EL DORADO, Kansas -- KSN has learned that prosecutors are still planning charges against the adoptive parents of a missing Butler County boy.
Adam Hermann disappeared from a Towanda mobile home park in 1999, but authorities didn't find out about it until December of 2008.
"This case is still under serious consideration for charging,” said Butler County Attorney Jan Satterfield.
Satterfield says she has spent the last several months getting ready for a potential trial against Adam's adoptive parents Doug and Valerie Herrman.
The Herrmans are believed to be the last people to see Adam alive. He was eleven then.
"We have information that I think is sufficient to submit to a jury to make a determination as to whether or not Adam Herrman is deceased and what may have caused that," said Satterfield.
Satterfield says the Herrmans will likely either face charges of murder or defrauding the state. It's alleged that even after Adam vanished, they continued to collect money as his foster parents.
A tip by the Herrman's daughter in December of 2008 led authorities to conduct several searches for Adam in and around the mobile home park.
The case gained national attention. But several reported sightings of Adam, who today would be 21, never panned out.
Even though prosecutors aren't filing charges yet, one of Valerie Hermann's sisters is making claims of her own.
"Just the way I know my sister," said Kim Winslow. "I think she got mad one day at Adam and it got carried away and something happened. Now he is not there."
KSN spoke to Dan Monnat, Doug Herrman's attorney. Monnat says he doesn't expect charges against his client because he is innocent of any wrong-doing.
Valerie Herrman's lawyer did not return our call.
