Anllexas Van Duyn Missing 8-Year-Old

[Sister Iroz]

http://i359.photobucket.com/albums/oo35/Special2bme/18841007_240X180.jpghttp://i359.photobucket.com/albums/oo35/Special2bme/18841053_240X180.jpgINDIANAPOLIS -- Dozens of police officers are involved in a search for an 8-year-old girl who has been missing since Monday evening.

Anllexas Van Duyn was last seen at about 5:15 p.m. in the 3500 block of North Gladstone Avenue, on Indianapolis' east side.

She was wearing a red polo shirt, blue pants, black boots, white Indianapolis Colts stocking cap and a pink jacket with black and white stripes, the same one in the picture. The girl is about 4 feet 3 inches tall and weighs 63 pounds.

Police said family members told them she was going to a friend's house in the 3700 block of North Gladstone Avenue, but never showed up at the home.

Police set up a mobile command center at 34th Street and Forest Manor Avenue and called out K9s in hopes of finding the girl.

"We're doing everything we can to find this child," said Indianapolis Police Chief Michael Spears. "We're conducting a very methodical search for Anllexas."

Police said the girl's family alerted them to her disappearance at about 8:30 p.m. Monday and that officers had been searching for her overnight, utilizing a helicopter and contacting residents of homes in the area.

[Anllexass Van Duyn]
Anllexass Van Duyn

"It's very unusual for a child of this age to be missing this long. That's caused us a great deal of concern," Spears said.

Police decided not to issue an Amber Alert because they have no information indicating that the child had been abducted.

"If that situation changes and an Amber-style Alert is appropriate, we'll issue it," Spears said.

Mayor Greg Ballard arrived at the scene to support and observe officers' efforts to find the child.

Temperatures in the teens overnight heightened the urgency of the search. Police asked anyone with information to call 911.

http://www.theindychannel.com/news/18841059/detail.html

[mjmsepm]

what the hell when a child goes missing an Amber Alert needs to be issued...it's what it is for to help get info out there in the 1st 24 hours.....Haleigh cummings got one! and she could of just walked out the door! I am sooooooo tired of one child being more important than another!!!

[Dakota Valkyrie]

A missing 8-year-old girl was found safe in a neighbor's home Monday morning (I think they mean Tuesday), hours after police mounted a full-scale search for her.

Anllexass Van Duyn was found at a home near her home.

Detective Chuck Benner found the child during a door-to-door search of nearby homes. Benner said he saw a couple of girls peeping out a window in the home, knocked on the door and found Van Duyn inside.

Van Duyn said she had been "here" at a "friend's house" when asked where she had been all night.

Dozens of police officers were involved in the search for Van Duyn. She had been missing since 5:15 p.m. Monday.

Police said family members told them she had been walking to a friend's house.

Police said the girl's family alerted them to her disappearance at about 8:30 p.m. Monday and that officers had been searching for her overnight, utilizing a helicopter and contacting residents of homes in the area.
[...]
Temperatures in the teens overnight heightened the urgency of the search.http://www.theindychannel.com/news/18841617/detail.html#-

[mjmsepm]

http://www.theindychannel.com/news/18841617/detail.html#-

thank heavens!

[Insomniac]

There has got to be more to this story, why didn't the family who she was with come forward and tell that she was with them sooner?

[Dakota Valkyrie]

There has got to be more to this story, why didn't the family who she was with come forward and tell that she was with them sooner?
The girl probably told them she asked her mom if it was OK to spend the night and mom said 'yes'. Some parents do not bother checking with other parents. They probably didn't know anyone thought she was missing until the police knocked on the door.

[Sister Iroz]

http://i359.photobucket.com/albums/oo35/Special2bme/3504435_vt.jpghttp://i359.photobucket.com/albums/oo35/Special2bme/9934751_BG2.jpgMary Harshey, the girl's motherIndianapolis - The state has placed an eight-year-old Indianapolis girl in protective custody after she stayed away from home overnight, prompting a massive search.

Police found the girl safe and sound after being away from her parents for 15 hours.

The girl gave her parents the scare of a lifetime. She stayed away from home overnight without permission.

"She went to her friend's to play. Her friend could not play and she didn't come home," said Mary Harshey, the girl's mother.

The girl had permission to walk about one block to a friend's home. When her friend's uncle answered the door, "she wanted to know if Baby Gia could come out. Baby Gia was doing her homework so I told her she could not come out," said Terrence Davis.

That's when the eight-year-old made a beeline to a second's friend home, and according to police, pretended she had permission to spend the night. That left her mother and others fearing the worst.

"I need to find out how to report my daughter missing," Harshey told the dispatch operator, providing a description of her daughter's clothing. She telephoned 911 immediately after learning her daughter wasn't where she was supposed to be.

With a clothing description and photograph, Metro Deputy Chief Bill Benjamin orchestrated a full-scale police search. Officers, including new recruits, neighborhood volunteers and even Mayor Greg Ballard went door to door. They eventually went to that second friend's home on Manor Court.

The eight-year-old walked from her North Gladstone Avenue home to 3701 North Gladstone then to the 3500 block of Manor Court.

Mary Harshey is relieved her daughter is safe, but she says there's a serious lesson to be learned.

"Not to do it anymore. There are people out there that care about her. This could have been way worse," she said. "She just went over the little boundary. She'll have a steep price to pay when she comes home."

Police questioned the eight-year-old about why she stayed from home - those are answers her parents are looking for too. Police called conditions at the home "deplorable" and ask if that's why the girl strayed away all night.

"If it's conditions in the house and she took off, it's a good chance something was going wrong in the house," a neighbor told Eyewitness News.

Mary Harshey expects to be reunited with her daughter.

"I just pray from now on in the future, for parents to communicate with each other and let each other know that my child is going to be on the way to your house," said Donghia Hampton, neighbor.

Other neighbors said they know little about the family.

"I've seen her maybe once, but beside that I thought it was an elderly couple over there," a neighbor said.

Child Protective Services is also looking into the case.

http://www.wthr.com/global/story.asp?s=9934751

[Peeperann]

You do not let an 8 year old wander the neighborhood by herself in this day and age!! What the hell were her parents thinking??? I'm glad she was found safe.

[Silvahalo]

I think its weird that the parent(s) of the second friend she made a "bee-line" too didn't call the mother to confirm her staying over night. I wouldn't just assume it was O.K. for my son's friend to show up and have him stay without confirming first. But then, I think there is more dysfunctional stuff going on at the house for the child to not care to come home.


Police questioned the eight-year-old about why she stayed from home - those are answers her parents are looking for too. Police called conditions at the home "deplorable" and ask if that's why the girl strayed away all night.

"If it's conditions in the house and she took off, it's a good chance something was going wrong in the house," a neighbor told Eyewitness News

Well, can't say I blame the girl. My mother was notorious in keeping our home very dumpy, not to mention she was and still is a major rat-pack. As a young child I didn't have friends over except for one who knew me very well. It's such a hard thing for a young child to live with, the embarrassment alone is hard enough to live with.

The mother cared to call authorities when her daughter didn't come homes, so I think there is certainly hope. I really like to see this mother work through whatever is having her daughter stay away from home.

[Dakota Valkyrie]

Child Protective Service investigators continue to look into the case of an Eastside girl who left her home on Monday and was found at another house in her neighborhood.

"We'll be working to assess the best interests of the child," said Ann Houseworth, communications director of the Indiana Department of Child Services.

CPS took custody of the eight-year-old girl after she was found on Tuesday morning. The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department said the girl's home was in "deplorable" shape.
[...]
The state agency investigation will include a check of the girl's home and interviews with friends, family and the people at the other residences involved, Houseworth said. The school attended by the girl also will be checked.

No charges, citations or orders have come from the missing girl case yet.http://www.indystar.com/article/20090304/NEWS02/903040394/1282/NEWS02