>> she met a guy and she would stay the night at his house. i mean when her kids are calling us up saying we don't have any food in the house, can you come and bring us food, there's a problem. >> reporter: and so when dawn and ben went to court to fight for custody of alyssa, cindy had to tell the truth. >> i told the judge that dawn wasn't taking care of her kids anymore. they weren't a priority. they weren't even number five. >> reporter: when ben won custody of alyssa and more than $200 a month in child support, dawn was devastated. this is her mother sherry rosten, a retired deputy sheriff. >> she would sit in the garage and just bawl about not -- about not getting her day in court. >> reporter: this was eating her alive. >> yeah. it was really taking its toll on her. >> reporter: dawn started drinking heavily. her teenage son devin watched his mother fall apart.