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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Friend remembers slain child as ‘perfect’

Taryn Brodwater Staff writer

Brandon McAdoo was “the perfect child,” according to a friend of the family.

The 15-month-old who died last weekend of head injuries, allegedly caused by his father, was “always happy and lovey,” said Honey Catron, a former neighbor at the Monte Vista Motel and RV Park. Brandon’s father, 30-year-old Barry McAdoo, is wanted on charges of felony injury to a child in connection with the homicide.

Family friends have planned a memorial service for 4:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2801 N. Fourth St., Coeur d’Alene. Friends of Angela Cowles, Brandon’s mother, opened a memorial fund at Bank of America to help with her living expenses.

Cowles’ friends said she is five months pregnant with McAdoo’s child and recently lost her job as a housekeeper at a local motel. Since Brandon’s death, she has been staying with Catron.

“Angela is still in shock that it happened,” Catron said. “Angela’s coping. She’s having a harder time now that we’re getting closer and closer to the funeral.

“We talk about Brandon every night. We try to remember the good times we had with him.”

Catron met the couple when they first moved to Idaho. She was staying at the Monte Vista Motel on Lake Coeur d’Alene Drive and they were living in a travel trailer in the motel’s RV Park.

Sheriff’s Detective Dan Mattos described the trailer as being about 12 feet long and 6 to 8 feet wide. The trailer had no running water or heat, he said.

“The conditions were inappropriate for a young child,” Mattos said this week.

An autopsy conducted on Brandon found he had died of a “blunt trauma injury.” The autopsy also revealed bruises on the toddler’s body and a fractured right forearm that had begun to heal.

When Cowles called police last Friday to report her son’s injuries, she said she had fallen on the ice while carrying Brandon. Later, she told police that McAdoo may have hurt Brandon when he was trying to remove a piece of plastic-coated paper from the boy’s mouth.

Mattos told The Spokesman-Review that Health and Welfare had investigated an abuse complaint in late December. At that time, Mattos said the fractured arm may have been healed enough so that it wasn’t apparent to social workers.

Health and Welfare has yet to respond to a request from the newspaper to release Brandon’s records. They also refused to comment on the investigation or the nature of the complaint.

McAdoo was last seen leaving the Monte Vista Motel and RV Park Jan. 14 after Cowles called 911. He’s described as 6 feet 2 inches tall, and weighing 300 pounds. Police said he’s used the aliases Barry Swendt, Lane McAdoo and Jeff McAdoo.

McAdoo has a history of property crimes and domestic violence in other states, Mattos said. According to the Sheriff’s Department, McAdoo left the RV Park on foot, has no car, but is an experienced hitchhiker. They said McAdoo has relatives in Kentucky and ties to Missouri and Louisiana.

Anyone who has seen McAdoo is asked to call the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Department at (208) 446-1311.