PUTNAM COUNTY, Fla. — Ken Wadell, Caylen Deller‘s ex-partner, speaks out against Putnam County courts regarding Chad Mullen’s homicide case.
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Action News Jax has learned that Caylen Deller, a person of interest in the Chad Mullen homicide case, is in a fierce custody fight with another man.
That man, Ken Wadell, is speaking out saying the court is about to hand his five-year-old over to someone Putnam County deputies want to speak with about the high-profile homicide.
“I’m getting harassed for not letting Caylen see her daughter when I’ve been advised by state therapists, investigators, and detectives that she should not have anything to do with her mother,” said Wadell.
He said he is petrified for his daughter’s safety.
Action News Jax obtained court documents in the child custody case showing a judge granted a child pick-up order for the petitioner, Caylen Deller, on October 25th.
The Putnam County Sheriff’s Office said Deller lost custody of her daughter back in September after her most recent arrest. The family court documents show Deller is to regain custody of their daughter Ostara from Wadell, no later than 9 AM on November 4.
Wadell told Action News Jax he had no intention of handing over his daughter, knowing what he knew about Deller. Both Caylen Deller and Wadell are expected to be in family court in Putnam County on Monday, November 4. Wadell argues that granting her custody would be a dangerous and negligent move by the family courts in Putnam County.
However, this order was granted several days before Chad Mullen’s body was found buried in a shallow grave in Hastings on October 28. That discovery led the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office to name Caylen Deller as a person of interest in the case. Deller was Mullen’s ex-girlfriend and the last person to see him alive.
“I am the one that went to the sheriff in the first place with information that I got firsthand from Caylen,” said Wadell.
Wadell told Action News Jax that the court has ordered him to return their daughter to Deller by this Monday morning. If he does not, he said could face jail time for contempt of court.
“There will be a warrant issued for my arrest for either contempt of court or kidnapping, whichever the case may be,” said Wadell. “I am not going be the one to place Ostara into her hands and then have her run [off] and have something happen to our daughter”.
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