BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — A judge has dismissed a $40 million federal lawsuit filed by the biological mother of Orrin and Orson West against the state Department of Social Services, Kern County Human Services and others, but said she can refile an amended complaint.

Additionally, court records show the maternal grandfather of the boys last month filed a $100 million lawsuit making the same allegations. A scheduling conference on that matter is set for March 27.

The $40 million suit, brought by Ryan Dean and her mother, sought damages for alleged civil rights violations and wrongful death, but Senior U.S. District Judge John A. Mendez dismissed it after determining it failed to substantiate any claim against Kim Johnson, director of the California Department of Social Services, the Kern County Department of Human Services, Dena Murphy, former KCDHS director and social worker Anna Zavala-Garza.

In a ruling filed Monday, Mendez wrote “the court finds the (suit’s) lack of factual specificity prevents the court from finding any reasonable inference that KCDHS, Murphy, and Zavala-Garza are liable for the actions plaintiffs allege.”

If Dean intends to file a second amended complaint, she must do so within 20 days.

Orrin and Orson have been missing for more than two years and are presumed dead. Their adoptive parents, Trezell and Jacqueline West, are charged with second-degree murder, among other crimes, and their trial is expected to begin in March.

In 2016, Dean was suspected of child abuse after her she took Orrin to Memorial Hospital for a broken leg. According to the suit, Dean filed reunification requests and completed parenting classes to regain custody but had no luck. In 2017, she gave birth to Orson only to have him removed a week later.

In late 2018, both boys were removed from a foster home and placed with the Wests. Afterward, Dean noticed during visits that her children seemed scared and were losing weight and Orson had scratches on his face, the suit says.

In the suit, Dana Moorer, the boys’ grandmother, said she filed a request to have the children placed with her, but in 2019 the department revoked Dean’s parental rights “without explanation,” and denied Moorer’s request.

The Wests reported the boys missing in December 2020. Prosecutors allege the boys died about three months earlier.