Shellie Ross, the woman posing as a *mommy* blogger was arrested in August on a felony out of state warrant. She owed child support to 2 children she had abandoned when they were 6 and 8 years old when she fled to Massachusetts with her 3 son (all boys have different fathers).
Shellie was released after a week after she promised to appear in Ohio for her court hearing.
She didn't appear.
And she didn't pay all the support she owed.
(keep in mind, she's living in a half million dollar home).
She was re-arrested in December (her husband, Steve Ross, was also arrested after the police chased him around the neighborhood - from the Crime Gallery: BREVARD COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE 6:49 p.m. Dec. 8. Arrested: Steven William Ross, 41, of 5120 Pintail Lane, Merritt Island. Charge: resisting arrest without violence.) and Shellie spent almost 2 weeks in jail before she coughed up about half of the support she owed (she paid 27,000.00 - but according to Tilor - Zach's father, she still owes about 23 - 25 thousand more).
Tilor Teegardin contacted me after discovering Shellie was arrested (the first time). I spoke at length with Tilor and everything he's been through as a single father - and I spoke with Zach - a young man who can't understand why his mother not only left him, but didn't even have the heart to contact him (let alone pay support). And then she went on to have 2 more kids (though she couldn't even pay for the ones she left behind). And of course, we know that one of those children drowned and died while she was twittering.
Tilor informed that 11 years ago, Shellie had a son named Cody (and Shellie has often spoken of Cody on her blogs). Cody was her first born, and was from her first marriage, and Shellie Schnell was her married name.
Then, Shellie left her first husband and had a second son, Zach. Shellie has never mentioned Zach on any of her blogs. All of Shellie's former friends who contacted me after this story broke, said Shellie never mentioned Zach - it was as if he didn't exist.
Tilor states that 3 months after Zach was born, Shellie left him and then had another son, Kris, with yet another different father. Shellie often speaks of Kris in her blogs also.
On August 28th in 2000, Shellie had a court date to decide custody of her eldest son Cody and her younger son, Zach, but Shellie didn’t bother showing up - instead she took Kris and moved to Massachusetts with him, not even bothering to say goodbye to the sons she left behind.
Fast forward 11 years:
Tilor knew nothing about Shellie's other life in Florida. Shellie married Steve Ross and lives in a beautiful home that she proudly took pictures and videos of and posted them online, I guess never figuring that Tilor and Zach would ever find out. Meanwhile, Tilor has struggled as a single dad and in April of 2007, he was severely injured on a construction site. He had to be flown to a trauma center but mid-flight, he went into cardiac arrest and they had to divert to a closer hospital. He received a tracheostomy, they were able to revive him, and then flew him on to the trauma center. He left the hospital 3 weeks later, with a tube permanently implanted in his brain, a plate in his head, and a broken lower jaw. He went back to work and continued working, though he could no longer work in the field as his health/thinking/ is compromised due to his head injury. He continued to work until his company closed their doors and he, like so many other Americans, is unable to find a job.
Meanwhile, in 2007, Shellie Ross gave birth to her 4th son, even though she already had 2 sons that she left behind and didn't bother to pay her support payments.
Tilor is understandably angry to learn that Zach’s deadbeat mom is living a life of ease while he has worked his ass off to care for his son that she 'threw away.' I've spoken with Zach, and he has been thrown for a loop finding out all this information that his mom is alive, and well, and having more children. He is terribly hurt.
I can't speak for what occurred with her oldest son, but Tilor states that Shellie was supposed to pay 385.76 dollars per month in support and in the past 10 years, the only money they've seen is from her tax return last year (it was garnished and sent to them).
But even worse than that...this 'wonderful loving mom' as she has been called by the blogging mommy community, has not bothered to send a birthday card or gift to Zach. No phone calls. No letters saying "I love you" - or "I miss you."
Imagine Zach's shock when he learned Shellie was not only alive and well, but, even though she couldn't be bothered being a mom to him, she went on to have 2 more child (ironically, one died because she wasn't paying attention to him).
I asked Zach some questions about himself, about how his life has been affected by an absent mom, and this is what he had to say;
Q: What are your hobbies? Favorite TV shows? Favorite music/bands.
Zach: Some things I like to do are to watch my fish tanks and care for them. They are probably my biggest hobby so I care a lot for all of my tanks. I also like to go fishing and to just be outdoors a lot.
Q: When is the last time you saw Shellie?
Zach: The last time I saw Shellie was probably about 8 years ago.
Q: Has she written any letters to you? Did she send you birthday cards?
Zach: Shellie has never written me any letters or sent me any cards for any occasions including birthdays, Christmas or any other holidays.
Q: What would you say to Shellie if you could talk to her?
Zach: I don’t even know what I would say to her if I was face to face with her. I think I would just have to walk away because of my anger towards her I could not express it in any way besides walking away. If I was emailing her then I would want to ask her how my brothers are doing and would probably try to set up a time to see them but not her.
Q: Did she ever tell you why she left you with your dad?
Zach: Well she never had to say anything because she just never showed up in court that day so that said everything in its own.
Q: Would you want to give her a second chance to be a mom?
Zach: I could give her a second chance to be a mom to Kris and her youngest son but not to me because she has never been there for me so why should she be now?
Q: 3 words to describe Shellie.
Zach: Arrogant, Lying, Irresponsible.
Q: What are the good things you remember about her?
Zach: I don’t really remember anything about her that was good for me.
Q: Did you have other women in your life who stepped in and became a mom figure to you?
Zach: Yes, I had my step-mom Heather who raised me for 13 years before divorcing my dad and my current mom, Karen, who is amazing and the best thing that has ever happened to me as a mom figure.
Q: What are your future plans? What do you want to be career wise?
Zach: As a career I would like to go into the fields of marine biology or environmental sciences because those are the areas that I most enjoy in school and would love to have them as jobs.
Q: How did you feel when you found out she was living in Florida and had 2 more children?
Zach: I kind of had this feeling for a while that she was down in Florida for a while but the fact that she had two more children without me knowing really upset me, especially when I found out that Bryson had died and she just went on with her life at that point and it seemed to me that she just forgot about him. It upsets me mainly because I really wish I could have met him when he was still around. Also the fact that she is living the good life down in Florida when my family is struggling here in Ohio really pisses me off because she does not deserve to be where she is in today’s society.
Shellie still owes money to Tilor and Zach - she's paid up her support to Tom and Cody (her other son and exhusband) Tom was in the same boat as Tilor pretty much, and was only recently paid the support he owed.
Shellie loves to play the victim in all this - she calls me her stalker - no - I'm just a bullshit detective - and once I got to know Zach and Tilor, I hoped that since Shellie thought she was above the law and was going around pretending to be an awesome mom, maybe if I posted Zach and Tilor's story online - maybe it would embarrass Shellie enough to at least pay the back support she owes.
Shellie is spreading falsehoods about me, trying to discredit or hurt me - but those who know me know the truth. I have court documents and police records to back up the facts I've posted. Shellie has nothing because she is trying to deflect the truth that she is not a wonderful mommy blogger - she is a deadbeat mom.
I can't change the ending of Bryson Ross's story. He drowned while his mother was Tweeting and he is dead. Nothing will ever change that.
But I hope to change the outcome of Zach's story. It's time for Shellie to step up to the plate, pay ALL the back support and acknowledge that she's caused considerable hurt to Zach.
Zach twitters at @sharksRfriends - if you want to send him a tweet of support - just to let him know that not all people are crappy - and that people actually care.
