The Region - News from Oct. 20, 1985
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The maternal grandmother of 11-year-old Joshua Ryen received permission to adopt the boy, who was orphaned after his parents, sister and a family friend were killed in June, 1983. Mary Howell and the boy’s uncle, Richard Ryen of New Jersey, shared custody of Joshua during the two-year dispute. Kevin Cooper, who escaped from the California Institution for Men at Chino one day before the slayings, was convicted of killing the Ryen family at their Chino Hills home. Joshua, who was 8 at the time of the slayings, survived a slashed throat.
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