Will more be held accountable at DCF over missing child scandal?

BOSTON (MyFoxBoston.com) -- It has been a full week since Governor Patrick told Fox 25 that more at the State Department of Children and Families could be punished over the scandal involving a missing Fitchburg boy.

So far, DCF is silent. Will anyone else be held accountable? Fox 25 Political Reporter Sharman Sacchetti set out to ask. A spokeswoman for the governor directed questions to DCF. A DCF spokeswoman sent Sacchetti a one-line email saying it won't comment on the case or the ongoing investigation. When asked when DCF would be commenting, she did not respond.

It had been almost a full month since anybody at the state level noticed little Jeremiah Oliver was missing.

The child was last seen alive by a relative back in September. Authorities fear he may be dead. So far a social worker and a supervisor have been fired. Also the person in charge of the supervisor was reassigned.

Oliver's social worker was supposed to be making regular monthly visits, but hadn't even seen him since May.

What's worse, she wanted to close out Oliver's case in November.

DCF Commissioner Olga Roche has told Fox 25 that she plans to stay on in her current position. So far the governor stands by her.

Also this week, Oliver's mother and her boyfriend appeared in court in Fitchburg for a dangerousness hearing. Both are charged in connection with the case.

Fox 25 also learned police are reportedly trying to find out more about a tattoo of a butterfly on Elsa Oliver. The date next to it: Sept. 25, 2013.

And finally the child's biological father decided to come up from his home in Connecticut and arrange a volunteer driven search for his son.

The case is being treated as a potential homicide. The Office of the Child Advocate is investigating how the state failed this little boy. DCF is doing its own investigation of itself. And House Speaker Robert Deleo has called for a top-down review of the agency. He has asked the House Post Audit and Oversight Committee and the Children, Families and Persons with Disabilities Committee to conduct a joint investigation.

Cox Media Group