12. The photograph “Four children for sale” is only the start of a tragic story for this family.
This shocking photo first appeared in the Vidette-Messenger of Valparaiso, Indiana on August 5, 1948. Ray and Lucille (pregnant in the photo) Chalifoux were facing eviction and Ray had recently lost his job as a truck driver. The couple, feeling that they had no ability to support their family, decided to sell their children. The photo shows Lucille, turning away and covering her face to prevent it from being photographed, while her four children sit on the steps in front her. The large sign at the front of the house reveals that these little children are for sale. The children range in age from two to six years old.
The photo caused a large public outcry and the time and offers of financial support, work, and housing poured in for the impoverished family. However, within two years of this photo, Ray had abandoned his family and all of the children had been sold to other families, including the fifth child who Lucille was pregnant within this photo. Two of the children, Raeann Mills and her brother Milton, were sold into an abusive family and allege that they suffered severe neglect and at times were chained in a barn. They claim that they were forced to work in the fields as “slaves” as Milton remembers being called by his adoptive father. Milton also said that his stepfather told him that if he was afraid that he would do what he was told.
Lucille later remarried and went on to have four more daughters. After a number of years estranged from their mother, the children reunited with her but found her to have no regrets about selling them, as well as being completely devoid of love for them. The siblings had conflicting attitudes towards their mother. David thought that his mother was acting in their best interests at the time and that “back then it was survival,” while Sue Ellen felt that “she needs to be in Hell burning” for what she did.