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SANTA CLARITA, Calif. - A foster family in California is heartbroken after the six-year-old girl they had been caring for was removed from their home on Monday.
Lexi Page has lived with the family for four years, but is now being sent to live with extended family in Utah under the Indian Child Welfare Act.
Clutched in the arms of her foster dad, Rusty Page, a dramatic scene unfolded outside their home as foster mom Summer and her children screamed in the background.
LA County department of children and family services agents, acting on a court order, removed Lexi from the only family she's known for the past four years.
"She's the happiest child you'll ever meet today," said Rusty. "Tomorrow... No. She won student of the month last month at school for how caring she is for people, and people don't return that favor to her."
The case involves a tribal custody battle that hinged on the Indian Child Welfare Act from the 1970s, aimed at protecting Native American children.
Lexi is 1.5 percent Choctaw, and has bounced in and out of foster homes since birth.
Even though her biological parents relinquished custody years ago, her extended family in Utah has been fighting for custody.
The Pages' attempts to adopt Lexi over the past several years have been unsuccessful.
"The county of LA always talks about how important it is to maintain consistency and permanence for children, and yet they violate that today. And it's gut-wrenching," said Rusty.
The pages tried to file a stay with the California Supreme Court, but not even prayers by hundreds of heartbroken community members who kept vigil could change Lexi's fate.
On Monday, the Choctaw Nation has issued the following statement about the child's case:
The Page family issued a statement from their home after the little girl was taken away, which read in part: