CA - Hasanni Campbell, 5, Oakland, 10 Aug 2009 - #1

[Angel Who Cares]

Missing 5-year-old last seen in store parking lot, caretaker says
August 14, 2009
<snipped>
Louis Ross told HLN's Nancy Grace that he left 5-year-old Hassani Campbell outside his BMW for two to five minutes Monday afternoon. Ross said he went to the front door of the store to ask his fiancee, Jennifer Campbell, who works there, to open the back door.

"By the time I got there, Jennifer is already out of the store, walking toward me, asking, 'Where is Hasanni?' And I say, 'What do you mean, where is Hasanni?' And I look around to the side, and he is no longer there."

According to Ross, Campbell routinely took care of Hasanni and his 19-month-old sister while Ross attended medical assistant classes twice a week in Fremont.

"They would stay in the back room and play with each other until she got off work, and they would all come home together, and I would see them at 9:30, 10 at night, when I got home from class," Ross said.

Asked what flashed through his mind at the time, Ross said, "Initially, it didn't hit me. He's probably standing around there. ... When Hasanni gets frustrated, he freezes.

"So I thought he would still be on the side. And we all thought -- even Jennifer thought he was probably just hiding and joking around."

Article:
http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/08/14/california.missing.boy/

:angel:

 

[Angel Who Cares]

Foster father of Hassini Campbell taken in for questioning
August 14, 8:01 PM
<snipped>
On Friday at about 1:30 p.m., Louis Ross, the foster father of missing 5-year-old Hassani Campbell accompanied two Oakland Police Department detectives from his home to the police station for further questioning.

Hassani was last seen with Ross, 38, on Monday, sitting in his BMW. The vehicle was parked outside a shoe store, Shuz of Rockridge, where the boy&#8217;s aunt, Jennifer Campbell, 33 is employed. Ross told police he left the boy alone in the car when he went to unlock the shoe store to allow Hassani to enter the store more easily, but when he returned to the car, the boy was gone.

Initially, Hassani&#8217;s disappearance was being investigated as a missing persons case, but homicide detectives have now been assigned to aid in the investigation.

Article:
http://www.examiner.com/x-1168-Crim...-of-Hassini-Campbell-taken-in-for-questioning
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Foster Father of Missing Boy Leaves Home with Police
August 14, 2009 &#8211; 5:01 pm
<snipped>
The foster father of missing five-year-old Hasanni Campbell was questioned by police today and left his home in Fremont with officers, said a prominent Oakland attorney who has been consulting with the foster parents.

Attorney John Burris could not confirm where the police and Louis Ross, the foster father, were going, but said that they were in a car, driving around the area. The home is on the 5900 block of Roxie Terrace in North Fremont.

The boy&#8217;s biological parents live in San Francisco, and police said they have spoken with them, but would not give out further information.

The house was full of reminders of the two children; empty strollers and baby toys were visible from the living room and a small pink sandal lay on the wooden floor.

During the 20-minute interview, Ross sought to dispel what he considered false facts including the report of Hasanni&#8217;s leg braces. He wears &#8220;ankle braces,&#8221; or orthopedics designed to help shape his feet. He can still walk without them, Ross said.

When asked if he believed that someone he knew might be behind the disappearance, Ross said, &#8220;As a father, those are thoughts you don&#8217;t entertain. This has been a nightmare.&#8221;

Ross refused to discuss legalities of the case with reporters.

He told police on Monday that he parked his car near Shuz of Rockridge at 6012 College Ave where his fiancé, Hasanni&#8217;s aunt and foster mother, works. Ross said he went into the store to open a back door so his disabled son could enter more easily, but when he returned to the car, the boy was gone.

Police did not say whether any witnesses saw the five-year-old boy in the parked car.

Hasanni Campbell's home

Article:
http://oaklandnorth.net/2009/08/14/foster-father-of-missing-boy-leaves-home-with-police/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
UPDATED: Search for missing 5-year-old boy intensifies
The Oakland homicide division is now involved in the search for 5-year-old Hasanni Campbell who has been missing since Monday. Police say it is because they need the additional personnel, and not because they consider it a murder case. A wrecking yard was the latest focus of their investigation.
Friday, August 14, 2009 | 4:25 PM
<snipped>
The family has been passing out fliers in the Rockridge neighborhood and asking for the public's help.

Police say they still have eight detectives working full-time on the case, including one from the homicide division.
The FBI and Fremont police have also gotten involved, searching the family's home in Fremont and towing Ross' BMW. According to police that car has now been returned to him.

"We have not spoken to the media up until this point, not because we were shy or we're hiding," said Ross. "We're with the police and FBI giving them all the information. First day alone, we were with police for 17 hours straight."

"He has taken a polygraph but he didn't tell me what the results were, but he did tell me he spoke truthfully, answered all questions, but I haven't spoken to anyone about it," said attorney John Burris.
Police will not confirm whether Ross took or passed the polygraph.

ABC7 News has learned that detectives have visited an auto salvage yard in Hayward over the past two days. Employees there say Ross was there before the boy disappeared on Monday, and that the boy waited in the car while Ross searched the yard for car parts. Police confirm that they have been searching in that area as well as many others. They have also searched a levee behind the salvage yard.

UPDATE: Ross was taken in for questioning by Oakland police for a time Friday afternoon. We'll have a full report on ABC7 News at 6.

Bumping Videos For Easy reference!
VIDEO: Search For Missing Boy Intensifies
http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/video?id=6964325

VIDEO: Foster Parents Talk To ABC7
http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/video?id=6962713

RAW VIDEO: Louis Ross Speaks To ABC7
http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/video?id=6962712

RAW VIDEO: Jennifer Campbell Speaks To ABC7
http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/video?id=6962708

VIDEO: Police Search Park, Home For Disabled Boy
http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/video?id=6962291

VIDEO: FBI Seaches Fremont Home
http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/video?id=6960645

VIDEO: FBI Searches Missing Boy's Home
http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/video?id=6960432

VIDEO: FBI Joins Search For Missing Disabled Boy
http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/video?id=6960173

Article:
http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/local/east_bay&id=6964246

:angel:

 

[CHICANA]

I just watched the interview with Nancy G. & Foster Dad Ross. I really felt the father was sincere, well spoken & frustrated. I really do not think this is parental abuse. JMO
I pray for a good ending to this story. God bless you,Hassani!

I think this guy is very smart and he's had time to think about how he should act. I have a feeling he's followed this thread and knows the reasons we were suspicious of him. Seeing the link showing the alley & front door, I can see why he would feel safe walking to the front with Hassani standing by the car. It's a pretty closed area, but since the door is so close to the alley entrance, his eyes wouldn't have had to be off Hassani for more than a few seconds.
IMO, if he did what he said, there wouldn't be enough time for someone else to get Hassani out that back door/gate (if that's what it is).

 

[doobiedoo52]

This link is to the rear parking area, behind the Shuz store.
Take a look at it through the street view, and then 'walk' to the front door of the store, if you'd like.

Okay--that's a really long way around to the front. Store front is actually on College. No way would I leave a child back there alone. I'm not getting a good feeling about this anymore.

 

[Columbo]

I think this guy is very smart and he's had time to think about how he should act. I have a feeling he's followed this thread and knows the reasons we were suspicious of him. Seeing the link showing the alley & front door, I can see why he would feel safe walking to the front with Hassani standing by the car. It's a pretty closed area, but since the door is so close to the alley entrance, his eyes wouldn't have had to be off Hassani for more than a few seconds.
IMO, if he did what he said, there wouldn't be enough time for someone else to get Hassani out that back door/gate (if that's what it is).

I agree. Whether an abductor used the back gate (if that's what it is) or exited in the front, there wouldn't be time for this to happen or he/she would have been seen. If they used the back gate, Ross would have seen someone rushing through the gate, and I doubt Hasanni would have stayed quiet if that had happened.

 

[Columbo]

Okay--that's a really long way around to the front. Store front is actually on College. No way would I leave a child back there alone. I'm not getting a good feeling about this anymore.

Maybe I am looking at the picture wrong -- to my eyes, it didn't look like a long distance at all (but I still wouldn't leave a child back there! ) To me it looks like it would take about 10 seconds to get to the front door of the store...

 

[doobiedoo52]

I agree. Whether an abductor used the back gate (if that's what it is) or exited in the front, there wouldn't be time for this to happen or he/she would have been seen. If they used the back gate, Ross would have seen someone rushing through the gate, and I doubt Hasanni would have stayed quiet if that had happened.

The shop door by the alley is not the Shuz Store---go up to the corner where College intersects and turn right---its about third place down the block.

 

[CHICANA]

Okay--that's a really long way around to the front. Store front is actually on College. No way would I leave a child back there alone. I'm not getting a good feeling about this anymore.

I'll have to look again. To me, the entire alley was completely visible from the corner and the doorway was just a couple feet from there.

 

[CHICANA]

I agree. Whether an abductor used the back gate (if that's what it is) or exited in the front, there wouldn't be time for this to happen or he/she would have been seen. If they used the back gate, Ross would have seen someone rushing through the gate, and I doubt Hasanni would have stayed quiet if that had happened.

He not just changing his story, he's correcting it. Like Hasanni being in the car, then he was next to the car, then he was waiting at the door.
He keeps upgrading the story to a more favorable version.

 

[Kat]

He not just changing his story, he's correcting it. Like Hasanni being in the car, then he was next to the car, then he was waiting at the door.
He keeps upgrading the story to a more favorable version.

Chicana, that is very worrisome. As we have seen time and time again, the facts (story of what happened) of a situation never ever change. Yes as the facts are told and retold more detail is added, however, the facts of the matter do not change.

When there is a correction that contradicts something that was said before, then we usually have a big problem.

JMHO. (Chicana, I know you already knew what I typed above :wink

 

[Angel Who Cares]

UPDATED: Missing boy's foster father questioned again
Friday, August 14, 2009 | 5:50 PM
<snipped>
A missing boy's foster father is answering more questions from police.

Ross was driven from his Fremont home in an unmarked police car and questioned by Oakland detectives for a time Friday afternoon.

Ross' advisor, attorney John Burris, detectives drove Ross around for about an hour. They want him to retrace his steps from Monday, the day the boy disappeared.

Initially, Ross told police that he left the boy for just a few minutes Monday afternoon in the parking lot of a Rockridge shoe store, and that the boy vanished.

A large scale search is scheduled for Saturday morning.

Oakland police returned to an auto scrapyard in Hayward Friday for a third time. Police are trying to determine if Ross was accompanied by the missing boy when he visited the scrapyard Monday morning.

Article:
http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/local/east_bay&id=6966166
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Police question missing boy's foster father
Friday, August 14, 2009
<snipped>
(08-14) 17:56 PDT HAYWARD -- The foster father of a missing 5-year-old boy was interviewed for about an hour Friday by Oakland police homicide investigators who brought him to a Hayward auto wrecking yard where he took the boy before the child vanished, authorities said.

Louis Ross agreed to accompany Sgt. Gus Galindo to the Pick Your Part wrecking yard on Winton Avenue, where Ross took Hasanni Campbell and the boy's 1-year-old sister Monday afternoon, hours before the boy disappeared, said John Burris, a lawyer whom Ross is consulting.

Police have searched in and around the auto-parts yard and the store in recent days, along with a park near the family's home in Fremont. They say they still consider the case a missing person investigation.

Ross, 38, has said he is cooperating with officials "100 percent." He took a polygraph examination Wednesday, but federal authorities who administered the test will not discuss the findings.

Burris said police took Ross to the wrecking yard and spoke with him for about an hour Friday before returning him to his home on Roxie Terrace.

"They wanted to find out what he knows," Burris said. "He was very cooperative."

Ross told Burris that he had gone to the yard looking for a car part. He was taking care of the children before dropping them off at the shoe store so he could go to a job orientation at Stanford Hospital Medical Center and then a medical assistant's class in Union City, Burris said.

Alameda County sheriff's deputies will be searching Coyote Hills Regional Park in Fremont on Saturday and undisclosed locations in Hayward, authorities with knowledge of the case said. It is not clear why those areas were being targeted for more intensive searches.

Article:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/08/14/BAUH198ST0.DTL&tsp=1

:angel:

 

[mollymil23]

It looks like a fair distance from the alley. There are two stores from the corner of Harwood and College before you get to Shuz. Plus the length of the building to get back to the alley. Too far to leave a littleone...

 

[doobiedoo52]

Okay guys lol. Pull up the link and you are looking at the parking area, right? The shop just to the left with the green awning is NOT the shoe store. Walk past that shop and head up to the corner where the stop sign is. Turn right onto College Ave--the store on the corner (which is empty) fronts out onto College. There is a shop called the White Rose next to that and THEN you get to the Shuz store. It's quite aways around from the back entrance and you cannot see the back entrance from the front. Hope you see what I mean now.

And THANK YOU Molly for the drawing!

 

[CHICANA]

Chicana, that is very worrisome. As we have seen time and time again, the facts (story of what happened) of a situation never ever change. Yes as the facts are told and retold more detail is added, however, the facts of the matter do not change.

When there is a correction that contradicts something that was said before, then we usually have a big problem.

JMHO. (Chicana, I know you already knew what I typed above :wink

You explained and summarized it much better than I could.
The truth doesn't change.

 

[CHICANA]

Okay guys lol. Pull up the link and you are looking at the parking area, right? The shop just to the left with the green awning is NOT the shoe store. Walk past that shop and head up to the corner where the stop sign is. Turn right onto College Ave--the store on the corner (which is empty) fronts out onto College. There is a shop called the White Rose next to that and THEN you get to the Shuz store. It's quite aways around from the back entrance and you cannot see the back entrance from the front. Hope you see what I mean now.

And THANK YOU Molly for the drawing!

I get it now. I was feeling guilty thinking that if I could see my kid the whole time, I could have ran to the corner and yelled in the door too.

 

[Columbo]

The shop door by the alley is not the Shuz Store---go up to the corner where College intersects and turn right---its about third place down the block.

Thanks so much for this link, I had the location and spatial relationships between areas really wrong.

 

[Columbo]

It looks like a fair distance from the alley. There are two stores from the corner of Harwood and College before you get to Shuz. Plus the length of the building to get back to the alley. Too far to leave a littleone...

Mollymil23,Thank you for this drawing and picture...I can see, it is quite a distance and someone would have lots of opportunity to grab a child left there alone...

 

[CHICANA]

Mollymil23,Thank you for this drawing and picture...I can see, it is quite a distance and someone would have lots of opportunity to grab a child left there alone...

Nobody in their right mind would leave a 5 year old in an alley and walk that far away. Brings me back to calling the aunt or sending her a text.

Any idea how long he was at the salvage yard ? How long would it take for a child to succumb to the heat in a closed car ?
Where was the baby while he was looking for parts ?
What time was he at there ?

 

[eyes4crime]

Mollymil23,Thank you for this drawing and picture...I can see, it is quite a distance and someone would have lots of opportunity to grab a child left there alone...

Okay Columbo, seems there is plenty of time to take a child 'cause Ross did have to walk around two corners. Aa child can be taken in a heartbeat. What I can't figure out is how an abductor can grab a child, walk down a narrow space with child in arms and possibly screaming, turn corners, walk down a street with traffic And NOBODY saw or heard anything!!! This story is getting more ridiculous by the minute. :banghead: mho

 

[doobiedoo52]

I think someone needs to email that diagram to Nancy Grace--she might not have been as forgiving as she was the other night!