Birth Mother Of Abused Foster Child Hoping For Reunion

One Child Died Last Week

BEAVER DAM, Wis. -- The teenage birth mother of two boys allegedly abused in foster care is working to regain custody of the surviving child.

Camron Gardner, 3, died of internal bleeding last week. His foster parent, Shane Marquardt, is charged with punching him and his two-year-old brother in the stomach. Ethan Schwartz remains hospitalized.

Relatives of the 19-year-old birth mother, Ashley Mundt, said the boys were placed in the foster home last year as a temporary measure while the teenager tried to get her life in order.

Mundt and the grandmother who raised her, Pat Cramer, have contacted Dodge County child welfare authorities about taking custody of Ethan.

They hope to hear word on the county's placement decision Friday.