PLAY: Parents of Missing Boys Hear Charges Against Them

PLAY: Adoptive Parents Claim Missing Kids Ran Away

WATCH: Two Boys Missing, Parents Questioned

One of the adoptive parents in the case of two missing boys will be back in court Thursday.

Linda Bryant, who has been charged with 148 felony counts, returned to court Thursday after making her first appearance alongside her husband on March 17. Thursday's hearing settled two motions that were approved by the judge.

On March 17, a judge assigned a public defender to represent 58-year-old Edward Bryant, and Sarah Christensen to represent 54-year-old Linda Bryant. Linda Bryant's preliminary hearing has been scheduled for 9 a.m. on April 12, while Edward Bryant's preliminary hearing has been scheduled for June 17.

While his wife faces 148 charges, Edward Bryant has been charged with 13 felony counts. His motions hearing is scheduled for April 21.

The El Paso County Sheriff's Office said earlier this month that they've received 20 tips from the public about the two boys who were discovered missing, one for up to a decade.

Now arrested, the adoptive parents say the young boys ran away, but a missing persons report was never filed.

Detectives say the case was blown open on January 22, 2011 when two brothers who are former foster children of the adoptive mother's daughter started talking about their son, Austin Bryant, and wondering what happened to him. They called authorities and the investigation began, revealing Austin was last seen sometime between 2003 and 2005.

Through interviews with other family members, detectives discovered there was a second child in the family who is also unaccounted for named Edward Bryant.

Austin Eugene Bryant would be 15 years old. Austin is said to have disappeared as early as 2003 when he was 7 years old. Edward Dylan Bryant would be 18 years old now. Edward is believed to have gone missing as early as 2001 when he would have been 9 years old.

Austin and Edward are the adoptive children of Edward Bryant and Linda Bryant, of Texas. Both children were adopted by the Bryants in El Paso County in 2000. Officials say the Bryants had nine adopted children in all.

No missing persons report has ever been filed with the sheriff's office or surrounding law enforcement agencies for these two children, even though the Bryants continued to collect $1,700 a month from the Department of Human Services for the boys. Altogether, authorities say the Bryants pocketed almost $175,000 for the boys' care while they told family members differing stories of the boys' whereabouts.

According to court documents in the case there are allegations that Austin was physically abused by Edward and Linda Bryant. The documents say that one witness reported that the Bryants used a "taser" on the boy and sometimes rolled him up tightly in a blanket so he could not move and looked like a mummy, There were also reports of welts on the boy that were apparently caused by electrical shocks.

According to the same documents, James Bryant was a step-brother who lived in the house with Austin,. He reportedly told investigators that Austin was sometimes taken out to the garage and left there for two or three days at a time, and that he would sometimes be locked in a large brown trunk. He says the boy was often denied food and would sometimes eat out of the garbage can because he was hungry.

James Bryant told authorities, according to the documents, that the last time he saw Austin alive was some time in early 2003. Austin was enrolled in Monument Academy for kindergarten in 2001. In August of 2003 he was enrolled in District 38 but was later pulled out, reportedly to be home schooled.

Deputies tell us the Bryants lived in a home located on Granite Circle in Monument from 1999 to 2005. Property records show they owned the home at 18060 Granite Circle from 1999 to 2006. Detectives say the Bryants moved out of the home in October 2005.

Other records show Wells Fargo Bank started foreclosure proceedings against the Bryants in October 2006. The process was stopped in December 2006 after the Bryants sold the home and paid off the amount owed.

At that point the Bryants were living in Texas. Detectives say there's no evidence to show that Edward and Austin ever made the move to Texas.

"I don't really remember them, but they seemed like shady people. Something just wasn't quite right," said one former neighbor in the Monument area.

Linda and Edward Bryant were contacted and arrested in Texas for receiving an ongoing financial subsidy from the El Paso County Department of Human Services despite the fact Austin and Edward were not residing with them. When they were arrested, the Bryants had five adopted children in their custody.

They were extradited back to Colorado and are in custody at the El Paso County Criminal Justice Center. Detectives say the Bryants have conflicting stories regarding the whereabouts of Edward and Austin. Linda told detectives that Edward and Austin ran away in 2003, but the father says Edward ran away in 2001 and Austin ran away two years later.

Edward Bryant was apparently living in Denton when he was arrested. Neighbors told a Texas TV station that he had three boys, but they didn't recognize the pictures of the two who are missing.

Neighbor Jan Dalton said, "I'm just shocked," upon learning about the Bryants' arrests. The family lived in a lakeside community in North Texas, and belonged to the Lake Kiowa Lodge, a waterfront beach club.

The El Paso County Sheriff's Office will be conducting a neighborhood canvass and following other investigative leads to try to determine more details surrounding the disappearance of these children.

Court documents say that this is an ongoing homicide investigation into the disappearance of Edward and Austin Bryant. An arrest affidavit also says that Linda Bryant admits to telling the other kids in the house that the two missing boys were institutionalized and she admits that she had come to solely rely on the money she was receiving from DHS, roughly $1,700 per month for the two. She also admits to deputies that she falsified documents to show that the boys were in school.

According to documents from a 2007 bankruptcy filing, the couple listed a total of $126,125 in adoption monies as part of their income for 2005-2006. They listed eight sons, ages 7 to 15, and an 87-year-old mother as dependents.

At the time, the elder Edward Bryant said he was an electric engineer technician for the city of Denton, Texas, and Linda Bryant's occupation was listed as "housewife."

The Bryants are not charged in the boys' disappearance, but they are charged with crimes related to taking money for their care when the boys were not living with them.

Edward Eugene Bryant has been charged with Felony Theft, Conspiracy, Attempt to Influence a Public Official, Offering a False Instrument for Recording, Forgery. Bond has been set at $1 million.

Linda Kay Bryant has been charged with Felony Theft,
Conspiracy, Attempt to Influence a Public Official,
Offering a False Instrument for Recording, Forgery. Bond has been set at $1 million.

If anyone has information regarding Austin Bryant or Edward Bryant, please contact the El Paso County Sheriff's Office at 719-390-5555.