Police investigate past of missing girl's caregiver

Rilya Wilson, left, shown before her disappearance, and right, in a retouched photograph depicting what she might look like today.

MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- Police investigating the case of Rilya Wilson, a 5-year-old missing girl from Miami, Florida, are widening their look into the youngster's caretaker, Geralyn Graham.

The case attracted national attention after it was revealed last month that the Florida Department of Children and Families had lost track of the girl since January 2001. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is offering a $25,000 reward for information leading to the successful recovery of Rilya.

"We are expanding our search and looking into the Caribbean area because apparently she has family ties there," Miami-Dade police spokesman Juan del Castillo said.

Graham remained hospitalized Monday for dehydration and "might have surgery in the morning," her attorney, Edward Shohat, said Monday night, declining to elaborate further.

Rilya was placed in the legal custody of Pamela Graham in 1999 after parental rights were terminated for the girl's parents.

But it was Pamela's sister, Geralyn, who told authorities last month that a "professional-looking woman" who said she was from the Florida child welfare office had taken Rilya 15 months earlier.

Geralyn Graham said the woman returned a few days later, saying the tests were taking longer than expected, and neither she nor Rilya were heard from again.

CNN NewsPass VIDEO Police investigating the case of Rilya Wilson, a 5-year-old missing for 16 months, are widening their look into the little girl's caretaker. CNN's Susan Candiotti reports (May 15) Play video   MORE STORIES Report: Girl's caregiver served prison time    RESOURCES Florida Department of Law Enforcement offers reward  Transcript: CNN's Susan Candiotti interviews Geralyn Graham

The disappearance was discovered in late April when a Department of Children and Families caseworker contacted the Grahams for a meeting about the girl -- the first of what should have been monthly meetings to occur since just before Rilya vanished.

Police have said Geralyn Graham is not considered a suspect. They call her a witness -- the sole person who has said she saw a child welfare worker take the girl.

Graham said a state worker who showed up at her home told her she was taking Rilya for tests because of behavioral problems Graham had reported to the Department of Children and Families.

The department said it has no record of the pickup or any visit to Grahams' home after January 2001.

Police: No evidence of foul play

Police have said they are frustrated by a polygraph voluntarily taken by Graham in which she "showed deception."

EXTRA INFORMATION Gallery: Rilya, the forgotten child

Shohat, who is working pro bono as Graham's attorney, said the release of the polygraph results "was an effort on the part of a frustrated police department to turn attention away from its own inability to solve this mystery outward into other directions."

Police officials said they are just as frustrated with others linked to the girl, including state employees they have interviewed.

"Everybody that we've talked to doesn't seem to be telling the truth," said Miami-Dade police Director Carlos Alvarez.

Alvarez said the police have no evidence of foul play in the girl's disappearance.

Despite national publicity about the case, no tips have been phoned into a police tip line, he added.

In an interview with CNN last week, Graham acknowledged having served time in prison for food stamp fraud and other charges, including passing bad checks.

But she denied involvement in Rilya's disappearance.

"I've never done anything violent in my life," Graham said, adding she does not understand how her past problems have anything to do with the child's disappearance.

Court records show use of aliases

Among police and court files reviewed by CNN, Graham is documented using at least 14 aliases.

She has an arrest record in Florida that dates back at least two decades. One arrest form dated 1982 charges Graham with grand theft. Police said she used the alias Gerrilyn Savage. Her place of birth was listed as the Bahamas.

On other arrest forms obtained by CNN that charge Graham under what police said were other aliases her place of birth was variously listed as Miami and Mississippi.

In the 1982 grand theft arrest form, police said that Graham admitted in a sworn statement that she had converted more than $8,500 in "travel order drafts" as an employee for a company called Jartran. She "cashed them and used the money for her own use," the arrest form said.

She was sentenced to five years' probation for grand theft under the Savage name, court records obtained by The Miami Herald show.

Attorney dismisses diagnosis of dementia

In 1996, Graham sued Alamo-Rent-a-Car after being struck by a rental van.

According to court records, a clinical psychologist saw Graham four times in 1997. The doctor's "impression was that the plaintiff suffered from dementia, due to head trauma; organic personality disorder; and organic hallucinosis," court records said.

On July 13, 1990, Geralyn Graham was apparently issued a driver's license under the name Gerrilyn Pindling. In the driver's license photo, she is not wearing glasses, and her date of birth is listed as January 14, 1953.

On that same date, a second Florida driver license was issued for Graham under the name Gerrilyn Cartwright with the same birth date. In that driver's license photo, Graham is wearing large glasses.

Of his client's past medical diagnosis in court files, Shohat said that she has hidden nothing from Florida's child welfare department and the diagnosis no longer applicable.

"Geralyn Graham -- to anybody who has spent any time with her -- is not an individual who suffers from dementia," Shohat said. One of the doctors who saw her simply "had the impression that she had dementia," he added.

However, Shohat said that his client does suffer from long-term memory loss.

"She has memory problems," he said. "She openly tells you she has memory problems, but I'm not exactly clear on why that ruins her credibility."

He said Graham has no trouble recollecting recent events and her time with Rilya.

Police said that they are reviewing Graham's past but added that their investigation does not answer the central question of Rilya's whereabouts.

-- CNN producer Rich Phillips contributed to this report.