiaries. Hoagland says she did, but didn't spend it on herself.
"I can't go into any specific details because I'm not at liberty to discuss those but there were funeral expenses, memorial expenses, expenses related to the relief of Dylan and Shasta," she said.
Hoagland also says she planned on donating the remaining money into a trust for Shasta.
"It was highly recommended by a lot of sources that I don't make the move in donating those funds, that I should hold onto them because I was going to need them for the assistance of Shasta," Hoagland said.
Hoagland says she's helped her niece through challenges and will continue to for the rest of her life.
"I just want everybody to know, me personally, I have always acted in Shasta's best interests."
KXLY talked with Steve Groene about the lawsuit, but he said he wanted to wait until he heard what Hoagland had to say before commenting on the case. Hoagland's lawyer says he'll file a motion to dismiss the lawsuit by the end of the week.
There were two accounts set up after the two children were kidnapped. One was a trust established by Windemere real estate. That account is tightly controlled and donations are not in dispute. The account in dispute is a donation account set up at U.S. Bank.
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