A Child Is Missing

[rhetoricfemme]

Is it just me, or are the authorities not taking all the initiative that they should be to find this 18 month old boy? The parents insist he couldn't have left on his own accord, but the police say that the boy most likely got himself outside and, "wandered off into the night." Please pray for Joshua's safe return.

[url="http://www.cnn.com/2011/CRIME/02/08/texas.missing.boy/index.html?iref=obinsite"]Link.[/url]

[quote]The parents of a Texas toddler are struggling for answers days after their young son mysteriously disappeared from a house full of people.

Sabrina Benitez, the 18-month-old's mother, said she believes the boy was abducted -- insisting it would have been all but impossible for her boy to go outside. Even if he did, Benitez said, the toddler would have been smart enough to try to get back in or would have been spotted by now.

But New Braunfels Police Lt. Michael Penshorn said as of Monday, it's most likely that young Joshua Davis Jr. left the home without anyone noticing or taking him.

"The first scenario that we are looking at is that somehow the child was able to exit the house ... and basically disappear into the night," he told HLN's Nancy Grace on Monday.

Benitez, also speaking on HLN, said she was watching "Toy Story" with Joshua shortly before 8 p.m. Friday when he left the room, heading toward where six other adults and another child were. About 10 minutes later, when the boy hadn't come back to watch the video or pick up a toy, Benitez asked the others about his whereabouts.

But Joshua was nowhere to be found, neither inside nor outside the house. Within minutes, family members called police -- who investigated the scene and sent an alert to 2,500 nearby residents.

One individual came in and out of the house between when Benitez last saw the toddler and reported him missing, but that person is not considered a suspect. Penshorn said police don't think anyone at the house took the child. No Amber Alert has been issued for Joshua because such an alert typically requires solid evidence that an abduction took place.

"If for some reason somebody came and took that child, not only would (the people inside) have seen the child leave the residence, but they would have seen somebody come inside and take him," Penshorn said.

Still, Benitez said her toddler couldn't have gotten outside himself, noting he wasn't tall enough to turn a doorknob.

"The only way that the baby would have gotten out the door is (if) the front door (was) open," she said. "But we had the doors closed."

Ice covered the steps outside, leading Benitez to believe that there would be signs of Josh if he did get out.

Still, as of Monday, police searches involving people, helicopters and dogs hadn't led to any signs of the boy.

"They had scent dogs out here, and (they) said there was no scent of him leaving the yard," the toddler's father, Josh Davis Sr., told CNN affiliate KENS. "So I don't see how he could have wandered off, or else they would have picked something up."[/quote]

Edited February 14, 2011 by rhetoricfemme

[Archaeology cat]

[Catholictothecore]

Dear God, be with them all.

[MIKolbe]

prayers for the safety of the child

[franciscanheart]

[Seven77]

prayers!

[MeteorShower]

praying for the child and his family

[Ed Normile]

This is strange, the police Lt. sounds like a complete clown. Scent dogs could not find any trace of him either? Makes me wonder if he fell into a hole or a sewer on the property, in any case the police do not seem concerned enough.

ed

[MithLuin]

I do see their point, though - there were 6 other adults in the house when this happened? And no one saw any stranger enter or leave? And in those 10 min, someone managed to snatch the little kid? It's a rather unlikely abduction scenario, you have to admit.

Someone *did* enter/leave the house during that time, so the front door was open. I have to agree that the most likely scenario is that the kid walked out unnoticed...and then something bad happened I don't know what the street is like, but it's certainly possible someone abducted the child from the yard. More likely that the child has managed to crawl/fall into something....

And, because my mind works like this, it is also possible that the family accidentally killed the child, and, in a panic, stashed the body somewhere and then told the police the child was missing. This is the least likely thing, thankfully, but at least the police don't seem to be pursuing that option. The family is always the first suspect in a missing child situation.

[Ash Wednesday]

I've heard about this story, and I'm surprised it hasn't been getting more attention. Poor child

[elizabeth09]

Could on of his aunts/uncle/couisn took him and they thought that the parents knew about and thought the parents will not know?

[Papist]

[color="black"][font="Arial"][size="2"]Doesn't look good. Boy has been missing since the 4th. I find it alarming that the scent dogs were not successful, which leads me to believe abduction. God bless that boy![img]http://www.phatmass.com/phorum/public/style_emoticons/default/amen.gif[/img][/size][/font][/color]

Edited February 15, 2011 by Papist

[dominicansoul]

this is happening in my neighboring town. a good friend of mine, (a small-town journalist,) broke this story and the AP and local media outlets picked it up. She said that the family is truly heart broken, and they really have no trails, no leads, nothing. It's as if the child just vaporized. It's really crazy. If he wandered off somewhere, in these cold temps, he would have died...but the cadaver dogs didn't find a body. So, i'm thinking he was abducted.... Perhaps someone saw this poor child wandering the streets, and decided he deserved better...New Braunfels is a pretty friendly town...no history there of violent crimes against children. I hope he's being taken care of...and they find out what happened to him soon.....i can't imagine what his poor mother is going through.....

[MithLuin]

I guess I'm wondering what they are supposed to be doing instead? I mean, certainly, an Amber alert...but that's more for if you know what type of vehicle was used in the abduction, etc. Do they even have any suspects at this point? If the media can keep pictures of the child in everyone's view, that should help, but that's not really a police effort.

They've called in [url=http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local_news/article/Feds-examining-evidence-in-missing-NB-child-case-1005744.php]the FBI[/url], [url=http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local_news/article/More-bloodhounds-hunting-for-missing-boy-1009721.php]bloodhounds[/url], [url=http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local_news/article/Search-nears-a-week-still-no-sign-of-Joshua-1007728.php]helicoptors and professional search teams[/url]. They also have mostly ruled out 'the child wandered off' as an explanation. Because, frankly, they would have found his body by now. It's an investigation, so they are treating it as an abduction. They just...don't seem to have any leads.

[BG45]

Awful...definite prayers!