Emergency protection order granted, financial assets frozen in Deven relatives disappearance case
By Monique John
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FAYETTEVILLE, North Carolina (WTVD) — The case of missing relatives Blake Deven and London Deven continues to evolve.
Now, during the investigation, Social Services has filed a protection order for another member of the Deven family.
A district court judge has granted an emergency protection order and an order to freeze financial assets belonging to Leonie Maxwell, the 95-year-old mother of Avantae Deven.
Avantae Deven adopted Blake and London. Police say Blake has been missing since 2022 and London since 2019 but they were only reported missing this year.
Court documents show Maxwell lived with her daughter at their home on Berriedale Drive. That’s the same home that the FBI agents and Fayetteville police investigators have searched at least twice amid their investigations into Blake’s and London’s disappearances.
Filed on April 10, the protection order says Maxwell has been nonverbal since she suffered a brain injury last November. Court records say she is now on a ventilator at Cape Fear Valley Medical Center. But when the order was issued, it said Avantae Deven, her mother’s caretaker, hadn’t responded to calls from hospital staffers regarding Maxwell’s care since March.
In light of that, the judge revoked Deven’s ability to oversee her mother’s medical care and put it in the hands of the Cumberland County Department of Social Services. However, it’s unclear whether the freeze on Maxwell’s assets is still in effect.
These revelations came to the surface after police and the FBI said earlier this month that they are working to identify skeletal remains that they found while searching for Blake and London.
ABC11 reached out to Avantae Deven for comment, but she has not responded. Meanwhile, the next court appearance for Maxwell’s protection order is scheduled for May 9.
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