By George Hunter, ghunter@detroitnews.com
Murder victim Rebecca Park’s sons are 2 and 3 years old — too young to completely grasp the tragedy that’s befallen their family, but old enough to sense something is amiss, said the woman who adopted Park and is now raising her children.
“The boys are picking up on the fact that something is wrong,” said Stephanie Park, Rebecca Park’s adoptive mother, who has adopted the victim’s two children, and is caring for the 1-year-old daughter of Kimberly Park, Rebecca Park’s sister. “They aren’t old enough to grasp what happened, but they definitely can see that everyone is sad, as young as they are. Kids are a lot smarter than people think, and they pick up on things.”
Stephanie Park said she plans to attend a scheduled candlelight vigil Saturday near the spot where Rebecca’s body was found. She said her family is trying to stay strong amid the heartache and chaos.
Rebecca Park, who was 38 weeks pregnant, was reported missing from Wexford County on the west side of Michigan after she was last seen on Nov. 3. Authorities conducted multiple searches of the area, until Nov. 25, when a body later confirmed to be Park’s was found in the Manistee National Forest, near Boon, according to the Wexford County Sheriff’s Office.
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel on Tuesday announced the arrests the victim’s biological mother, 40-year-old Cortney Bartholomew, and Cortney’s husband, 47-year-old Bradly Bartholomew, both of Boon, which is about 12 miles west of Cadillac.
During the defendants’ arraignment in Cadillac’ 84th District Court Tuesday, Wexford County Prosecutor Johanna Carey said the couple lured the victim to their home in Boon and tortured her while trying to cut the baby from her womb. Police still have not located the baby’s body.
The Bartholomews’ arrest came after the victim’s fiancé and sister were arrested on charges not directly related to her death. Kimberly Park is charged with tampering with evidence, lying to a police officer and false report of a felony; Richard Falor is charged with two counts of delivery of a controlled substance – meth.
Kimberly Park and Falor posted bond and were released from the Wexford County Jail Wednesday, an employee of the facility told The Detroit News.
Stephanie Park is everyone “is trying to hold up together.”
“We have three small toddlers we have to be strong for,” she said.
Stephanie Park said she fostered Rebecca Park, Kimberly Park and their brother after the state removed them from their biological mother’s care. She said Rebecca Park didn’t have a close relationship with her mother as a child, and that she tried to “hide” the children from their mother.
According to court records, Bradly Bartholomew has a criminal record dating back to 2000, with convictions that include criminal sexual conduct involving a victim age 13-15, possession of child sexually abusive material, and multiple convictions of failing to properly register as a sex offender.
Falor, the victim’s fiancé, also has multiple convictions for sexually related crimes. In 2003 and 2015, he was convicted in two separate cases of criminal sexual conduct involving a victim age 13-15, court records show. In 2005, he was convicted of criminal sexual conduct involving an incapacitated victim; and in 2015 he was convicted of accosting children for immoral purposes, and second degree criminal sexual assault.
No attorneys were listed in online court records for Falor, Kimberly Park or Bradly and Cortney Bartholomew.
As part of the bond conditions for Falor and Kimberly Park, they are barred from speaking to one another or to Cortney and Bradly Bartholomew, who are accused in the death of Park.
Both defendants are due back in 84th District Court on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, family members are working to raise funds for Rebecca’s two surviving children, who are being cared for by Stephanie Park.
“These children will need to be taken care of in ways that most of us can’t imagine,” the online fundraiser said. “They are each innocent in what has happened and will need more than foster care can provide for years to come.”
