Baughman, Cesar Augusto

Notes:

Cesar hung himself with a horse leader, on a tree out in the pasture. They spotted him in the morning from the kitchen window. Billy told Karen to keep the other kids in the house, while he ran to the tree and tried to hold him up while waiting for the paramedics to arrive. Cesar was a native Indian of Guatemala who was deaf and adopted by Karen and Billy. They went to Guatemala to pick him up and found a very scared little boy. He had watched his parents killed by government troops and they he went into hiding in the mountains with other refugees. When Karen went to pick him up there were problems because he was about to turn 12 and he would have been drafted into the Army that killed his parents. Karen obtained help from a US senator to process the adoption before his birthday.
He adapted very well at first but as time went on he was overwhelmed with memories of the past and confused over problems at home. Karen found pictures in his room that he drew of his parents being shot. He was a student of York County Vo Tech where he studied construction skills. He was also involved in wrestling, and he was very good with the animals at home. They had numerous farm animals. We remember Cesar as a shy boy with a big grin and always very polite. He was a wonderful addition to our family and we will always miss him.