Mother listed as alleged abductor of missing child

By ALEXANDREA BAILEY
editor@portisabelsouthpadre.com

The last time Dakota Lee Crouch saw his daughter, Rilee June Crouch was on July 2, 2024, when he dropped her off for visitation with her mother, Lillian Marie Crouch. Lillian and Rilee have now been missing for close to two months now.

South Padre Island Police Department [SPIPD] reports show that Dakota reported Lillian refusing to release Rilee to him on July 4, July 5, July 9 and July 11, 2024. The last time law enforcement or Dakota saw Lillian was on July 11.

The PRESS reached out to Lillian’s family, the Buntins, regarding her possible whereabouts.

“Where and when did she go, who took Lillian, or who did Lillian go with…we don’t have the answer, but we will continue to put our trust in what we know is true: Jesus Christ will never leave us and never forsake us,” read a statement released to the PRESS by the family.

According to Benton Little, Lillian’s uncle, the last time Lillian was seen by her family was sometime in July.
“It was a Thursday afternoon and I attempted to convince her with her attorney to give the child to the father as the court ordered required,” stated Little.

Recently, Lillian’s legal counsel, Elizabeth Valdez Garza, withdrew as her attorney because she was unable to contact Lillian successfully since early July. The Motion for Withdrawal of Attorney states that Garza sent text messages to Lillian on July 11, July 12, July 13 and July 14 and she received no response. The PRESS reached out to Garza for further comment, but Garza was not able to answer any questions regarding this case.

Fearing that Lillian had taken Rilee to Mexico, where she has dual citizenship, or Israel, Dakota wrote the U.S. Department of State’s Child Passport Issuance Alert Program [CPIAP]. However, according to the CPIAP, no pending passport application or U.S. passport was found for Rilee.

After Lillian failed to appear at an emergency hearing on July 29, A Writ of Attachment ordering law enforcement to retrieve Rilee and deliver her to her father Dakota was issued on July 30, signed by presiding judge David Sanchez. The order also suspended Lillian’s visitation and access to the child.

A hearing was set for Aug. 13, however, Lillian did not attend. Subsequently, a warrant for Lillian’s arrest was issued on Aug. 19. Her bond is set at $10,000. As well, Dakota was granted sole custody of Rilee.

The Texas Department of Public Safety has issued a Missing Persons Bulletin for Rilee, listing Lillian as her abductor.

An announcements hearing is set for Sept. 26, and a jury trial is slated for Sept. 30.

Background:
In addition to Rilee, Dakota has an older daughter from a past relationship, an 11-month-old daughter, and a baby boy on the way.

According to the 444th District Court, Dakota and Lillian were married in December 2019. Dakota and Lillian filed for divorce on June 27, 2022.

“The marriage has become insupportable because of discord,” Lillian’s Original Counterpetition for Divorce states.

Dakota alleges this is the third time Lillian has broken their custody agreement.

Three SPIPD reports from Oct. 12, 13 & 17, 2023, cite child custody disputes involving Dakota and Lillian.
Lillian attempted to gain full custody of Rilee and also filed for a temporary restraining order against Dakota.
An affidavit signed by Lillian dated June 27, the same day the couple filed for divorce, alleges Dakota had assaulted Lillian in February 2020 and his father. It also states that Lillian alleged Dakota attacked her verbally on June 25, 2022.

When asked by the PRESS, Dakota’s father denied being assaulted by his son.

A SPIPD report states that on Feb. 21, 2021, Lillian had come to the police department lobby earlier that morning and reported that after a verbal altercation with Dakota, “he grabbed her arm very tightly causing her to fear for her safety and left the residence to her father’s residence.” The report was filed by Officer Lance Hobbs the following day.

On June 26, 2022, according to a SPIPD report, Hobbs met with Lillian in the police department lobby again. She reported that a month earlier, on May 13, she and Dakota were arguing and he had allegedly assaulted her.

The PRESS has attempted to contact Lillian regarding her whereabouts and these incidents but has not received a response.

A SPIPD report from June 30, 2022, states that Hobbs was contacted by Lillian’s uncle, Little, in the police department lobby. The report shows that Little wanted to file a harassment report against “a known family member.” The reports states that Little advised Hobbs “that his niece is in the process of filing divorce papers on her husband and [he] has been repeatedly calling the place where he and she worked.”

The PRESS reached out to Hobbs for comment, but did not receive a response as of the time of publication.
The Buntin family says they believe that these incidents led to Lillian disappearing with Rilee. “Lillian was forced to come to the terrifying conclusion that she is locked into an abusive relationship with a bully that has been doing this all his life, and has gotten away with it and also understands how to hide it from most people,” their statement alleges.

However, Dakota alleges these are untrue reports and that the “[Buntin] family kept trying to paint a nasty picture/narrative that [he] was abusive.”

“I never assaulted her nor her father or my father. These claims have all been backed with no evidence and [are] just a witch hunt to make me seem like a bad father,” alleged Dakota. “They have used these false allegations against me throughout our marriage and when I would want to get out of the cult they would hold it over my head. The family kept trying to paint a nasty picture/narrative that I was abusive. No evidence was ever provided. The SPIPD never reached out to me for comment or statement on this matter. Therefore, that should justify that they knew this was slander and blackball material to try to make me seem like a bad guy.”

Two back-to-back incidents, unrelated to custody matters, occurred between the family this year and ended with the dispatch of SPIPD officers.

Earlier this year, a Texas Peace Officer’s Crash report shows that a vehicle collision occurred between Brady Buntin Jr., Lillian’s 22-year-old cousin, and Dakota on March 25. The crash happened on West Palm Street on South Padre Island. The road leads to Longboard Bar and Grill, where Dakota operates his parasailing business, and Lobo Del Mar Café, owned by the Buntin family. Dakota was headed eastbound and Brady westbound. Dakota’s father was riding as a passenger with his son. Vehicles with boat trailers were parallel parked on the road, not allowing for much space. According to Brady and Dakota, when the collision occurred, Maria Buntin, driving Bart’s truck with Lillian riding as a passenger, and Bart, who was on his motorcycle, were all on the scene. According to the crash report, Dakota’s and Brady’s mirrors collided.
Brady alleges that Dakota swerved into his lane and that after the collision, Dakota and his father exited their vehicle and began verbally threatening Brady.

However, Dakota alleges these statements are false.

“I had my 6-month-old baby in her car seat on the same side he hit,” alleged Dakota. “Brady stayed by his truck and nothing was ever said towards him.

Dakota alleges the following day, on March 26, 2024, Bart showed him a handgun “as a threat.”

“We were operating our parasailing out of Longboard’s. We pulled in the dock and were offloading customers…[Bart] walks down to his boat, reaches down like he was doing something on the bow of his boat, which is facing towards us, and then stands up, looks right at me, looks down at his waistband, lifts his shirt up, put his hand on his gun – his holster, and looks back at me and throws his shirt down, like threatening me,” alleged Dakota.

An SPIPD police report corroborates this story, stating “Officers were dispatched to the Longboard’s bar and grill…in reference to a subject who brandished a handgun.” According to the report, witness statements were gathered and an investigation was initiated into the offense of disorderly conduct.

The PRESS reached out to Bart for comment on this incident.

“[I was] not aware of any incident that occurred on the dock whereby I was accused of showing a weapon to Dakota,” alleged Bart. “The Police (having no evidence) never went any further with the investigation but dropped it without any follow-up with me…”

The PRESS has reached out to the SPIPD regarding this investigation and records show that it is currently inactive, however, the PD was unable to provide reasoning for this.

According to a report dated July 28, 2022, Little hired a private investigation company, Do-WiT Investigations, to investigate Dakota. The investigators assigned to the case were Ruben De Leon and Andrew Posada. The surveillance detail shows that the investigators followed Dakota and his father from July 28 – July 29. No criminal activity was reported as observed by the investigators within the surveillance detail. Little also requested that the private investigators conduct a criminal records search on Dakota as he alleged that Dakota had a “drug-problem.” The affidavit Lillian signed in June 2022 also stated Dakota had “been in jail before for drug related issues.”

Do-Wit Investigations found that Dakota was charged with “Possession of Marijuana,” and arrested on Dec. 16, 2012, and for “Drug-Alcohol Offenses,” on July 22, 2013. He was released the following day.

The statement released to the PRESS by the Buntin family closed with a comparison of this case to  their political and religious views.

“This battle is an example of what is happening to many women over this country, [a] broken justice system, ignoring the obvious criminal, and protecting them, allowing cities [to be] destroyed by so-called protestors all across the spectrum of law, judges, prosecutors, [and] attorneys supporting this declining view that erodes the original constitutional law. This is a battle that is happening in public schools, removing prayer and God from our education system. The evidence of a decaying world is clear to see in the purposeful destruction of anything that is good: family, respect to elders, respect to our country and flag, and most importantly, a lost respect to our creator. We as a family, the Lobo Del Mar Family, will hold fast to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ remembering the sacrifice he gave for us to be able to proclaim our salvation. Praise our lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”

Dakota pleads with the community to come forward with information on the whereabouts of his daughter and Lillian.

“If anyone has any information in or around our community about the possible whereabouts of Rilee and Lillian all I ask is that you do the right thing and come forward,” stated Dakota. “Wherever you are, Rilee, know that I’m fighting for you. I love you, and I’m not ever going to give up on you. I’m still here, and I’ll see you soon.”

All parties are innocent until proven guilty in the court of law.