Thursday, June 4, 1998 | 9:19 a.m.
Family Court Judge Gerald Hardcastle had ruled in March that Ohrenschall had neglected the health and education of the girl, Katie Ross.
Hardcastle made Ross a ward of the court but allowed her to continue living with her mother and older brother.
Hardcastle terminated the wardship Wednesday after receiving a favorable report from Child Protective Services and proof the girl had enrolled in a state-approved education program.
The girl was hospitalized in December with ulcerative colitis amid reports she was malnourished and dehydrated, and weighed only 49 pounds. Surgery on Jan. 1 to remove her colon prevented her death, doctors said.
Today the teen, who is 5 feet tall, weighs nearly 100 pounds.
She was released from the hospital in early February and placed in the care of Dr. Fuller Royal, a homeopath, with whom she lived until she returned to her home in early March.
She said she was allowed no telephone calls and no visits - except for limited, supervised visits with her mother - during the last two weeks in the hospital and the following month.
"We're just happy to be back together - permanently, finally," the teen-ager said as she stood outside the courthouse with her mother, brother and a group of Ohrenschall's supporters.
archive
