The Lakeview student who loved drawing and handmade paper ties would have graduated with his high school class in 2026.
LAKEVIEW, Ore. — Before Thomas Strong’s name appeared in murder charges and child welfare reports, people in Lakeview knew him as the teenager with the red wagon, a love of drawing and a habit of making paper ties that became part of his everyday look.
That is the version of Strong his family, teachers and community brought back into view as two adults were sentenced to life in prison for his death. The Oregon Department of Justice said Strong’s mother, Amanda Edwards, 40, received life with no possibility of parole for at least 25 years, while Edwards’ longtime partner, Nathan Cullins, 33, received life with no possibility of parole for at least 35 years. Their sentences ended the criminal cases but also returned attention to the student Strong had been before he was removed from Lakeview High School and became increasingly isolated from people who knew him.
Strong was born Feb. 17, 2008, in Daytona Beach, Florida, according to his obituary. He moved to Texas when he was 2 and spent about a decade there before settling in Lakeview. The obituary says the southern Oregon community embraced his upbeat presence. At school, he enjoyed art and drew often. Cooking was another favorite class. He liked camping, fishing, swimming and building Lego projects. He admired Iron Man and was known for jokes, snacks and the wagon he pulled around town. The paper ties he made and wore became one of the details people most readily associated with him.
His teachers also knew school as a place where Strong was comfortable. The obituary says he enjoyed attending Lakeview High and had friends who looked out for him. Teacher DeNae Bauer later told Oregon Public Broadcasting that Strong was the kind of student who remained in the minds of former teachers long after class ended. At the 2026 sentencing proceedings, the Justice Department said family and community members recalled his green paper ties and the friendships he made around town. He would have been part of Lakeview High School’s class of 2026.
Strong’s connection to that community makes Nov. 15, 2024, a significant date in the history of the case. Disability Rights Oregon, an advocacy organization with federally authorized access to records involving people with disabilities, identified that day as Strong’s last day at school. His mother abruptly removed him from Lakeview High, according to the group and the Oregon Department of Justice. What followed was not simply an extended absence. It was a period in which the network of educators and classmates who had regularly seen Strong no longer had routine contact with him.
By December, people outside the home were raising increasingly serious concerns. Disability Rights Oregon said a Dec. 11 child abuse hotline report described significant weight loss and Strong’s withdrawal from school. The state’s child welfare agency screened the report out rather than opening an investigation, the group found. A second report after a home visit by a principal and school resource officer added concerns about his appearance and living conditions. Disability Rights Oregon said that report also did not produce an investigation. Only after a third complaint on Dec. 17 did the Oregon Department of Human Services open a case involving possible neglect, inadequate supervision and failure to meet his needs.
The advocacy organization said child welfare workers interviewed Strong and Edwards in December, but meaningful direct contact with the teenager largely stopped afterward. During the next several weeks, school staff continued trying to help get Strong back into an educational setting and expressed concern about his prolonged absence. His primary care provider had not seen him since August 2024, the review said, and a mental health provider could not get the family to schedule an appointment. Disability Rights Oregon concluded that the state’s response became dependent on referrals, phone calls and messages at a time when the teenager himself was becoming harder for outside adults to reach.
By early February, the gap between concern and direct observation had become especially important. Edwards joined a school meeting by telephone on Feb. 6, according to the independent report, but did not commit to returning Strong to classes. His maternal grandfather contacted child welfare officials on Feb. 12 and said he had not seen Strong since October. Workers went to the home but received no answer. The department did not obtain a child protective custody order until Feb. 18. State officials went to the property that day expecting to take Strong into protective custody.
Instead, officials found his body in a cardboard box in the family’s garage, the Justice Department said. An autopsy determined that Strong had suffered extensive injuries associated with long-term abuse and died of blunt-force trauma. Investigators also found video recordings of abuse that authorities said had been made by Edwards and Cullins. The state has not released those recordings publicly, and official accounts have described the evidence without repeating unnecessary graphic detail. The discovery transformed a child welfare investigation into a major criminal case led by Oregon State Police with assistance from the Lake County Sheriff’s Office.
There is uncertainty about exactly when Strong died. His obituary identifies Feb. 18, 2025, as the date he was found and lists him as 17, one day after his birthday. Disability Rights Oregon, however, estimated that he died on or around Feb. 1 and had been dead for two to three weeks before authorities entered the home. If that estimate is correct, he was still 16 at the time of his death. The Oregon Department of Justice and many later reports have referred to him as 17 because that was his age when he was discovered.
The charges developed as investigators gathered more evidence. Early local court reporting said Edwards and Cullins were initially accused of criminally negligent homicide, second-degree abuse of a corpse and first-degree criminal mistreatment. Cullins also faced an unlawful-use-of-a-weapon charge at that point. The eventual convictions reflected a far more serious assessment of responsibility. Cullins was convicted of first-degree murder, second-degree abuse of a corpse and first-degree criminal mistreatment. Edwards was convicted of murder by abuse, second-degree abuse of a corpse and first-degree criminal mistreatment, according to the Justice Department.
Cullins was sentenced first, on July 21, 2026. His life term carries a minimum of 35 years before parole consideration. Edwards was sentenced July 27. Her life sentence requires at least 25 years in prison before she can seek parole consideration. The minimum periods do not mean either person will automatically be released when that time has passed. The Justice Department said prosecutors from its Criminal Justice Division handled the case at the request of the Lake County district attorney, while Oregon State Police led the investigation.
The sentencing answered what would happen to Edwards and Cullins. It did not answer why repeated concerns failed to result in Strong’s removal from the home while he was alive. Disability Rights Oregon published a detailed investigation in February 2026 arguing that the state had missed several opportunities to protect him. It said the first two complaints were improperly screened out, that workers failed to keep regular direct contact with Strong after opening a case and that the department did not create an adequate safety plan despite information suggesting possible danger.
The organization’s report also portrays Strong’s school as one of the most persistent sources of concern. Educators continued reaching out as the teenager remained absent, according to records reviewed by the group. One of the final communications in the child welfare file before his body was found came from his principal asking what the next steps would be. Disability Rights Oregon has argued that cases like Strong’s show why schools, relatives and other adults who know a child should be treated as active sources of safety information rather than secondary participants in a process centered mainly on parental cooperation.
Its recommendations include requiring regular direct contact with children during open investigations, clearer standards for deciding which hotline reports merit investigation, stronger safety planning and better connections to developmental disability services. The group also called for changes to Oregon’s Critical Incident Review Team system, saying reviews of child deaths should be more independent and transparent and should track whether promised reforms are actually carried out. Those conclusions are the advocacy organization’s assessment of the state response, not part of the criminal convictions against Edwards and Cullins.
For people who knew Strong, however, the case cannot be reduced to agency procedure or the length of two prison terms. The Justice Department said community members used the sentencing hearings to remember a young person who cared about others and was known throughout Lakeview. His obituary describes a teenager whose interests were ordinary and recognizable: food, art, fishing, jokes, Lego projects and a favorite superhero. Those details offer a counterweight to the circumstances of his death and explain why teachers and neighbors continued speaking about him after the courtroom proceedings ended.
Strong should have been part of the class that graduated from Lakeview High in 2026. Instead, that year brought life sentences for the two adults convicted in his death and renewed questions about the protections that failed before it. Edwards and Cullins now face decades in prison before they can seek parole. The broader review of how Strong became isolated despite continuing concern from people at school and in his family remains part of his legacy in Oregon.
Author note: Last updated September 8, 2026.