Missing girl's caseworker accused of lying

MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- The caseworker for a missing 5-year-old girl faced being fired for falsifying records and "unbecoming conduct" before she was allowed to resign earlier this year, according to documents obtained by CNN.

On March 20, the head of the Florida Department of Children and Families, the agency assigned to supervise Rilya Wilson, wrote to the caseworker, Deborah Muskelly, that she had lied in reports about visiting the homes of children assigned to her and supplied false details about how the children were being cared for.

The same day, the state agency's labor relations manager accepted Muskelly's resignation in lieu of dismissal for "conduct unbecoming a public employee," falsification of departmental records, and false statements during a disciplinary investigation, the documents said.

Rilya disappeared more than a year before the state agency realized she was gone. It revealed Tuesday it lost track of Rilya, who was placed in her grandmother's custody in late 1999 after her parents' rights were terminated. Rilya's mother, Gloria Wilson, lost custody of her because of drug problems.

Agency records indicate the child's welfare was checked monthly until January 2001, but neither Muskelly nor her supervisor had any record of meetings after that date.

The reports included Muskelly's "positive impressions of the home, condition of the children and your assessment of services needed by them at the time of your visit," Charles Auslander, district administrator of the Florida agency wrote.

Auslander also accused Muskelly of obtaining the signature of parents on blank forms she later filled out.

Rilya's absence came to light April 25 when a caseworker contacted the grandmother to set up an appointment to check on the little girl. The grandmother told the caseworker that she turned the child over to people she believed to be caseworkers in January 2001 and had not seen Rilya since.

The grandmother said she repeatedly called the state to check on the child. On Friday, Miami-Dade police collected the grandmother's phone records and administered a polygraph to verify those claims. Wilson, told The New York Times that the girl's caretaker was her godmother, not her grandmother.

While the investigation is still officially a missing persons case, police said Friday there was a "strong possibility" it could become a homicide case.

Tests were being conducted on the headless remains of a girl found a year ago in Missouri to determine if it was Rilya, even though palm prints did not match in an initial comparison.

"We really, desperately hope Rilya's still alive," Cmdr. Linda O'Brien said. "We simply don't know at this minute."

Miami-Dade investigators took a DNA sample Friday from Gloria Wilson in Cleveland, Ohio, to compare with the remains in Missouri, which have been dubbed "Precious Doe." Preliminary results could be returned within a week.

According to the Florida child welfare agency records, Muskelly was demoted twice in five months in 1995. A district manager wrote the first demotion was a result of her "failure to maintain a satisfactory level of performance."

Muskelly's supervisor, Willie Harris, was criticized in a 2000 performance evaluation for his "laissez-faire" style that allowed staff "to do as they please." Two years earlier, he was told to improve his "ability to hold people accountable."

-- CNN Correspondent Susan Candiotti and producer Patrick Oppmann contributed to this report.