Merle And Ernest Bean From 'The Girl In The Picture' Fostered Around 80 Kids
Netflix’s true crime documentary, Girl in the Picture, which premiered July 6, details the disturbing life and crimes of Franklin Delano Floyd. And people have a lot of questions about the confusing story surrounding his death row sentence.
Here's the long and short of things: Floyd kidnapped a girl named Suzanne Marie Sevakis, the daughter of his first wife, only to rename her Sharon Marshall and raise her as his own child. Sharon ended up getting pregnant with her boyfriend, and Floyd eventually forced her to marry him.
Sharon died just shy of her 21st birthday in a suspicious hit-and-run accident. (The doc questions whether Floyd was involved.) Her son, Michael, was eventually put in the care of a couple named Merle and Ernest Bean, who also appear in the documentary. While Floyd had visitation rights for a while, a paternity test confirmed he was not biologically related to Michael.
Four years later, on Sept. 12, 1994, Floyd visited Michael’s elementary school and abducted the child at gunpoint. Years later, Franklin told an FBI agent that he shot and killed Michael on the day he abducted him, per the FBI.
But who are Michael’s foster parents, Merle and Ernest Bean, and where are they now? Here’s what you need to know.
Who are Merle and Ernest Bean?
Merle and Ernest Bean were Michael’s foster parents for four years, between 1990 and 1994, according to The Oklahoman. The couple made the decision to become foster parents based on their faith, the paper says.
How did they meet?
Merle and Ernest met in high school and got married 14 days after they graduated, according to InspiringCouples.com. “I was pregnant with our first baby when Ernest was drafted and sent to Vietnam,” Merle said in the interview. “We didn’t have a phone or television—we didn’t have anything. I had to figure out how to get by.”
The couple ended up having three more biological children.
They seem very devoted to each other, and even have a sweet inside acronym called SIDLY. “It stands for ‘See, I do love you,’” Ernest said. “We’ve been leaving notes for each other in random places signed SIDLY for years. It’s been our way of reminding the other that they are loved.”
They fostered at least 80 children.
Merle “always wanted 12 kids,” so the couple looked into fostering children with the blessing of their own kids, she told InspiringCouples.com. “We told them that they would have to share their rooms, their toys and even us, but the kids were all for it,” Merle said.
Over the next 20 years, Merle and Ernest cared for more than 80 foster children. Some only stayed in their care for a few days, while others, like Michael, stayed for several years.
How did Michael Hughes end up with the Beans?
Michael was placed with Merle and Ernest when he was only two years old after his mother, Tonya Hughes (a.k.a. Sharon Marshall) was killed in a mysterious hit-and-run accident. After DNA testing showed that Floyd wasn’t his father, the Beans started formal adoption proceedings, per InspiringCouples.com.
Was Michael Hughes ever found?
Nope. His body was never found. But Floyd confessed that he killed the boy after abducting him, per The Oklahoman.
Where are they now?
Merle and Ernest stopped fostering children for a while after Michael was abducted and killed. “I couldn’t imagine taking another child, but DHS asked me to go visit an infant at a nearby hospital,” Merle told InspiringCouples.com. “We were told that she would never walk or talk and she was not expected to live more than a year. But she did learn to talk.”
They adopted the baby, named Kabreena Bean. “She blessed our lives, and everyone she came into contact with before passing away at the age of seven,” Merle said.
In another interview with The Oklahoman, Merle added that they "still feel the loss of Michael, just like we feel the loss of Kabreena...In Michael's case, there's no closure."
It's unclear where they are now, but it seems like they're both still alive, considering they contributed to the documentary.
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