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The Investigator | Family says Cuyahoga County ignored abuse by Cleveland mother of 9

The Cuyahoga County Department of Children and Family Services has investigated Larissa Rodriguez and her family since 1999.

Children's services caseworkers closed their case against a Cleveland mother in February, just months before family members suspect her 5-year-old son died and wound up buried in the family's backyard.

A spokeswoman for the Cuyahoga County's Department of Children and Family Services said the agency is reviewing its long history with Larissa Rodriguez, 34, and her nine children.

The agency has been involved - on and off - with the family since 1999, investigating abuse and neglect claims.

The latest case began in December 2016 and ended two months later. It is unclear what was alleged and why the case was closed, a spokeswoman said Wednesday.

"I understand the nature of social work and trying to best predict the future is not an easy thing to do," spokeswoman Mary Louise Madigan said Wednesday.

Madigan said a case is typically closed when a parent or guardian is compliant or the allegations are corrected.

The county medical examiner has yet to identify the remains found Tuesday and no cause of death has been announced. The body of an apparent child was located behind Rodriguez's home of West 80th Street home after Cleveland police, acting a tip from Rodriguez's family, unearthed the remains Tuesday.

Rodriguez first gave birth at age 14. She is again pregnant, her family told Channel 3 News.

Rodriguez, who remains in police custody on suspicion of murder charges, maintains her son is in Texas.

Her other four children, ages 16 months, 4, 7 and 12, were removed from her custody on Tuesday and have been placed temporarily in foster care.

Her boyfriend, Christopher Rodriguez, 36, is in the Medina County Jail for failing to pay child support.

Police on Monday night, acting on a referral, found the children living in squalor; one child was seen eating a sandwich containing cockroaches.

Court records show Rodriguez has been evicted at least four times in the past 13 years. One landlord said Wednesday that Rodriguez left his Cleveland rental property infested with cockroaches and bed bugs; the kitchen, he said, was piled with trash so thick it was difficult to walk.

County records shows 18 complaints of neglect or abuse have been lodged against Rodriguez since 1999. Thirteen led to formal investigations.

Madigan pointed out that there were no complaints levied from 2000 to 2008 and again none in 2009 and 2010.

Two of Rodriguez's nine children, now ages 18 and 14, were previously removed from the home. Two others are in the custody of their fathers.

"I called [children's services] and never heard nothing back. Children services are supposed to be protecting our kids. they're our voices," her sister Ana said. "Every time she gets with a new man, her kids go through hell."

Madigan said an internal investigation into those calls is ongoing.

Rodriguez's life has been marked by upheaval and turmoil. Her birth mother, Emma Rojas, was brutally killed in 2007 when she was repeatedly stabbed by her boyfriend.

Rodriguez herself lodged complaints of abuse against her own adoptive parents in 1998, court records show.

Those abuse complaints were ultimately dismissed, the family said. Juvenile court records were not immediately provided Thursday.

A family member, who did not want to be identified, said a "rogue" social worker fueled the allegations. He added that Rodriguez was unruly, repeatedly running away from home and becoming pregnant at age 14.

"The bottom line: CFD was dysfunctional and did more harm than good then, and it appears little has changed today," the family member said.

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