Stockbridge — Although mother and daughter Brook Weingart and toddler Juniper Weingart were found safe just a day after their whereabouts were unknown, the incident has had a large impact on a Stockbridge resident who was just getting to know her granddaughter.
The community-wide search for the pair led to local and state law enforcement agents trekking on the ground and navigating helicopters hovering above Route 102 on April 23 and 24. A ping on Brook Weingart’s cell phone ultimately led police to her and the child, with welcome relief to Katherine Newey, Juniper Weingart’s grandmother.
In an interview with The Berkshire Edge, Newey provided insight into what may have led to Brook Weingarts’ departure. She is the mother of the child’s father, 33-year-old Lincoln Lepine, and her Stockbridge home was where Lepine and the Weingarts were staying when they arrived before the incident.
Bonding over a love for the outdoors
According to Newey, Brook Weingart and (Lincoln) Lepine—named after President Abraham Lincoln, a relative of Newey’s, and to pay homage to the leader who shared the same birthday week—bonded over their passion for nature and the outdoors. The couple met in Colorado a couple of years ago, she said, where Lepine was working as an Elk scout and Brook Weingart was living off the grid alone in the forest.
They lived among the Montana trees where Lepine is restoring historical cabins in Glacier National Park. The couple planned to construct a dome tent among other provisions but later moved into a home with Lepine’s business partner, a household setting that Newey said became an issue for Brook Weingart.
She described Brook Weingart as a very private person who is creative and bright as well as “savvy in the woods” by living off the grid, foraging for food, and building shelters.
Lepine is Newey’s middle child and attended Lenox schools. His mother said that he had a childhood filled with memories of nature—horses, monarch butterflies, deer, wildlife, and forest creatures.
“Brook and Lincoln are very simpatico in their ways of living,” Newey said.
Stockbridge life
Katherine and her husband Larry Newey own Solid Rock Farm near the Berkshire Botanical Gardens, an educational farm that houses interactive teaching gardens and hosts wood-working, cooking, and other sustainable life workshops.
Lepine drove to the Newey house in Stockbridge with his young daughter at the beginning of April “for sanctuary” because he and Brook Weingart were not getting along, Newey said. Even though Brook Weingart had previously told Lepine that she was going to Colorado to live with her two other children who are already in that state, she arrived in Stockbridge on April 11 by train, with the Neweys picking her up in Albany.
“We worked together as a family for a little over a week,” Newey said of the group taking on farm chores and projects. She noticed that Brook Weingart was a very diligent worker, with “a lot of character, integrity, and diligence.”
For Newey, getting to know her grandchild brought a smile to her face as she addressed the similarities between Juniper Weingart and Lepine. “She is exactly like Lincoln was at that age—extremely athletic, extremely bright, very vocal, learning quickly, repeating things over and over again to make sure she understands it, and inventive of games,” said Newey who was trained as a reading specialist but is currently a financial planner. “Because of my years of educating children, she and I obviously have an incredible bond for communication and game invention and discussion of things.”
Newey’s granddaughter isn’t afraid of bugs, gently picking up an ant or beetle to study the organism. Trees and moss bring her pleasure, Newey said, and with Brook Weingart’s tutelage, the toddler signs “please” and “thank you.” “I just find her really sweet,” she said.
Newey clarified that Juniper Weingart’s eyes are “hazel, like Lincoln’s,” and not blue as reported in the lookout posts.
However, once Brook Weingart was in Stockbridge with a roof over her head, Newey observed that she “was having a hard time transitioning” to a property abutting a highway and heavily trafficked area as well as accommodating the Neweys’ lifestyle that employs conveniences such as a septic system and certain foods, extracts, prepackaged in plastic containers.
As farmers, Newey said she and her husband agree with Brook Weingart in her quest to live off the grid but couldn’t make compromises to adapt to her lifestyle. “We agree, if we could have everybody do composting toilets, that would be best, but that’s not the culture we live in,” Newey said.
Despite their differences, the two became “very close” in a short time, finding common ground with their knowledge of herbs, farming, and use of regenerative farming.
Guardianship
With Lepine returning to Montana on April 15 and fearing Brook Weingart might flee with their child to Colorado, Newey filed papers and was appointed by the Berkshire County Probate and Family Court as temporary guardian for Juniper Weingart on April 18. That order provides for a shortened or waived notice of the action due to “an immediate emergency situation.”
As evidence, the court found that Juniper Weingart had not received “any traditional medical care,” that her parents live off the grid in the woods, and that there was concern sufficient notice would cause Brook Weingart to flee with the child.
Newey voiced concern over the health of her granddaughter who was exhibiting dysentery. She had her diaper remains tested, and said the April 24 results showed the toddler was battling an intestinal infection, shigella.
The paperwork was also sent to Lepine, whom Newey said is in favor of the temporary guardianship arrangement while he is away.
While at the Newey home, Brook Weingart was served April 22 with notice that Newey was appointed as her daughter’s temporary guardian and that notice indicated a court hearing at 9:30 a.m. the following day.
“We want you to have a voice,” Newey said of her response to Brook Weingart after she was served. “You need to be involved in what’s happening here.”
However, Newey said she and her husband realized around 6 a.m. on April 23 that Brook Weingart had left the home with her daughter unannounced, taking her tent and hammock that she used for sleeping outdoors and leaving only a collection of cacti she brought with them from the Southwest. Newey immediately called the Stockbridge Police Department to report Brook Weingart and Juniper Weingart missing and later went to the scheduled custody hearing where they did not appear.
Newey had a message for Brook Weingart. “She is loved, and we want her to be a part of our family,” she said in tears.
