Tampa Tribune reporter Sherri Ackerman began covering the story of Courtney Clark's disappearance from Florida's care in June, when authorities found the toddler in Wisconsin. That led to a successful court petition for access to state records about Courtney and her mother, Candice Clark, as well as other household members. The records resulted in a series of investigative stories throughout the summer that exposed serious flaws in Florida's child welfare system as well as a dark side to Candice Clark. ...more

December 2, 2007

PORTAGE, WIS. - Candice Clark rages like an angry child as she leans into a video monitor in the Columbia County Jail. "I'm not a murderer," the inmate in orange snarls into the telephone. ...more

December 1, 2007