Airman's Wife: Too Stressed

Published: 8/31/2012 4:21 pm

Updated: 8/31/2012 4:21 pm

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) - A West Texas woman who claims her military husband's deployment left her too stressed to care for her kids is facing child injury charges after her toddler's death and allegations of neglecting her two other daughters.

Tiffany Nicole Klapheke remained jailed Friday in Abilene with bonds totaling $500,000. The 21-year-old doesn't yet have an attorney.

A preliminary autopsy report shows that her 22-month-old daughter suffered dehydration and malnutrition. The toddler died after being found unresponsive Tuesday at her home on Dyess Air Force Base, about 180 miles west of Dallas.

Abilene police say the 6-month-old and 3-year-old were treated for severe neglect at a children's hospital in Fort Worth.

In an exclusive interview from jail, Klapheke told Abilene television station KTAB that she didn't put her kids first anymore.

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preexisting - 9/2/2012 2:43 PM

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To FDNY1983: Thank you for your service - both your service and your husband's service as well. Our family was fortunate in that our son returned in on piece. You should re-consider the CPS program that is available to you . . . it is something very small that the ratepayers and citizens of San Antonio/Bexar County can do, not as a handout, but as a way of saying "thanks" for the sacrifices your husband made and continues to make as a result of that service.

FDNY1983 - 9/2/2012 12:29 PM

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I might also add- there is a program CPS offers for burn victims that discounts their energy bills because of their medical conditions. Have we enrolled in that program? NO! So suck it. Folks can irk my last nerve when they group everyone into one pot. JUDGING by your screen name I could ASSume you are of a certain ethnicity and insinuate ALL kinds of things about you, but I don't because I'm not a narrowminded jerk. As for this horrible human being of a mother, may she rot in the same conditions she left those poor babies to die in and prayers for her husband who is in harms way having to deal with these unspeakable things.

FDNY1983 - 9/2/2012 12:25 PM

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garzar1- First of all, you might want to check your freakin resources because my husband is a Wounded Warrior and we do not expect a CENT from ANYONE (to include ungrateful and stereotyping folks like you) and I also am military (11 proud years on Tuesday) and there are MANY like us who are not here for handouts. Second of all, if you think we're getting free homes, guess again. Burn victims and amputees face heightened challenges that span long after initial care and treatment. My husband cannot regulate his body temperature because of his burns and therefore our energy bill is high. If you want these same "freebies" then enlist, get a let or two blown off or your face melted, and you'll be "entitled" "like us."

preexisting - 9/2/2012 9:59 AM

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When you live on base (as did this young woman) it is a rather closed and tight-knit community, and all I suggested (I did not, Phrilly, "spout" about anything, especially benefits or supplemental help to returning vets) was that someone in that tight-knit, closed community should have recognized what was happening and alerted the various support networks that do exist within the military community to help the family cope with a deployment. Most of us who returned from Viet Nam were not married, and the only people dealing with our deployments were our parents - and they were experienced at that for the most part being of the WWII generation. The vast majority of us who returned took off the uniform and did what our parents did - we just got on with the business of living.

Phrilly - 9/1/2012 10:30 PM

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I amend my post. The person I was mostly harping on was gazar1 although part of it is still pointed directly to preexisting. It's not just the military having "3,4,5 kids". There are many, many families in San Antonio that have more than that and live off of our taxes (saw it just this morning in HEB with a LoneStar card). So, the military spouses don't stand alone. Oh, and just in case you forgot, it takes two to make babies. The military supplies birth control just like every where else but they can't make you take it!

Phrilly - 9/1/2012 6:30 PM

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I too am retired military. Military spouses have a truck load of help available at their bases. There was absolutely NO reason for her to feel "stressed". She just had to ask for help and it would be there. That said, preexisting = that "help" you spouted about is not part of the norm for those returning. Mostly houses, cars etc. are given to those who have served their country and lost arms, legs, eyes etc. giving you the right to spout your garbage any where you want. This is the first war that this has happened. You must be very young yourself to not know what happened when we returned from Viet Nam and were spit at and called baby killers. What do you have to say about that? You probably have'nt worn any kind of uniform yourself unless it was McDonald's!

Anonymous - 9/1/2012 2:47 PM

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I wouldn't trust the Me generation to take care of a goldfish. I retired from the military and couldn't stand military spouses. They would complain about everything and make their spouses miserable.

garzar1 - 9/1/2012 7:25 AM

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why is it that so many military couples seem to have 3,4,5 kids. is it because they know..we the taxes payers will pay for there meds, housing, travel, school supplys, and when they get out...someone will build them a house, give them a van, because now the family has grown to 6 or 7. dont get it????

stephabee - 8/31/2012 7:13 PM

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Absolutely ridiculous. I have 2 children whom are only a year and a half apart, and my husband is out of town 2 weeks out of the month each month, I work a full time job and maintain the household. I am always stressed. And even though it seems bad sometimes, I could NEVER let my child be ignored like that. She had to of been on drugs to not have a care in the world. This is why they need something for all girls up until they are a certain age, to keep them from having children at an early age. Obviously these poor innocent have no choice in who their parent is, and it's sad to come into a world where no one cares. When will this problem be fixed? It's out of control!

stephabee - 8/31/2012 7:10 PM

3 Votes

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I think it's complete bull. I am a mom of 2 children that are a year apart from each other, I work and my husband is gone out of town for work 2 weeks out of the month...and yes I get stressed, but not to the point where I would not take care of my children. You honestly have to be completely gone to not care for these tiny children right in front of you. This is why there needs to be some kind of law for birth control for little teenage hoe's. And I say hoe's...because that's what they are. So stupid.

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