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Mentally disabled daughter left at a bar intentionally

July 11, 2012

On June 28, Eva Cameron drove to Tennessee with her daughter. She stopped at the Big Orange Bar in Caryville, Tennessee to let her daughter Lynn use the restroom. Cameron then abandoned mentally disabled Lynn, 19, by the side of the road and returned to her home in Illinois as if nothing was wrong.

“Lynn didn’t know her age, she didn’t know her address, she didn’t know her phone number and she didn’t even know her name,” Assistant Police Chief Stephanie Smith said.

A picture and request for information on Lynn’s identity was released to the public. The Caryville police later received an anonymous tip on her identity. Investigators ultimately learned the young woman was from Illinois and they tracked her mother down. At their request, Eva Cameron had a brief meeting with Caryville police the following day. She signed a statement that said Lynn Cameron was now a ward of Tennessee, officials said.

“She basically said, ‘I don’t want her and I don’t want to take her.’ Then she got in her car and she left,” Smith said.

Eva Cameron later stated, “We understand she lost her ID card and that’s how the situation has turned into what happened. She’s already an adult. I just have to leave it at that.”

“As terrible as it is, unfortunately there is nothing we can do,” Assistant Police Chief Stephanie Smith said. “There is no doubt we need a law for mental health rights, but pending this investigation, we just don’t know what else to do.”

Authorities took Lynn to a hospital and discovered she only had a basic vocabulary of 30-40 words, according to Smith. A Campbell County Chancery Court order in the case described Lynn Cameron as a “severely disabled adult, suffering from profound mental deficits, and is unable to care for herself or her personal needs.” According to the court, the mother stated “she could not and would not care for Lynn Cameron.” Eva Cameron said that she has another child she cares for who is also disabled and caring for both was too much to handle.

Police in Caryville said Lynn has no assigned legal guardian. Lynn is being cared for at a facility in Roane County. When asked how the Lynn was doing, Smith replied, “Lynn is doing fantastic.”

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