(FRESNO BEE) -- Two years ago, three Visalia girls were orphaned when their parents were killed on a rural road by a suspected drunken driver.
Since the deadly collision, a bitter custody battle has ensued among their relatives, pitting a Visalia couple against members of the Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians in Placerville.
The tribe contends the girls, ages 7, 5 and 4, belong with them because they are American Indians. The tribe has invoked the federal Indian Child Welfare Act, which gives preference to tribes in custody proceedings involving American Indian children.