Support pours in for family of missing girl
Mother expresses frustration at lack of AMBER alert
By Stephanie Taylor
Staff Writer
August 22, 2003
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Vickey Smalley holds Beth Lowery as she prays for the return of Lowerys daughter, Heaven LaShae Ross. Ross is the 11 year-old girl who turned up missing after leaving her house for the bus stop on Tuesday morning.
Staff Photo | Robert Sutton
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NORTHPORT | Day three of the search for a missing 11-year-old girl has turned up no clues about where she could be, police said Thursday. When the bus to Collins-Riverside Middle School stopped in front of Willowbrook Trailer Park Thursday morning, Heaven LaShae Ross had been missing for 48 hours.
She was last seen Tuesday morning leaving the trailer park for her bus stop about 50 yards away on Hunter Creek Road.
Police set up roadblocks between 6:30 a.m. and 8:30 a.m. Thursday on Hunter Creek Road, asking drivers if they had seen Shae and handing out fliers.
As news about the sixth-graders mysterious disappearance has spread across the country, people in the Northport and Tuscaloosa communities have reached out to the family that is desperately waiting for good news.
My babys been gone for nearly 72 hours. I just dont think its fair that they wont give her an AMBER alert," said Shaes mother, Beth Lowery.
Police maintained on Thursday that their investigation has not turned up evidence that Shae is in danger, one of the requirements necessary for an AMBER alert.
At this time, we cannot confirm that an abduction has occurred," said Northport Police Sgt. Kerry Card. Until that happens, if that should happen, an AMBER alert cannot be issued."
Card said that the lead investigator in a case would be the person authorized to issue an alert through the statewide AMBER Alert system, which enables law enforcement and the media to quickly notify the public about an abducted child.
The lead investigator in the case is Terry Carroll, a Northport officer in the joint Northport-Tuscaloosa juvenile division.
Even without the AMBER alert, word of Shaes disappearance spread quickly in the community. Volunteers posted fliers donated by local printing companies at businesses all over the area. Some businesses are collecting donations to be used for reward money for information.
The teachers at Collins-Riverside Middle School posted fliers and banners in Northport and had students write notes to Shae on some of them. Counselors were in classrooms Thursday, talking with students about their classmates disappearance.
Were all just hoping for the best outcome here," said Principal Glenn Taylor. Weve all been very, very concerned. Our thoughts and prayers are very much with her family. One of the students made the comment that its just not fair that were able to be here at school, and shes not, wherever she might be."
Winn-Dixie in Northport donated yellow ribbons that searchers and family members wore for Shae. The family was sitting outside their home at Willowbrook Trailer Park Thursday, inside two screen tents that a church had provided to shield them from the sun.
Buddys Food Mart has offered a $5,000 reward to anyone responsible for Shaes safe return to her parents, Tuscaloosa Police Chief Ken Swindle said Thursday.
Olive Garden employees brought by food, K-mart brought snacks, Kinkos, Office Max and Kwik Kopy ran off fliers and Home Depot donated ink jets for printing. Many other neighbors and concerned people brought by food, drinks and words of encouragement.
Inside one of the tents, the family watched news updates on a television that had been brought outside and talked with the constant stream of friends and neighbors who were stopping by.
A videographer working for Dateline NBC followed Lowerys boyfriend, Kevin Thompson, as he passed out fliers in Northport.
Shaes photo and information was added to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children list Tuesday. Card said that the organization has distributed 33,000 fliers across the country.
Investigators were working through lunch Thursday at a command center set up at the Northport Police Department.
Weve received sightings of children who fit this description from quite a number of states," Card said.
FBI agents were still working to enhance a videotape obtained from Steves Grill & Billiards Wednesday, Card said. The camera was facing the bus stop and could reveal clues about traffic on Hunter Creek Road Tuesday morning.
Shae is one of the 18 missing kids from Alabama in the National Center for Missing and Exploited Childrens Web site. Most of those are runaways or are known to have been abducted by family members.
At least two abductions from bus stops have been reported in the South in the last few months.
Johnny White of Nashville, Tenn., is the head of a task force formed to find 13-year-old Tabitha Tuder, who disappeared there on April 29.
Their disappearances are strikingly similar, White said, adding that his group is considering traveling to Northport to assist in the search for Shae.
Both girls were last seen on a Tuesday at 7 a.m. at their bus stops. They have the same hair color and style, freckles and were even wearing the same color shirt in their school photos.
White said that Tabithas family and friends were frustrated when an AMBER alert was not issued and that police were treating the case as if Tabitha had run away. It was only recently that the FBI and Tennessee Bureau of Investigation became involved, he said.
We believe that she was stalked," he said. It may be someone that she would have recognized, but didnt know, someone who was familiar with the area. They groom their victims, watch them, maybe say even, for months before they actually strike."
Maria Isabel Solis, 16, disappeared in Houston on March 3 at a bus stop. Since then, police have found a womans boot but no sign of the girl.
Reach Stephanie Taylor at 722-0210 or
stephanie.taylor@tuscaloosanews.com
