Devon Davis, 2. Amber Alert, TX. found deceased.

[Lady Cop]

i'm not sure why an amber alert was issued, there is no description of a possible abductor. it appears he may have wandered off in this tough dangerous terrain. Very steep banks, deep water, snakes and even alligators were plentiful. he may be barefoot.





Davis has blue eyes and red hair. He is about 30 inches tall and weighs about 40 pounds. He was last seen wearing a gray and burgundy jersey, blue jeans and Spider-Man tennis shoes. Police say they have no reason to believe Davis was abducted, but they aren't ruling out the possibility so they issued the Amber Alert.

The family just moved into the area last week from Virginia. The mother noticed the child was missing yesterday afternoon after she woke up from a nap.

"The mother stated that she laid the kids down for a nap and he disappeared from inside the residence," said Capt. Rex Evans with the Liberty County Sheriff's Office. she said the doors were locked.

Devon's family and friends remain on the property.

"We've kept them kind of contained on the far side of the property. They are very distraught. They are having a very difficult time," said Capt. Evans. "We are continuing a very scaled back version of our ground search. Once daybreak affords us a little bit of light, then we will certainly intensify our search efforts like they were yesterday evening."

Mar 28, 2012

An all night search has turned up no new clues on the disappearance of 2-year-old Devon. The child when missing during his nap on Tuesday afternoon. The child's mother contacted 911 and a search was started within thirty-minutes.

Crews from Montgomery County Search and Rescue, Highway 321 Fire Department, Tarkington Fire Department, Cypress Lakes Fire Department worked a ground search. Needham Road Fire Department brought in and 8-wheel vehicle capable of driving on land or working in water as a boat. DPS flew their helicopter for several hours. In addition Montgomery County Precinct 4 dispatched Lt. Seals and Sgt. Warwick to the scene with their Bloodhound, “Oliver”. Another canine unit fro College Station responded with tracking dogs and cadaver dogs.

By 3 a.m. this morning with the dogs exhausted from searching the area over several time and losing the scent each time. They were finally released to get some sleep.

All professional rescue personnel were used instead of non-trained personnel due to the conditions in the area. The home sits in the horseshoe of a tributary of the Trinity River. Very steep banks, deep water, snakes and even alligators were plentiful. In addition with Cypress trees the root system made wading the water very dangerous with the current.

At daybreak Houston Police Department will be dispatching a fresh Bloodhound and a helicopter to continue the search.

The family has only lived in the area one week after moving from Virginia. The mother was home at the time the child vanished.

[Lady Cop]

yourhoustonnews

Liberty County Sheriff's Captain Rex Evans is operating the command post at the home of the missing 2-year-old Tarkington boy. The child was last seen around 3 p.m. Tuesday.




According to a family friend, the boy, Devon “Baby Boy” Davis, and his family had just moved to the Tarkington area from Virginia on Thursday of last week.

Law enforcement and firefighters are assisting in the search. The Liberty County Sheriff’s Office and the Tarkington Volunteer Fire Department have set up a command post at the child’s home.

Every fire department in the county has been called to assist in the search. The Montgomery County Search and Rescue Team is bringing canines and the Texas Department of Public Safety has deployed helicopters to look for the child.

UPDATE: AS of 9 p.m. Tuesday, search teams had still been unable to locate the missing child. Only three Liberty County fire departments remain on the scene at this moment.

Needham Fire Department is using an amphibious ATV to help look for the boy along the creek. Tarkington VFD was unable to launch its boat due to the terrain along the creek.

According to Advocate Reporter Cassie Gregory, the mother of the child claims she was napping in her home with Devon's baby sister shortly before Devon disappeared. The doors of the home were reportedly locked.

When she awoke, Devon was missing. When she was unable to find him, law enforcement was called in to help.

UPDATE 2: We've learned more about the parents of the missing Tarkington boy. The father, Mike, and his wife, April, moved their family to the area on Thursday.

Mike is ex-Army Airborne and moved to Liberty County to live with an Army buddy when he couldn't find work in Virginia. He arrived first and then went back for his family once he was settled.


good
03/28/12 — Texas EquuSearch is en route with their sonar equipment to assist Liberty County officials in the search for the 2 ¹⁄₂ year old toddler.

[Jezreel]

I am glad Texas EquuSearch is on route, I hope they find this little boy soon and that he is just hiding as he would be scared out there by himself.

I am going to make my house into Fort Knox so my child can't sneak out on me.

[Lady Cop]

“I just don’t understand how someone can disappear off the face of the earth!”

These were the anguished words spoken by April Davis, the mother of missing 2-year-old Devon Davis, as she watched searchers begin the heartbreaking job of searching the creek near her home.

“He’s never done anything like this before,” she said before collapsing in sobs on Tuesday afternoon, March 27, just a few hours after everything in her world changed forever.

April and her husband, Mike, moved only recently to the Sam Houston Lakes subdivision from Virginia. Mike, a former Army Airborne soldier, was having a hard time finding work after his discharge. He said an Army buddy offered his family a new start in Texas, and they were happy and grateful for the offer. He came down first to make work arrangements, then returned to fetch his family. They arrived last Thursday, hopeful for their new start.

Davis said she had laid down with Devon and his 15-month-old sister Tuesday afternoon for a nap, but when she woke up shortly after 3 p.m., Devon was gone. After desperately searching for the toddler, she called 911 at about 4 p.m. Deputies from the Liberty County Sheriff’s Office responded to the call.

The house on CR 2901 is a bi-level structure on stilts to keep from flooding, since the property is surrounded on three sides by a horseshoe-shaped creek. A straight, single flight of stairs leads up to the living space on the second level. The yard is roughly an acre, with lots of spaces that could attract an inquisitive 2-year-old. It leads in three directions to thick underbrush and woods along the creek bank. A bridge spans the creek across the driveway from the house.

LCSO Captain Rex Evans said they began the search by first scouring the house inside and out, including the space underneath, with a thermal imaging camera. Determined to be thorough, the process was completed three times while other investigators began a methodical search of the perimeter of the property. Neighbors were contacted and vehicles were searched in case Devon might have been able to get inside a car and become trapped.

It quickly became obvious the search was going to have to be expanded. Evans called for assistance from the Tarkington Volunteer Fire Department, followed closely by calling every fire department in the county. The Montgomery County Precinct 4 Constable’s Office was contacted to bring their bloodhound and DPS was also asked to send a helicopter with thermal imaging capabilities to search from the air. An Amber Alert was issued in case Devon had been abducted.

Approximately 15 minutes had elapsed since deputies arrived on the scene.

It was originally thought Devon had been wearing shoes, but it turned out the young boy was barefooted.

“That wouldn’t have slowed him down,” said Mike. “He was always running around barefooted. He has tough feet.”

Following the scent from a pair of the boys’ socks worn earlier in the day, the bloodhound seemed to track a couple of spots near the creek bank, one on the left hand side of the house and one across the bridge from the house.

parents




link to more

http://www.yourhoustonnews.com/cleveland...ml?photo=4

[Jezreel]

This is so sad, I just read about a 4 yr old boy who was found dead today after getting lost over the weekend while helping family clear storm debris at a camp area in Arkansas.

I really hope this little one is ok, I can't imagine how the parent must be feeling.

[Lady Cop]

houston chron.

After a relentless night-long search, investigators continued trudging through waste-deep water Wednesday in a creek that encircled the home where a 2-year-old red-headed toddler vanished after being put down for a nap in a river community in Liberty County.

Searchers with long poles prodded the depths of the murky water after trained dogs detected Devon Davis' scent along the creek's banks and a small wooden bridge that crosses it. The creek is about 100 feet behind the two-story wood frame house where the boy's family was living after moving to Sam Houston Lake Estates from Virginia a week ago.

Houston police divers were also scouring the water bottom while Texas Equusearch volunteers trolled the area with a boat equipped with sonar.

Aircraft armed with infrared heat detectors have been unable to find any hint of the missing child.

The boy's mother said she had fallen asleep after securing her son and another 1-year-old child for a nap, said Rex Evans with the Liberty County Sheriff's Department. The mother told authorities that the door to the house was locked with a bolt, but somehow the child managed to get outside. CONFLICTING STORY.

She discovered him missing about 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, looked around frantically for a while and then alerted authorities who issued an Amber Alert.

Evans said the mother also found the door to her jeep was ajar, though she said she had left it shut. WHAT??

So far, however, despite lots of rumors, Evans said he has no reason to suspect foul play.

The child was last seen wearing a red and gray T-shirt and jeans. Initially, authorities thought he was wearing Spiderman tennis shoes but those shoes were located inside the home.

The boy's parents have been too upset to talk to the media about their son's disappearance, Evans said.




LIBERTY COUNTY, TX (KTRK) -- By air and land, the search continues for a missing little boy in Liberty County. Now investigators say they have 'new evidence' as to what might have happened to him.

The evidence was found behind the house, but detectives aren't ready to say much more about that.

???

[Kip]

Prayers that this little child will be found. The parents look like the life has been drained out of them.

[Lady Cop]

ABC13

[Lady Cop]

Deputies said the toddler’s parents feel far worse than anyone could imagine.
“Extremely distraught, it’s been a very difficult time for them,” said Capt. Rex Evans, Liberty County Sheriff’s Office.
Deborah Scott, a neighbor, remembers the time a grown man got lost in the area.
“It’s a mean river. She’ll take a life in a heartbeat, she’s taken a lot of them,” Scott said, adding there were other dangers the defenseless child could face.
“We’ve got gators out here, really big gators out here crawling,” Scott said. “And since the drought, the animals are coming back. We have wild hogs out here in these woods and I’m just worried about what’s happened.”

i'd like to know what was in 2 bags of evidence collected in back yard.

[Lady Cop]

thursday 0700

my first thing on awakening was check on this child. this is pretty damn bad. 2 nights alone out there? barefoot. raining. dangerous animals. deep creek. he should have been found by now. :(

KHOU
CLEVELAND, Texas – The overall search effort for a missing 2-year-old boy in Liberty County was suspended for the night, but a couple of Texas EquuSearch volunteers were set to remain looking overnight.

The main search crews will return Thursday at daybreak.



April Davis left, and her husband Mike Davis, the parents of 2 ¹⁄₂ year-old Devon Davis



Law enforcement officers meet outside the home



Texas Equusearch used a small boat equipped with sonar to search



mother

[Lady Cop]

horrible to think of why there is no trace. not a scrap of clothing, nothing. is he even out there? why was her jeep door open?



Courtesy KTRK

LIBERTY COUNTY, TX (KTRK) -- It's the third day of an Amber Alert for a missing Liberty County boy. Two-year-old Devin Davis hasn't been seen since nap time Tuesday afternoon.

Authorities had been hoping to find him alive but now believe this is a recovery operation.

"At this point it does appear that our operations is going to have to switch to a recovery operation," said Captain Rex Evans with the Liberty County Sheriff's Office. "It's heartbreaking for everybody here. Not only for the family for the investigators, for the searchers, everybody involved. It's a very difficult transition to make and again it's just heartbreaking for us all."

"I can't count how many alligators we have seen, the wild hogs that we have seen. It's not pretty," said Tim Miller with Texas Equusearch. "Right now, we're holding onto a miracle, and it's a small miracle. If I was honest with myself right now, I'd say right now we're in recovery."

[Lady Cop]

CLEVELAND, Texas – The search for a missing 2-year-old continued in Liberty County Thursday, three full days after the child was last seen.

Authorities said their hopes of finding a survivor are low at this point, but they still do not plan on leaving. The command post will remain outside the family’s home because they want a resolution – one way or the other.

“When it is a 2-year-old, I think we all feel like it’s our own child,” said Tim Miller, Texas Equusearch. “When would we stop if it was our own? So unfortunately, I think that Devon is certainly some place he did not choose to go. As a 2-year-old, he didn’t know what he was doing or where he was going and, you know, now it’s our job to do everything we can to get him located.”



A second dive team was brought in to help trudge through the alligator and snake-infested waters. Sharp-shooters were positioned on the banks and ready to react at the first sign of danger.

[sharit]

How does a two year old unlock a dead bolt? Sounds like there are an abundance of alligators and wild boars. 3 nights around those animals. I hate to think what has most likely happened. Poor baby.

[Lady Cop]

friday morning...nothing. not a clue.











KUHF
Dennis Waters is a volunteer who flew in from St. Louis to help with the search. Waters spent the morning combing a nearby stream with sonar equipment.

"Unfortunately, my part of this search is suspended. I’ve cleared all the water I can clear that’s in a reasonable walking distance of a small child. I’ve done all I can do, but the EquuSearch team is ongoing, they’re committed to this search until something else develops."

Waters says as a volunteer searcher, he’s helped recover 62 bodies in the past seven years. In this, he says he doesn’t believe it’s necessary to look very far downstream.

"I just don’t feel like there’s enough current to move a small child past the first log that he would’ve hit."

Texas Rangers had marked a half-dozen spots on the ground below the window and, wearing blue rubber gloves, collected specimens from the ground and sealed them in bags.

Evans declined to identify the material: "We're not letting that out now."

By nightfall Thursday - and despite some four dozen dogs trained to detect the scent of a dead body - no sign of Devon was found within a mile of the two-story frame house east of Cleveland, near the Tarkington Prairie community, where his family was living.

[Lady Cop]

many photos on previous page.

mother speaks in this brief news video
she sounds like she thinks he was abducted:

http://www.myfoxhouston.com/dpp/news/loc...evin-davis




FoxHouston
CLEVELAND, Texas - "If you know anything, if you've seen anything, please just call somebody! Bring him home, he needs to be at home with his family," said the mother of a 2-year-old boy who was reported missing Tuesday from his home in Cleveland, Texas.

April Davis issued the statement Friday morning in tears to FOX 26 News and several other media outlets at the command center where searchers gathered to find her son, Devin Davis.

"Please help me find my son. He's just a little boy. He's just getting over a pneumonia. He might be sick," added a crying April.

April agreed to speak to the media upon the condition of not answering any questions.

"I need my son, I need to know, I need some answers and someone has to know something, somewhere out there!," begged April. "If you're scared, I understarnd. There's a lot of stuff going on. Do the right thing!"

After her statement, April broke down in tears and refused to say any more.



this may sound cruel, but i don't see tears.

and i have to wonder if the child was consumed by an animal, would there be absolutely NO trace? perhaps.

[IMaDick]

Gators grab and run and if they don't eat all of the prey they stash it under water.

[Lady Cop]

does she have some REASON to think he was abducted, or is it wishful thinking and denial? there is more to this i feel.

[gatorfankim]

I have to agree with you LC. Thanks to that awesome mother Susan Smith, one cannot help but wonder. I hope the little guy is found by with the passing of time the outcome is not looking so promising. Very strange and sad story.

[Lady Cop]

i got a strange feeling from the mom, and i am going to attribute this to stress or maybe sedation right now...
but i still feel there would be some scrap of evidence of that child out in those woods, animals or not.

beaumontenterprise
The mother of a Liberty County toddler who has been missing since Tuesday has failed parts of a polygraph test, according to a law enforcement source close to the investigation.

April Davis, who offered a tearful plea today to the public, begging anyone to help her find her son, took the polygraph test Thursday, said the source who did not want to be identified.

LIBERTY COUNTY, Texas -

The mother of a 2-year-old boy who has been missing for several days spoke out Friday, and sources close to the investigation said she failed portions of a polygraph test.

[Kip]

In the first photo of the parents posted, both parents looked devasted. When I saw this one, I thought the mom's face looked way too relaxed, but wondered if she was on something.