Friday, January 11, 2013

Custody battle heats up; mom missing since Feb. 2011

SHELBYVILLE, TN (WSMV) -
A judge is hearing testimony Thursday against an ex-husband whose Bedford County wife has been missing for almost two years.
Shelley Mook disappeared in February 2011 after dropping off her daughter at the home of her ex-husband, Tyler Mook.
In an order of protection obtained by the Channel 4 I-team, the missing woman's mother, Debra Sikora, says Tyler Mook gave her granddaughter matches, and told her to set the home on fire.
Shelley Mook's mother told the court on Thursday that her young granddaughter wrote, "I might kill you," on a dry erase board.
Sikora said she believes Tyler Mook is trying to turn the child against her and says the child brought a pocket knife and matches home after visits with her father.
Tyler Mook's attorney is denying all of those claims.
Investigators have said Tyler Mook is a suspect in his wife's disappearance, but he has never been charged.
Since Shelley Mook vanished, the couple's families have been caught up in a heated custody battle over the child.
http://www.wsmv.com/story/20552630/missing-womans-husband-in-court

Judge says visitation not appropriate

Friday, January 11, 2013
A circuit judge has ruled that "it is not appropriate" for a man suspected in the disappearance of his ex-wife to resume "any form" of visitation with his daughter.
Judge Lee Russell wrote Friday that after reading depositions entered into evidence during a day long hearing Thursday that "I have concluded that the child's story is credible."
Russell was referring to accusations made by the now eight-year-old daughter of Tyler Mook, who claimed that he and Kim Mook, the child's paternal grandmother, spoke to the child about burning down her maternal grandmother's home in Pennsylvania, with the result being that the girl would then live with her father.
Mook is considered a suspect in the disappearance of Shelly Mook, a Harris Middle School teacher who vanished in early 2011.
"Given the actions of the father and paternal grandmother, I find it is not appropriate to resume any form of visitation at this time," Russell wrote in a letter to attorneys. He said he would discuss "our future course" in more detail in his full written opinion.

http://www.t-g.com/story/1930347.html

Judge rules Mook cannot have visitation with daughter

SHELBYVILLE, TN (WSMV) -
A Shelbyville judge ruled Friday that a man who is a suspect in the disappearance of his ex-wife in 2011 cannot have visitation with his daughter.
The Shelbyville Times-Gazette reported Judge Lee Russell wrote in his opinion that "I have concluded that the child's story is credible."
Russell was referring to accusations made by the now 8-year-old daughter of Tyler and Shelley Mook, who claimed that Tyler and Kim Mook, the child's paternal grandmother, spoke to the child about burning down her maternal grandmother's house in Pennsylvania.
"Given the actions of the father and paternal grandmother, I find it is not appropriate to resume any form of visitation at this time," Russell wrote in a letter to attorneys. He said he would discuss "our future course" in more detail in his full written opinion.
Previously reported
The mother of a Middle Tennessee teacher who has been missing for two years says she received a disturbing threat from her own granddaughter.
That is just one of the allegations that a judge heard Thursday during a heated custody battle involving the family of Shelley Mook.
Mook was last seen in February 2011 at her ex-husband's home, and police later found her burned car in Murfreesboro.
While they have yet to find any trace of the middle school teacher, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation considers her ex-husband, Tyler Mook, a suspect.
Now, Shelley Mook's mother has custody of the Mooks' 8-year-old daughter. She claims in court the girl told her she was going to kill her after allegedly getting a pocket knife and matches from Tyler Mook.
Tyler Mook said the claims are absolutely false, but now the judge will decide who to believe.
Shelley Mook's mother, Debrah Sikora, said the girl left a message on a dry erase board saying: "I myt kil you that is ol I got to say."
After talking with a counselor, the child allegedly said Tyler Mook told her to light Sikora's house on fire by setting fire under a bed.
Tyler Mook is adamant it's a lie and said if the child had matches and planned to set the house on fire, the plan was her own in order to get back with her dad in Tennessee.
After the incident, Sikora took out an order of protection against Tyler Mook and his mother. She claims they violated it when two other family members, allegedly captured in footage by surveillance video, showed up at her door.
More than a dozen character witnesses for Tyler Mook showed up at the courthouse Thursday, including the mayor of Franklin County and Tyler Mook's pastor, but the question remains whether Tyler Mook should be considered a fit father or a dangerous one - the kind who would give matches to an 8-year-old and tell her to commit a crime.
The judge is expected to rule Friday morning on whether the order of protection will be allowed to stand.

http://www.wsmv.com/story/20558410/shelley-mooks-family-alleges-threats-in-custody-hearing#.UPCfi8g0MDo.facebook