hell. i hope he is found soon, if he wandered off, he won't last long.
i also hope to hell this isn't foul play.
NEW BRAUNFELS
Search continues for toddler
More than 100 police, fire and emergency officials, along with volunteers from San Antonio and Austin, joined forces to continue searching Saturday for an 18-month-old boy missing since Friday.
A New Braunfels police spokesman said that officers were called to a home in the 2600 block of Savannah Hill Circle shortly before 8:40 p.m. Friday and learned that Joshua Davis had last been seen inside the home about 20 minutes earlier. Police searched inside the home several times and then undertook a house-to-house search.
Early Saturday, aided by volunteers including Travis County Search and Rescue, investigators expanded the search to an open field and nearby woods. The teams ceased operating Saturday evening but police continued searching through the night.
The boy weighs about 30 pounds and was last seen wearing a blue and red, long-sleeve shirt along with a grey long-sleeve shirt, a beige and white onesie, and beige jeans with black and white socks.
Police asked that anyone with information to call the New Braunfels police at 830-221-4570.
NEW BRAUNFELS — Searchers in southeast New Braunfels were unable to locate 18-month old Joshua Davis overnight — and police say they're transitioning from a search-and-rescue mission to a "recovery mode."
New Braunfels Police Department Lt. Michael Penshorn, during an 8 a.m. Sunday press briefing, said the decision was made to switch to recovery mode because of the length of time the boy has been missing and because of the freezing and near-freezing temperatures that have been experienced since the boy was last seen at his home in the 2600 block of Savannah Hill Circle on Friday evening.
"As of right now, we're looking at about 36 hours (that he's been missing) and considering the weather conditions, I guess common sense would dictate that at this point we would in all likelihood be looking at more of a recovery than rescue operation."
"Cadaver dogs have been brought in as part of that transition," said Penshorn. "The cadaver dogs are more toward the presumption that the child may possibly be deceased."
He said the police department is operating under the assumption that the child simply wandered off.
"We don't have anything to indicate to us that it is an abduction," Penshorn said.
Searchers now will focus on checking areas that weren't searched earlier by foot.
"Most of those areas will include some very large areas of property that we haven't been able to search as of yet. The access is a little more difficult. Some of them have very difficult terrain and very thick vegetation. Also there are several large ponds that we'll in all likelihood bringing in dive teams to check."
All-terrain vehicles will also be brought in to be used by searchers.
A Department of Public Safety helicopter has aided in the search, as have hundreds of volunteers as well as search-trained officers and K-9 teams from across the state.
The civilian volunteers are no longer being used.
"We did have an aerial drone that's come in. I'm not sure exactly where they brought it in from," the lieutenant said. The drone was used to check a lot of the areas outside of the main search area, a 1-mile perimeter centered on the child's home.
Officers continued to search on the ground overnight and also checked-up on called-in leads. Nothing came of those tips, he said.
Anyone with information should call (830) 221-4570.
Although police officials have questioned Joshua’s parents, Sabrina Benitez, 21, and Josh Davis, 23, other family members present at the time of Joshua’s disappearance and residents in the Savannah Hill Circle neighborhood, family friends are suspicious of a neighbor.The Texas Department of Public Safety’s sex offender registry lists five people who live within a one-mile radius of the house, including one man on Savannah Hill Circle.
“The sex offender has been interviewed, and we have also conducted searches on his residence and vehicle. As of right now, we have nothing to believe he’s involved in this case,” Penshorn said.
Family friend Lee Jackson said, “There was one of (Joshua’s) toy balls found at the end of the block. It was on top of some mailboxes. There’s no way he got it up there by himself.”
Parents, friends speak out
Joshua was last seen wearing a blue and red long sleeve shirt, a gray long sleeve T-shirt, a beige and white onesy, beige jeans and black and white socks. NBPD does not believe he was wearing shoes.
“Someone took him,” said Michelle Griffin, family friend. “He needs medical attention immediately. He has asthma and other medical conditions.”
Both of Joshua’s parents were present Saturday afternoon at the Klein Road Elementary search and rescue command site.
“I last saw my son around 8 last night,” said Josh Davis, Joshua’s father. “He was pulling on my beanie trying to take it off. He was behind my chair. When I told him to stop, he looked at me and smiled.
“That was the last time I saw him.”
Davis described Joshua as a cheerful, playful and loving boy.
“They have no leads,” said Sabrina Benitez, Joshua’s mother, through tears. “I last saw him around 7:40 p.m. in my room watching ‘Toy Story.’ When I realized he hadn’t come back to watch with me, I realized he was missing.”
Benitez is expecting her second child, a boy, next month.
NBPD officials do not suspect alcohol or drugs played a factor in the family’s awareness of Joshua’s disappearance.
Sunday, sobbing loudly between answering questions, she (the mom) was critical of police efforts thus far and questioned why volunteers were called off the search Saturday afternoon.
She said the family suspected a person who was at the residence when the child went missing; she said he has changed his story. That person apparently was the last one to see the youngster inside the home, Benitez said.
The area around the mobile home park where the family lives ranges from grassy to wooded, and Penshorn said a small child would not likely be visible to searchers even if a few yards away.
More than 100 police, fire and emergency officials, along with volunteers from San Antonio and Austin, have participated in that search since Friday. Sunday, searchers covered an area less than a mile radius from the family's home, Penshorn said.
A call to the child's family home found the phone disconnected Sunday
New Braunfels Police Detective Scott Renken (right) arrives at the home of Joshua Davis, Jr. 18-months, in New Braunfels and speaks with his dad, Josh Davis, 23. The toddler has been missing since Friday night.
I've just been reading up on this. There's a very tight timeline, and it does seem like someone at the home left around that time frame Joshua went missing. It's hard to believe he would have wandered far with no shoes in the cold we've had down here. Us Texas folk are not used to this kind of cold. Combine that with little ones going outside...at night...alone? Surely he would have cried out? Or have been afraid of the big bad dark?
It makes no sense at all that there's no trail, and that he'd wander out at all with no shoes. At night. Even mom is concerned that someone she knows took him. And his toy ball being found well out of his reach is rather curious as well.
i'm too cynical. i watched the mother crying tonight but saw no tears. i cannot get past the fact that baby couldn't have gone too far, yet cadaver dogs have not found him. did tracking dogs even pick up a scent? and i still want to know how a baby walked out and nobody noticed.
KENS5
SAN ANTONIO -- On Sunday, a mother and father prepare to go to bed with their toddler missing for a third straight night.
It was an emotional day for the parents of Joshua Davis Jr. First, authorities reported that their missing son might be dead. Then rumors surfaced that claimed the boy was found. However, this news ended up being false.
“I went to sleep and all I could hear was my baby crying and calling for mommy,” Sabrina Benitez said.
Sabrina Benitez has not experienced a good night’s rest in days since the mysterious disappearance of her 18-month-old son Joshua Davis Jr.
Authorities believe the toddler wandered away from his Savannah Hill Circle home Friday night.
“I just want to know he’s okay and that he’s still alive,” Benitez said.
Sunday proved to be an emotional roller coaster ride for the family. After 36-hours that spanned two evenings of sub-freezing temperatures, New Braunfels Police transitioned their search and rescue operation to a recovery effort. They fear the child could not withstand such harsh elements.
“As a response to that, we did bring in additional K9 search teams particularly ones that were specifically looking at cadaver dogs that search for a deceased person,” New Braunfels Police Lt. Michael Penshorn said.
Later that day, the family rushed to police headquarters after receiving word that someone posted a message on Facebook indicating someone found Davis. The message falsely reported Davis was found alive and doing well in a trailer about 10-miles away from his home on Hunter Road.
“They had my hopes up and then I came to find out this was all a joke. Whoever started that rumor, it was wrong of you,” Benitez said.
Benitez, who is expecting her next child in three weeks, believes her baby boy was abducted and now pleads for his safe return.
“He’s still out there; don’t give up looking for him. If you don’t want us to show your face, drop him off somewhere… so he could be back at home with us,” Benitez said.
Police are trying to track down the person responsible for posting the false Facebook messages. In the mean time the search for baby Joshua continues.
Joshua Davis is 2-feet tall and weighs 30 pounds. He was last seen wearing a blue and red long sleeve shirt, beige jeans, and black and white socks.
If you have any information on Davis’ whereabouts, give New Braunfels Police a call at 830- 221-4570.
It's sounding awfully suspicious. He couldn't have made it so far they wouldn't have found him by now. I question the story entirely at this point. Poor little mite.
NEW BRAUNFELS, Texas -- Relatives of a missing New Braunfels toddler said police are asking them to undergo polygraph tests in an effort to locate the 18-month-old boy.
Joshua Davis Jr. was reported missing by his parents, who told police they last saw their son around 8 p.m. Friday inside their home in the 2600 block of Savannah Hill Circle.
Police, along with other law enforcement agents and volunteers, combed a wooded area near the family's home all weekend but did not locate him.
Late Sunday, police declared the effort a "recovery mission," indicating they were losing hope that he might be found alive.
One of the ideas that police are exploring is that Joshua wandered away from his family's home. They said that if that happened, the chances of him surviving outdoors all night in the chilly temperatures were not good.
Police, however, said they will keep up their efforts to find out what happened to the toddler.
"We're going to be retracing some of our steps," Lt. Mike Penshorn said Monday morning. "Also, we are still interviewing a number of the people associated with the child and, of course, we're expanding that where we have quite a few people that we are bringing just to talk to find out what did happen in this case."
According to Jerome Davis, Joshua's grandfather, that also includes administering polygraph tests to everyone who lives in the household.
Davis made the comments as he arrived at the police station Monday morning to submit to the exam, which police often use to detect inconsistencies in statements made by witnesses or suspects in crimes.
Davis said in addition to him and Joshua's parents, two other adults have been asked to submit to polygraphs. Penshorn refused to comment on this, saying he did not want to reveal too many details about the investigation.
Joshua's father, meanwhile, said he plans to do what he can on his own to learn his son's whereabouts. Joshua Davis Sr. said he would spend part of the day passing out flyers featuring his missing son's picture. The flyers already adorn utility poles, walls and windows all over town.
i am going to bump this until he is found. WHERE THE HELL IS TEXAS EQUUSEARCH?? they will come in on request from LE or family.
NEW BRAUNFELS, Texas -- Since 18-month-old Joshua Davis' parents reported he wandered away from their home on Friday night, New Braunfels police, community members and the Texas Rangers have gone to great lengths to search for him.
However, his grandfather, Jerome Davis, is wondering why an Amber Alert was never issued.
"They're saying it's not enough information to go on, but why not? The baby's missing. We need to find him," he said.
While Amber Alerts are issued in many missing children cases, investigators said this case didn't meet all the criteria.
The five guidelines investigators have to meet include:
# Confirming an abduction
# The risk of injury or death
# A suspect's description
# The child's age
# The case must be flagged as a child abduction in the National Crime Database.
Lt. Mike Penshorn, with the New Braunfels Police Department, said investigators did try to file for the alert but were turned down.
"Being that we did not have any suspicious vehicles, suspicious persons or anything to lead us (to think) that it was an abduction, when we did send the information to conduct an Amber Alert, that was part of the criteria that it said that it did not meet," he said.
However, he said police did get the word out by phone using the emergency notification system. Penshorn said about 2,400 homes in the area received several phone messages shortly after Joshua was reported missing on Friday night.
NEW BRAUNFELS — The search for a missing toddler entered its fourth excruciating day Monday, with police summoning state prison bloodhounds to assist in locating the boy, now believed dead near his family's home on the south side of the city.
Eighteen-month-old Joshua Davis Jr. disappeared Friday night. Police suspect he slipped out of his family's mobile home while he was unattended.
Hope for a happy ending, police say, faded after two successive nights of 20-degree weather.
Authorities have ruled out foul play, says Lt. Michael Penshorn of the New Braunfels police, but investigators interviewed sex offenders nearby and have continued to question family and friends.
Police also have had to quash rumors and red herrings.
The latest was a frantic broadcast report that searchers ripped up the mobile home floor in a search for remains. In fact, according to police, searchers merely opened the trailer's apron and crawled under the home.
A Facebook post Sunday indicated the boy had been sighted on Hunter Road, on the other side of town. It proved to be false, but was discounted only after police sent officers and a dog team out to investigate it.
Another distraction centered on a toy that was found resting on a mailbox. Initial speculation was that it was too high for the child to have placed it there, indicating an adult's involvement in his disappearance. Penshorn, however, explained the ball was an old, forgotten toy found in high weeds and placed on the mailbox by a searcher Saturday or Sunday.
Police have retraced their steps from Friday night, when the search centered on the neighborhood, and have widened the larger search to include more of the empty fields, ponds and ditches nearby. More than 100 police, fire and rescue officers, including Texas Rangers, worked on the case Monday, and the FBI is expected to help today.
The boy's parents spent much of Monday handing out fliers.
“We're just waiting for news,” Joshua Davis, the boy's father, said Monday. The boy's mother, he added, “is trying to hold it together. We're doing the best we can.”
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