NY NY - Shane Anthony Walker, 2, kidnapped from Harlem playground, New York, 10 Aug 1989

[dotr]

Apologies for serial posting, my heart really goes out to Shane's mom.
Wondering if there is anyone who might remember an infertile woman (likely black, imo) who was desperate to have a child and then suddenly turned up with one, or two- circa 1989?... speculation, imo.
Aug. 1993
Building Black Families : Nonprofit Group Helps Make Dreams of Adopting a Reality
''A serious barrier to exploring adoption for some blacks is the fees charged by private adoption agencies, which in some cases amount to $20,000. Many think the prerequisites for adoption include marriage, high income and home ownership.

For blacks who choose to adopt through the county, the cost is significantly lower--about $500--but the process can be daunting. For example, frequent treks to the Department of Children’s Services in the mid-Wilshire area are not easy for people who work 9 to 5.

And the bureaucracy, some say, can be off-putting to black adoptive parents.

In 1986, actor Taurean Blacque, who was a cast member on “Hill Street Blues,” attended an adoption fair sponsored by the county.


“I talked to a social worker and told her I was interested in adopting a child,” said Blacque, who had already raised two sons. “She told me that (adopting) was impossible, because ‘You’re a male, you’re single, and you’re black.’ ”

 

[dotr]

Lengthy article. rbbm.

Jan 10 2022
Chilling cold case: Mom faces park where son disappeared for first time - ABC7 New York (abc7ny.com)
''HARLEM, Manhattan (WABC) -- Nearly three decades after two toddlers went missing from the same Harlem playground, New York City Police have yet to find the boys or name a suspect.

At the age of two, Christopher Dansby went missing on the evening of May 18, 1989, while playing at Martin Luther King Playground.


Nearly three months later, on the evening of August 10, Shane Walker disappeared from the same park under eerily similar circumstances.

"I turned my head and turned back, and Shane was gone," remembered Shane's mom, Rosa Glover.

Glover said she had the day off and took her son to the neighborhood playground in the early evening.

Martin Luther King Playground, where Shane Walker disappeared in 1989.

She recalled a young boy and a girl asked to play with Shane, which she found odd because they were several years older than her son.

Glover said she agreed to let them push Shane in the swing and sat on a nearby bench.

She said a man came and sat beside her and started talking to her. She says she looked away for a second, and Shane was gone.

"My heart just dropped," Glover said. "Not a day goes by that, that doesn't haunt me."

Glover has never stopped searching for her son. This year, he'd be turning 31. Age progression images illustrate what he may look like today.

"He looks a lot different," Glover said referencing the photos.'

This is what Shane Walker would look like today, at age 30.
The National Missing and Unidentified Person System

"I can't imagine. I don't know if he's married, got kids," she said wishfully. Glover chooses to believe her son is somewhere out there, alive and well.''

''About a year after Shane disappeared, Glover appeared on the "Geraldo Rivera Show" and talked to psychics who provided a theory.
"They said he was sold in the black market and adopted," Glover said.''
''Glover said she was recently assigned a new detective, and she is hoping that will breathe new life into the case.
Police are asking anyone with information about what happened to Shane or Christopher to call Crime Stoppers at 1800-577-TIPS for an up to $2,500 reward.''
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DO YOU NEED A STORY INVESTIGATED?
Jim Hoffer, Danielle Leigh and the 7 On Your Side Investigates team at Eyewitness News want to hear from you! Call our confidential tip line 1-877-TIP-NEWS (847-6397) or fill out the form BELOW.''

 

[dotr]

DETECTIVES DISCOVER 6 SIMILARITIES IN DISAPPEARANCES OF 2 TODDLERS - The New York Times (nytimes.com)
Aug. 16, 1989 rbbm.
''Besides the playground, Chief Fenrich cited these similarities surrounding the childrens' disappearances:

* They vanished from the same area of the playground.

* They vanished on the same day of the week, a Thursday.

* They vanished about the same time of day, 7 P.M. in the case of the Dansby child and 5 P.M. in the case of the Walker child.

* They vanished while playing with the same playmates, a 5-year-old boy and a 10-year-old girl, both of whom have been extensively questioned by the police.

* They lived in the same building at 41 West 112th Street in the King Towers.

''This is completely different from other missing-children cases of recent months,'' the chief said.

On Monday, at another news conference, Chief Fenrich mentioned a baby-stealing ring as a possible cause of the abductions of the children, who are black. This theory perplexed some officials of child adoption services who observed yesterday that it was not difficult to adopt a black child in New York.''

''But in response to reporters' questions on the point, Chief Fenrich said that ''someone who wants a baby who is not qualified to adopt a baby might steal a baby or hire someone to do so.''

 

[StrawberryFields]

Sarah Turney featured Christopher and Shane’s disappearance on her Voices for Justice podcast. IMO, I do agree and hope that these boys are likely alive somewhere, unaware of their pasts. Here’s to hoping that right person does an at home DNA test some day soon

 

[ShyestButterfly]

I didn’t see if it was posted or not but Christopher’s and Shane’s disappearances were featured in the same episode of the Unsolved Mysteries reboot on Netflix. It was in season 2 which would have been released in 2021 or 2022. Both mothers‘ perspectives on their sons disappearing was so haunting. It’s clear that after going through something like that—and continuing to go through it every minute their child is still unaccounted for—you are forever changed, your life forever altered.

At this point in time, LE believes one more distinct possibility that could explain the two’s disappearances could be kidnapping in which someone who couldn’t have children themselves for whatever reason abducts a child to raise as their own. More and more of these cases have been uncovered as online DNA testing has become popular and accessible, allowing some people to realize that their parents weren’t ever related to them at all, either through an adoption kept secret for some reason, or abduction.

 

[ShyestButterfly]

Yeah, I’ve just watched Unsolved and wasn’t buying the HUGE coincidence that Shane should go missing, a) after two kids insist on playing with him and are then seen re-entering the park and b) at the same time a man sits next to his mother and diverts her attention.
Then they say on the program both the kids and the man checked out so OK fine, the police were satisfied. But Shane’s Charley page says the same kids were also seen playing with Christopher Dansby before he went missing and that the man who distracted Shane’s mum was talking to her about kidnapping and said “things happen to children”. It’s possible he was referring to Christopher’s disappearance. But still....

It looks strange, but coincidences happen all the time. They can look suspicious but they don’t always mean anything—sometimes people are so desperate to attribute coincidence to something meaningful they use fate, serendipity, numerology, astrology, or religion to explain it because coincidence is naturally really uncomfortable and seems to work against reality.

Anyway, I believe the kids and the man are clean. LE seems pretty confident of the fact and there’s nothing that makes me believe otherwise.

 

[spartanx]

I think the psychics are right, he was kidnapped and sold... his mother should have stood up from the bench and stayed by his side... at 1 year old he is too young for any game... but we are not here to attack his mother, but rather to help... the truth is that I think we will never know what happened to him because if he was adopted then he has no recollection of his biological mother...