"Ten-year-old Jayci Yaeger is dying of brain cancer, and has one final wish -- to have her father spend some time at her bedside before she dies...

"'She's very scared,' Jayci's mother, Vonda Yaeger says, 'and I think she's holding on for her father. She didn't do anything wrong. He was there for her when she was born. He should be there for her when she goes.'"

The father is in a minimum security prison on a drug offense. According to CBS, the visit could be allowed under "extraordinary circumstances," but the prison warden says the circumstances are not "extraordinary." If this isn't an "extraordinary" circumstance, what is?

Two articles describing the case are below. A reader sent me the following contact information for those who want to tell South Dakota officials to let this dad go to Nebraska to see his dying daughter:

Gov. Mike Rounds. Linda Asher / public relations - Yankton FPC Phone: 605-665-3262 Fax: 605-668-1113 E-mail address: yan/execassistant@bop.gov

Senator Tim Johnson........ (800) 537-0025
Senator John Thune..... Sioux Falls: (605) 334-9596
Congresswoman Stephanie Herseth......... (866) 371-8747
Yankton (18th) district state delegates: Jean Hunhoff (senate -R) Business: 605-668-8312
Garry Moore (house - D) Business: 605-665-3294
Charlii Gilson (house - R) Business 605-260-1600

Daughter Dying, Dad Can't Leave Prison
Being Denied 30-Day Leave; Mom Says It's Daughter's Last Wish To Have Him With Her

(CBS) Ten-year-old Jayci Yaeger is dying of brain cancer, and has one final wish -- to have her father spend some time at her bedside before she dies.

She's in a Lincoln, Neb. hospice.

However, her father, Jason Yaeger, is in a federal minimum security prison in South Dakota, serving five-and-a-half years for a drug conviction. He has less than a year left in his sentence, and is set to be released to a halfway house in four months.

Jason and the Yaeger family have appealed many times to the warden for a 30-day supervised release, which could be allowed under "extraordinary circumstances." However, the family says these appeals have been denied, and the prison tells them the circumstances are not "extraordinary."

"She's very scared," Jayci's mother, Vonda Yaeger says, "and I think she's holding on for her father. She didn't do anything wrong. He was there for her when she was born. He should be there for her when she goes."

Jason, she says, was always a very good father to Jayci.

Also see Jailed Dad Asks Bush For Clemency: Man Wants To Get To Dying Daughter's Bedside. 

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 20th, 2008 at 6:31 pm and is filed under Fatherhood, Crime/Criminal Justice System/Police. You can trackback from your own site.