A Mother No More

A woman tells police she drowned her five children. What could have led her to this act of madness?

The Yates children had big blooming smiles, the comprehensive kind that somehow manage to showcase every tooth. That was their mother's smile, judging from the family photo her husband showed the media last Thursday.

A very different Andrea Yates stares from her police snapshot. This woman, 36, looks sapped of life and utterly sad. That, her husband insists, is not the Andrea he knows. That's not the Andrea who made little coupon books, with coupons redeemable for hugs, for each child on Valentine's Day. But that is the Andrea who apparently drowned all five of their children last Wednesday. She was,...

Want the full story?

Subscribe Now

Subscribe
Subscribe

Learn more about the benefits of being a TIME subscriber

If you are already a subscriber sign up — registration is free!