When YouTubers James and Myka Stauffer brought their followers along on their adoption journey, their new son, who they renamed Huxley, became the star of their videos … and then he disappeared from view.
The adoptive parents (who had four biological children) decided to place Huxley in a new home in 2020, they said, when he was 4 years old. At that point, he had been living with the Stauffers for about two years.
Where did Huxley go? And is he happy in his new home?
A new HBO documentary series, “An Update on our Family,” revisits the Stauffers’ story, showing now-deleted videos from the family’s extensive social media channel.
After receiving at least three phone tips from concerned viewers of the Stauffer’s YouTube videos, authorities investigated. A redacted report of the 2020 investigation into Huxley’s well-being was obtained by NBC News through a public records request.
Detective Susanna Leonard of the Delaware County Sheriff’s Office in Ohio conducted a “well-being check” on Huxley — and both his former and future family — in June 2020, shortly after the Stauffer’s surprising announcement.
Who is Huxley’s new adoptive family?
Leonard wrote in her report that she met with Huxley and his new adoptive parents on June 9, 2020.
She wrote that Huxley’s “adoptive mother was singing a song to him as he was sitting on her lap smiling,” and added that he appeared to be very happy and well taken care of. He was able to say the words “momma,” “go” and “open.” His adoptive mother also communicated with Huxley via sign language, Leonard wrote.
Leonard concluded that Huxley “seemed very active and showed no signs of any abuse from what I could visually see.”
How did people respond to the Stauffers’ announcement?
Though some viewers responded kindly to the news of Huxley finding a new home, others did not.
“People are threatening to slit her kids’ throat because they think they did something wrong,” Leonard wrote of the Stauffers in the police report. She shared that Myka Stauffer said they received 35 death threats and planned to move from their home in Powell, Ohio for safety reasons.
Myka Stauffer said that she wanted to share Huxley’s medical records to enlighten the public of their situation but decided against it, according to Leonard’s police report.
What about the duct tape on Huxley’s thumb?
The three-part HBO documentary referenced a moment eagle-eyed YouTube viewers noticed, in which a thick layer of duct tape on Huxley’s thumb could be seen in one of the Stauffers’ videos.
When Leonard spoke with the Stauffers on June 4, 2020, they explained that Huxley would “bite his thumb, get blisters, and his thumb was always completely white and raw.” They said that “there is a specific device for the SIB’s (self-injury behaviors) protecting guard and we just didn’t make that purchase.”
Leonard said the Stauffers said that “it was just a bad judgement call and they should have just paid the $200 for the device.”
How are the Stauffers’ biological kids?
“I advised that we needed to know that the children are happy and not being abused,” wrote Leonard in the police report, noting that people had officially expressed concerns that the children were “not doing well.”
The Stauffers told Leonard that they had trouble maintaining childcare because Huxley had “severe aggression towards the other kids.” They mentioned bite marks, toy throwing and punching.
The Stauffers told Leonard they had concerns about Huxley physically harming their other children, and they tried multiple ways to help him.
Myka Stauffer “stated it was a very traumatic experience for the kids,” Leonard wrote in her report.
The investigation was closed
