The mysterious disappearance of 5-year-old Hasani Campbell

**Dakota Valkyrie** · August 11th, 2009, 03:48 PM

The Federal Bureau of Investigation became involved this morning in the search for a missing five-year-old boy who has cerebral palsy, police said.
[...]

Hassani Campbell of Fremont was reported missing in the Rockridge District around 4:15 p.m. Monday, according to the Oakland police youth services unit.

Campbell lives in Fremont with his sister, his aunt and her fiance, police said. His birthparents live in San Francisco. Police declined to say this morning why Campbell does not live with them.

Campbell apparently went missing while the fiance dropped the sister off with the aunt at a store in the 6000 block of College Avenue, police said. They did not name the boy's guardians.

The fiance told police he left Campbell in the car, a newer model BMW, while he took the sister inside. The boy, who wears braces on both legs, was gone when the man returned, witnesses said.

Police confiscated the BMW and forensic investigators were examining it for evidence this morning. The aunt and fiance were cooperating with investigators, police said, and the boy is being treated as a missing person at risk.
[...]

http://www.insidebayarea.com/localnews/ci_13036933

[...]
Police say Hasani couldn't have gone far on his own because he suffers from cerebral palsy and wears braces on both legs.

Investigators say they fear he was either kidnapped or is frightened and hiding somewhere.

Vierra said, "Our worst fear is that he's gone somewhere, he's lost, frightened, hurt himself. We want to find him before anything like that happens."
[...]

Police are asking people in the area to check their backyards and basements for any sign of Hasani. "They can walk up to him, talk to him, call 911. Hopefully reunite him with his family."

http://www.ktvu.com/news/20353090/detail.html

**AngelFire** · August 11th, 2009, 04:49 PM

I hope they find him soon. Such an innocent little boy.

**cubby** · August 11th, 2009, 04:53 PM

Oh God please save this little one

**rebel450** · August 11th, 2009, 07:19 PM

This does not sound right, how far can this little boy with leg braces possibly venture on his own? Hope he is found safe.

**Unamused Cat** · August 11th, 2009, 08:37 PM

I don't think that little boy would have gotten out of the car on his own, if he was even there in the first place. What I want to know is why the foster father parked in the back of the store.

**coffee achiever** · August 11th, 2009, 10:12 PM

Originally Posted by Unamused Cat

I don't think that little boy would have gotten out of the car on his own, if he was even there in the first place. What I want to know is why the foster father parked in the back of the store.

Exactly. My hinky meter is pegged.

**Dakota Valkyrie** · August 12th, 2009, 08:35 AM

Originally Posted by Unamused Cat

I don't think that little boy would have gotten out of the car on his own, if he was even there in the first place. What I want to know is why the foster father parked in the back of the store.

Good thinking! The cops must be going "Hmmmm...", too!

The search for missing five-year-old Hasanni Campbell moved to Fremont Tuesday evening to a house where the child has been living with relatives.

The boy was reported missing from the area of 6000 College Avenue at around 4:15 p.m. Monday, according to the Oakland police youth services unit.

Campbell was last seen Monday afternoon sitting in the car parked outside a shoe store where his aunt and foster mother, Jennifer Campbell, works.

Hasanni's foster father Louis Ross told police he had driven to Shuz of Rockridge with the little boy and his one-year-old sister to drop them off with Jennifer Campbell.

Ross told police he left Hasanni in his BMW parked behind the shoe store and took Hasanni's little sister with him as he went around to open up the back door to get the boy. But when he got there, he said Hasanni was gone.

On Tuesday, authorities served search warrants at the home on the 5900 block of Roxie Terrace in Fremont's Hampton Place neighborhood, where the boy lived.
[...]

FBI spokeswoman Patti Hansen said she could not give details about the case but confirmed that FBI is helping search for five-year-old Hassani Campbell.

Tuesday afternoon, law enforcement officers removed items from the home, including what appeared to be a computer.

The Alameda County Sheriff's Search and Rescue Team used four dogs to search the premises.
[...]

Grandmother Clark told KTVU her daughter Jennifer was awarded temporary custody of Hasanni by the courts eight months ago when another daughter, Hasanni's biological mother, couldn't care for the boy.

Police would not comment if a possible custody dispute may be a factor in the boy's disappearance.
[...]

http://www.ktvu.com/news/20353090/detail.html

**mjmsepm** · August 12th, 2009, 09:48 AM

sounds like the little girl T hussein out of detroit! it definatly does not add up!

**Courtney** · August 12th, 2009, 10:36 AM

Originally Posted by mjmsepm

sounds like the little girl T hussein out of detroit! it definatly does not add up!

That is the first thing I thought of when I read this story!

**biteme** · August 12th, 2009, 11:27 AM

Originally Posted by rebel450

This does not sound right, how far can this little boy with leg braces possibly venture on his own? Hope he is found safe.

He sure as hell didn't run off, story doesn't sound right to any of us, I'm sure the cops feel the same way

**rebel450** · August 12th, 2009, 12:06 PM

Originally Posted by biteme

He sure as hell didn't run off, story doesn't sound right to any of us, I'm sure the cops feel the same way

Thats for sure.

**Rockin Ma** · August 12th, 2009, 01:25 PM

"I would like my grandson back," said Pamela Clark, 62, of San Francisco, who is Shemika and Jennifer Campbell's mother. "I just hope this works out."

Clark and she doubted Ross or Jennifer Campbell were responsible for the boy's disappearance.

"I don't think the family's involved at all," Clark said.

Regina Douglas of San Francisco, Hasanni's godmother, agreed. "There is no custody dispute," she said. "Everyone is satisfied. Everyone was comfortable with the arrangements."

Douglas said her message was simple: "Return our child to the loving environment he was already living in."

The investigation jarred residents on quiet Roxie Terrace, where Ross and Campbell moved in less than a year ago and kept to themselves, neighbors said.

"We don't see them outside very much," said Ben Siu, adding, "I hope they find the boy."

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...#ixzz0NzTgWnH9

**Unamused Cat** · August 12th, 2009, 09:10 PM

Well-known civil rights attorney John Burris said this afternoon that one of the caretakers for a missing 5-year-old Fremont boy with cerebral palsy will take a polygraph test, while the other will not because she is six months pregnant.

More at http://www.insidebayarea.com/news/ci_13045028

**Harley_Tech** · August 12th, 2009, 09:30 PM

I opened this thread last night around 7PM and have just now gotten to make my comments, so if this has been said already, sorry.

When I read this line Campbell lives in Fremont with his sister, his aunt and her fiance, police said. I'll admit my very first thought was "this little boy is dead.

Too many times the "fiance" hates the competition for attention and the child pays the price, more so when the child is handicapped. I swear I hope I'm wrong on this one, but the little voice in the back of my head keeps hollering :I'm right, I'm right..."

Good luck little man, I hope you find your way home soon and in good condition.

R

**cubby** · August 12th, 2009, 10:20 PM

I hate to say it but I agree with you, Harley.

With all the horrible things we hear about on here it was the first thing that popped into my head, that baby is not coming back, at least, not alive. I hope, beyond all hope, that we are wrong, but I really believe that we are right!

**Dakota Valkyrie** · August 13th, 2009, 06:38 PM

Despite two days of exhaustive searches, 5-year-old Hasanni Campbell is still missing.
[...]

Louis Ross, told NBC Bay Area that he and the boy's foster mother, Hasanni's aunt, are fully cooperating with police. While they have not hired a lawyer, they have sought advice from well-known civil rights attorney John Burris.

Burris said he told Hasanni's foster parents that they really should do what police ask.

"I impressed upon them how important it is to cooperate with the police. The police have a very important job here." Burris said. "You were the last person to see this child and quite reasonably they're going to focus on you, that happens all the time."

Ross told NBC Bay Area by phone that he had nothing to do with Hasanni's disappearance and that he and the boy's foster mother have agreed to take lie detector tests.

Ross took the polygraph test Wednesday night but the foster mother, Jennifer Campbell, is pregnant and didn't want to take the test for fear it would harm her unborn child, the Chronicle reported.
[...]

Hasanni has cerebral palsy and wears braces on his feet to help him walk. The prosthetics, adorned with Spiderman logos, would not be visible because they are fitted just for his feet. While he can walk, Hasani's disability prevents him from running or jumping.

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children has also joined the search.

http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local...-53149312.html

**Whisper** · August 15th, 2009, 02:18 PM

MissingAbducted - Hassani Campbell, 5 Oakland , Ca. Missing 8/10/2009
Police question missing boy's foster father

-- 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 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."
[...]

Almeda County sheriff's deputies will be searching Coyote Hills Regional Park in Fremont today 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.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...#ixzz0OH77ABAi

Missing boy's foster father questioned again Friday

[...]
On Friday afternoon, the child's foster father, Louis Ross, walked out of his Fremont home and into the waiting car of Oakland Police detectives.

According to Ross' advisor, attorney John Burris, detectives drove Ross around for about an hour. Earlier this week Ross told ABC7 News he spent nearly 30 hours to detectives.

"I have not spoken to the media up until this point, not because we were shying or hiding, we were with police and the FBI giving them all of the information. First day alone we were with them for 17 hours straight," Ross told ABC7 News exclusively on Wednesday night.
[...]

In the meantime, Alameda County Search and Rescue will conduct a wide scale search for Hassani on Monday.

"We've been asked to coordinate a search and rescue effort for Saturday for the Oakland Police Department and it entails us calling other search and rescuers from other allied agencies as well as our own, and come Saturday wherever the Oakland Police Department wants us we will search those areas," said Sheriff's Spokesperson J.D. Nelson.

Oakland Police has yet to announce where that search will take place.

http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?sec...bay&id=6966166

[...]
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."

Ross said he and Campbell -- who is the sister of Hassani's mother -- took the boy and his sister into their home because their biological parents are unable to take care of them.
[...]

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

Father of missing Fremont boy questioned again by police Friday afternoon

[...]
Police Sgt. Gus Galindo, a homicide investigator, and Sgt. Tim Nolan went to the family's two-story home on Roxie Terrace earlier Friday and about 1:30 p.m. exited the home and waited near their car. A few minutes later, Louis Ross emerged from the home wearing a light-colored dress shirt and dark pants. He walked swiftly across the lawn and got into the back seat of the car by himself. The car then drove off.

At no time was Ross handcuffed.
[...]

The foster father appeared on CNN Headline News' "Nancy Grace" show Thursday. In a brief interview with the host, Ross said some media accounts of the disappearance have been inaccurate.

On the show, Ross said he never went into the shoe store but merely went to the front of the business to motion to Campbell that he had arrived.

He went on to say that when Campbell came to the back door, she was the first one who noticed the boy was missing. Campbell did not appear on the television show.

http://www.mercurynews.com/crime/ci_...nclick_check=1

Homicide cops join missing-boy investigation

Oakland homicide investigators have joined the investigation into the disappearance of a 5-year-old boy with cerebral palsy and went to the shoe store where the child's foster father reported him missing Monday, authorities said Thursday.

Six homicide investigators joined officers from the Oakland police missing-persons unit Wednesday in canvassing the area outside the Rockridge district shoe store where Hasanni Campbell's foster father says he last saw the boy. Police passed out flyers along the 6000 block of College Avenue near the store, urging anyone with information to contact them.

Oakland homicide Sgt. Mike Gantt, who was among those who went to the store, said police wanted some of their more seasoned investigators to work the case and that no assumptions should be made because they had been brought in.

"It's still a missing-persons case," Gantt said.

The homicide squad's visit came as Hasanni's foster father, Louis Ross, 38, of Fremont urged anyone with information about the boy's whereabouts to contact police.

Ross said Thursday that he is taking investigators' word that they do not assume Hasanni is dead.

"I don't want to second-guess them," Ross said. "They say (the homicide investigators were) called in because they need more veterans involved and because of a lack of resources."

Ross said earlier that the family is going through a "nightmare beyond belief"' that includes scrutiny from police and the FBI.
[...]

Ross says he fears that Hasanni was kidnapped. He said Thursday that he last saw Hasanni at 4:15 p.m. Monday outside the shoe store where his fiancee, Jennifer Campbell, works.
[...]

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...MNEP198360.DTL

**Silvahalo** · August 15th, 2009, 03:46 PM

Not sure. My first thought was much like Harley's and others who are suspicious with the circumstances.

But....

He said he had parked in back of the store and headed to the front door with Hasanni's 1-year-old sister, and that the boy had waited to be let in at the back door. Ross said that was the family's routine.

"He was not left in the car," Ross said. "He was already out of the car when I headed to go to the door."

When Campbell opened the back door for Hasanni, the boy was gone, Ross said.

If this is truth, well, not sure. Wish baby girl could talk and tell us what she saw.

Be found safe and sound little Hasanni.

**Dakota Valkyrie** · August 15th, 2009, 04:49 PM

Nancy Grace segment:
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0q-MuWcfnk"]YouTube - Disabled Boy, 5, Vanishes; Stepfather Under Scrutiny[/ame]

**Silvahalo** · August 15th, 2009, 05:08 PM

Thanks DV, that was a really good interview.

I have to say, this foster dad sounds intelligent, thoughtful on what happened that day. His facts seem to make sense as I could easily see this a routine procedure. Hasani was alone for maybe 2-5 minutes, easy for someone watching to grab him.

I'd like to see what the back of the store looked like, field area or other building next to it and accessibility to the back. My feeling right now is this man is telling the truth. He's clearly very concerned and trying to keep it together.

My boy is 5. I can't imagine the full horror of NOT finding my boy there as I came back to look for him. How terrible for the family. My hope is he found quickly and safe and that we do NOT see a turn in events that we have seen time and time again.

My prayers and hopes with Hasani and the family.

**Whisper** · August 15th, 2009, 05:14 PM

Sorry I meant to say that man at the bottom of my post is the foster dad sweating his ass off .I think hes realizing that when you do shit to kids no matter what or when its a bit more complicated then saying I turned and he was gone,or I was sleeping and someone snuck in and got her,or I dropped her at the nannys and I havent seen her since(30 days ago),or (Adji) I put him outside and looked out bit later hes gone or I left her in the car and went to buy her gum and came back shes gone,or I could go on and on and im sorry why isnt anyone of these people have a mark on them from fighting to get that child/baby away from these"bad guys"????B/c these bad guys dont exist.I have a reception to get to have a great one guys!!

**Rhoni** · August 15th, 2009, 06:38 PM

DO you think he is covering for her? She won't take a lie detector test because she is pregnant and worries the stress will cause her health problems..What stress if you have nothing to hide? If you are telling the truth about everything it should be a piece of cake..

**Dakota Valkyrie** · August 15th, 2009, 06:46 PM

Good point, Rhoni.

I would think the stress of everyone looking at you sideways for not taking the test would be worse.

Would being pregnant throw off the results?

**Rhoni** · August 15th, 2009, 06:56 PM

Originally Posted by Dakota Valkyrie

Good point, Rhoni.

I would think the stress of everyone looking at you sideways for not taking the test would be worse.

Would being pregnant throw off the results?

I agree. Not sure about the results being thrown off by being pregnant.I would love to know that for sure..Are there any interviews out there of the Aunt/Foster Mother? I would love to see her talking..I like to read body language and eye movement..

Something about the way Ross talks is bothering me..I think it was how many times he said "this was our routine". He said it had been routine for a couple of months, yet when he said he had the boy wait out back he said he had done that a couple of times..Couple of months does not equal a couple of times..He also overtalked IMO..Maybe I am just looking for something that isn't really there..Maybe I am spending way too much time on DD

**Whisper** · August 15th, 2009, 07:46 PM

The polygraph examiner shall make such inquiries of the subject's health, medical history and/or use of medications as necessary to determine his/her ability to take the examination. Polygraph examinations shall not be conducted on any person whom the examiner reasonably believes to be physically or emotionally unsuitable for testing. This may include but is not limited to persons with heart conditions, women who are pregnant and individuals taking certain types of medication that may interfere with test results

**Silvahalo** · August 15th, 2009, 08:27 PM

I guess we will see. He seemed sincere too me but I always have this skeptical little voice in my head going, "you know he's full of shit....". I hope these people had NOTHING to do with Hasani's disappearance. I really, really hope not.

Too bad there wasn't a surveillance camera back were they parked.

**Dakota Valkyrie** · August 18th, 2009, 08:34 AM

Police have received just 50 tips about possible sightings of 5-year-old Hasanni Campbell in the week since he was reported missing.

When 8-year-old Sandra Cantu of Tracy went missing, 477 tips rolled into police in the first five days of her disappearance.

None of the tips or the searches of Oakland neighborhoods, the parklands of Coyote Hills near Fremont and the marshland area along the Hayward shoreline have turned up anything, police said.

There also is a lack of community support in the search for the missing boy with cerebral palsy. There were just a handful of people at a vigil this afternoon.

In the case of Cantu, whose body was found April 6 in a suitcase in an irrigation pond near the mobile home park where she lived, searches brought out at least 300 people. Neighbor Melissa Huckaby, 28, has been indicted on five counts of kidnapping, raping and killing her.

"I'm sick to my stomach there aren't more people out here," said Charity Edmondson, a friend of Jennifer Campbell's, the missing boy's aunt and foster mother. "It's heart wrenching. (Campbell) would go across the world to look for someone's child."
[...]

Ross said his family has been cooperating with authorities, although he felt police believed he and Campbell did something wrong. Today he was emotional and crying while speaking about the boy.

"He was a damn child. ... That's why we care. If we didn't, who would?" Ross said. "He sat in foster care for two years, and his sister sat in foster care for two months."

Ross said there has been a lot of "speculation" about what happened to Hasanni. "These were our children," he said. "Don't try to take that from us. We've fought for them."

The boy's younger sister is not with the couple because she was placed in protective custody last week while the police investigation is ongoing.

http://www.mercurynews.com/crime/ci_13145112

Do you suppose the lack of tips and support is because people do not believe their story of what happened?

Both foster parents plead for Hasanni's return:
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sb1na9WJlWg"]YouTube - Missing Boy's Dad: 'If You Have Him, Let Him Go'[/ame]

**Whisper** · August 18th, 2009, 01:56 PM

Hassani Campbell is still missing…
August 18, 2009

Several people have contacted me asking for my thoughts on Michael Vick’s return to the NFL. Since I take Saturday’s off from the Internets, I read through this requests this morning and pondered them while drinking my Sunday morning coffee. And then I looked at the most recent post to this blog about a missing child names Hassani Campbell and…well, I’ve decided to take the road less traveled today.

Hassani Campbell is still missing.

Hassani’s story has not caught the imagination of the media.

In not covering this story, the press…who postured a while back about why they don’t cover missing children of color worth a shit…has once again demonstrated that they don’t cover missing children of color worth a shit.

It’s not that I don’t value the Michael Vick story. I have three rescue dawgs in my home that are living examples of society’s cruel disregard of animals…I live in a state that is shamefully successful in maintaining a thriving puppy mill industry…and I know that the return of Vick to the NFL runs the risk of diminishing the horror of his actions even as it has the potential of jump starting a discussion of animal cruelty in communities where dog fighting still happens.

But Hassani Campbell is still missing.

The Vick story is just going to have to wait.

Hassani Campbell was last seen wearing a gray sweatshirt and gray pants.

He is 5 years old.

Hassani, who has cerebral palsy, has braces on his legs but they may not be noticeable.

Hassani Campbell is still missing.

Hassani Campbell is still missing.

Hassani Campbell is still missing…

…and, Lawd have mercy, the whole world isn’t watching.

If you have any information about this case…any information at all…please call the Oakland Police: 510-238-3641.

Crossposted from the Angry Black Bitch.

http://sirenschronicles.com/2009/08/...sing%E2%80%A6/

**Abroad** · August 18th, 2009, 04:36 PM

Some pregnant people get high blood-pressure from the pregnancy, and since one of the things the polygraph measures is the blood pressure.........

**justmeintn** · August 18th, 2009, 06:39 PM

Who should and should not take a polygraph test?

Who should NOT take a polygraph test:

Anyone who is being forced to take it.

Any person with a serious heart condition, unless his doctor has given written approval. A pregnant women, unless her doctor has given written approval.

Any person who is determined to be mentally incompetent. Any person who has a respiratory illness or cold. Any person who has nerve damage or paralysis.

Any person who has had a stroke or is an epileptic. Any person who is in pain (i.e., toothache, headache or a recent injury).