MIAMI – Police are investigating after a 17-year-old girl was found dead last weekend in Miami.
"I don't know how she died. I haven't ID'd her, I haven't seen a body. They're telling me that there is no body," the girl's mother, Vickie Menard, said.
Menard said her daughter, Christine McGowan, was found dead last Saturday.
Christine was in the care of a Department of Children and Families group home facility.
Menard said her daughter was the mother of a 3-year-old and had been in state custody for two years.
The single mother of four told Local 10 News that she had hoped the state could help her with Christine, who was determined to rebel.
She said she could not watch her daughter while working to support her family.
"She just didn't always make the best decisions, but I felt it was only because she was young, not because she was just bad and, you know, too much out of control," Menard said.
Menard said she had hoped to be reunited with her daughter and was working with the court for that to happen. She said the two spoke daily, but she never got a call from her on Nov. 9.
She said she found out nearly a week later from the director of Christine's group home that her daughter was dead.
"I do want answers. I feel like if she was found dead at home near me, everyone and law enforcement would be on me," Menard said.
Miami-Dade police confirmed that it is investigating the death, but could not immediately provide specifics about the case.