Allan Gore lost custody of his daughters in the sense that he did not raise them: after Betty Gore’s 1980 murder, Alisa and Bethany went to live with Betty’s parents, Bob and Bertha Pomeroy, in Norwich, Kansas, who later adopted them. Whether Allan agreed to that arrangement or a court took the children from him is not established in any publicly available record. What is clear is that his rapid remarriage, a move to California, and a long estrangement from both daughters left the Pomeroys as the people actually raising them.
The Circumstances That Shaped the Outcome
On June 13, 1980, Candy Montgomery killed Betty Gore with an axe in the Gore family’s home in Wylie, Texas. Allan Gore and Candy Montgomery had carried on a sexual affair that began in late 1978 and continued into 1979. When Candy stood trial later that year, she was acquitted on a self-defense claim, and the details of Allan’s infidelity were aired in open court.
Alisa was about five at the time of the murder. Bethany was still an infant. Their father was now a widower whose wife had been killed by his former mistress, and the Pomeroys had watched the trial reveal that Allan had been unfaithful while Betty struggled with depression and the demands of two small children. That context shaped how Betty’s family viewed him as a parent.
Allan remarried quickly. His second wife was named Elaine; little else about her has been made public. Rather than staying in Wylie, where the girls had roots, the couple relocated to California. The marriage did not last. From the Pomeroys’ perspective, Allan was prioritizing a new relationship over the stability of two children who had just lost their mother to a violent crime, and the move put real geographic distance between the girls and their maternal grandparents, extended family, and the community that had surrounded them after Betty’s death.
How the Pomeroys Ended Up Raising the Girls
Bob and Bertha Pomeroy took the girls to Norwich, Kansas, and raised them there. They later formally adopted both children. Bertha’s obituary described the couple as having raised Alisa and Bethany “as their own.”
Adoption matters here because it goes further than custody. Adoption terminates the biological parent’s legal rights entirely. Whether Allan consented to that termination or a court ended his parental rights over his objection is not documented in any publicly available account of the case. Either way, the legal break was total.
The emotional break tracked the legal one. Neither daughter spoke to Allan for years. Alisa reportedly reconnected with her father roughly a decade ago, ending a long estrangement. Less is publicly known about Bethany’s relationship with him.
What the Public Record Does Not Say
No court opinion from the custody or adoption proceedings has been reported. There is no public filing showing a contested hearing, and no interview in which Allan has described signing away his rights. The two possibilities, voluntary relinquishment and involuntary termination, both fit the known facts, and the available sources do not distinguish between them.
That gap is worth stating plainly because it is the center of the question. Allan Gore did not raise his daughters. The reason sits somewhere between a father who stepped back and a family that pushed him out, and the people who know which it was have not said so publicly.
How Texas Law Would Have Framed the Fight
Texas family law creates a strong presumption in favor of biological parents. Under the Texas Family Code, a parent must be appointed as the managing conservator of a child unless a court finds that doing so “would significantly impair the child’s physical health or emotional development.”1State of Texas. Texas Family Code FAM 153.131 A grandparent cannot simply argue they would do a better job. They have to show real harm.
For grandparents specifically, a petition for possession or access must include a sworn affidavit alleging that denying the request “would significantly impair the child’s physical health or emotional well-being.”2State of Texas. Texas Family Code FAM 153.432 Grandparents generally have standing when a parent has died, been incarcerated, or been found incompetent, or when the child has lived with the grandparent for at least six months. Betty’s death gave the Pomeroys clear standing.
If the Pomeroys did pursue a contested custody action, they would have needed to overcome the parental presumption with evidence that Allan’s custody was actively harming the children. The affair, the trauma of the murder, a hasty remarriage, and a cross-country relocation could together have supported such a finding. Whether a Texas court ever made that finding is unknown.
The Best Interests Factors Working Against Him
When custody disputes do reach a courtroom, judges apply a “best interests of the child” standard. Common factors include each party’s bond with the child, the stability of each home, the ability to meet the child’s physical and emotional needs, and the child’s own adjustment to their current placement.
In Allan’s situation, several of those factors pointed away from him. The girls had suffered severe trauma. Their father’s affair with the woman who killed their mother was public knowledge. He had introduced a new spouse quickly and moved the family to another state. The Pomeroys offered continuity with the maternal side of the family, a stable home, and an existing bond with the children. Judges weigh a child’s adjustment to their current home heavily, and if the Pomeroys were already caring for the girls when any formal proceeding began, that continuity itself favored keeping them there.
Where the Daughters Are Now
Alisa and Bethany Gore grew up in Norwich, Kansas, raised by Bob and Bertha Pomeroy. Both have largely stayed out of the public eye. The renewed interest in the case from HBO’s “Love & Death” and Hulu’s “Candy” brought fresh attention to the family in the 2020s, but neither daughter has spoken publicly about the experience. Allan Gore has also remained private, declining to participate in the recent adaptations. He eventually left California, and his current whereabouts are not widely reported.