Archive for the ‘bus stop’ tag
TX Missing Child – Kendrick Jackson
Kendrick Jackson's father, Roderick Fountain, has been charged with his murder.
Three-year-old Kendrick Jackson has been missing from his father’s Houston, Texas apartment since 9:30 a.m. Friday. This is not the first time that Kendrick has been reported missing. The first time was during Hurricane Katrina when he was separated from his family during that tragedy, but this time it is a different type of disappearance.
According to Kendrick’s father, Roderick Fountain, Kendrick was watching television and he was doing some household chores. Following is a quote from Roderick Fountain about how he discovered his son missing:
He was watching TV; I was doing the house chores, washing, father Roderick Fountain said. Come back down and notice the door was kinda cracked, and he was gone. Unlocked the door and slipped out.
I am thinking from the above quote that possibly Roderick Fountain went to the laundry room outside of the apartment and left his son inside the apartment, locking the door behind him. Perhaps Kendrick noticed his father was gone and went to search for him. This seems to me what may have happened to this little guy.
According to a news report yesterday, a woman came forward stating that she had seen Kendrick on I believe Friday morning standing at a bus stop across the street from his home. She said she was stuck in traffic, noticed the boy but did not know that he was missing. She realized when she came home from work and watched the news that the boy she had seen at the bus stop, with an adult male, fit Kendrick’s description. According to further news reports regarding this sighting, apparently the adult male standing with Kendrick at that bus stop does not fit the description of Roderick Fountain.
As of today, the FBI has joined the case. Kendrick’s mother and father were questioned last night, and further questioning was conducted this morning at the police station.
I watched a video of Kendrick’s father. He looks visibly shaken and cried at the beginning of the interview.
I ran a check of sex offenders in the area and there is one sex offender who lives about one half block from the home of Kendrick’s father. I hope Kendrick did not run into him when he left the apartment.
The last time Kendrick was seen he was wearing a white t-shirt and pajama shorts with pictures of baseballs and footballs on them. Kendrick is a black male with brown eyes and black hair; 3′ tall weighing 30 lbs.
Click2Houston.com is reporting that police have halted the search for Kendrick at this time. They believe that he is no longer in the area. They will resume the search after they evaluate leads. Family members were administered lie detector tests. Police declined to state which family members were administered lie detector tests.
Father Arrested
Apparently the tears meant guilty.
KHOU.com is reporting this afternoon that Roderick Fountain, father of Kendrick Jackson has been arrested on a misdemeanor warrant of filing a false police report in the disappearance of his 3-year-old son Kendrick Jackson.
Roderick Fountain reported his son missing on Friday morning at approximately 11 a.m.
Police have determined that Mr. Fountain was in the area of Sheldon Road and Interstate 10 during the early morning hours of Friday, April 7 between 2 and 5:50 a.m.
Texas Equusearch has set up a command post at the First Assembly Church of God in that area to continue the search.
Meanwhile, the boy’s father, Roderick Fountain, faces an upgraded charge of felony injury to a child. Authorities say Fountain hit 3-year-old Jackson on or around April 5. He reported him missing on April 7.
Police also stated in their news conference that Mr. Fountain has changed his story 4 – 5 times, and has also tried to convince others to lie to investigators.
Texas Equusearch is concentrating their search on the wooded areas and waterways along Interstate 10 near Baytown, an area when Roderick Fountain was known to frequent. Texas Equusearch founder, Tim Miller feels that this search is now a recovery mission:
“Unfortunately, I think this is a recovery mission. There have been miracles before and we are hoping for that miracle, but this is not looking good at all,” Miller said.
The area that is being searched is large and the search is being aided with the use of a drone airplane. The drone flies over the area and sends back images to a computer. There has been an area of interest identified in one of the bodies of water; divers will search that area today.
Kendrick’s mother, Keyanna Jackson, is of the belief that Roderick Fountain is innocent of the charges against him.
“He wouldn’t do nothing to hurt his child – his own son he made. He wouldn’t do nothing,” Jackson said.
I have not seen any reports of Kendrick’s mother or other family members out searching for him. Perhaps investigators have asked them to stay away from the search area, but if the mother truly believes that someone has her son then I would think she would be out searching or at least passing out fliers. Keyanna’s mother, who raised Kendrick from birth up until a few months ago, says her niece is in ‘denial’ about Roderick Fountain.
Day 7 of Search
Today marks the seventh day of the search for missing 3-year-old Kendrick Jackson from Houston, TX.
Roderick Terrell Fountain, Kendrick’s father was supposed to appear in court yesterday to answer charges of filing a false police report and injury to a child. He asked for more time to retain an attorney so the hearing was postponed until May 8th.
Searchers are still concentrating in and near the San Jacinto River in East Harris County, TX . Also, investigators are searching Roderick Fountain’s Lexus for evidence.
CPS is seeking Roderick Fountain’s 8 other children for questioning. They have located and interviewed 3 of those children and indications are that those interviews have been very helpful to the investigation into the the disappearance of little Kendrick.
Searchers are now expanding their search efforts to include the Trinity River. They are interested in locating what was captured as an image floating on the river on a digital camera two days ago.
Search Scaled Back
KHOU.com is reporting this morning that Texas Equusearch is scaling back their search for 3-year-old Kendrick Jackson.
Tim Miller told reporters that they will be cleaning up the command center today and will only be using a handful of trained volunteers to search for the child. The handful of volunteers will include cadaver dog handlers and divers.
Kendrick Jackson’s father, Roderick Fountain, is in custody of charges of filing a false police report and injury to a child. He is the prime suspect in the disappearance of his son and he still continues to be uncooperative with investigators.
Roderick Fountain, father of missing child Kendrick Jackson, appeared in court today for a bond hearing. Bond was granted at $100,000. If Roderick Fountain can come up with 10% of that amount he could walk out of jail later today.
He is charged with injury to a child for allegedly striking Kendrick and leaving bruises. The other charge is filing a false police report. Investigators believe Roderick Fountain knows what happened to his son. So far, he has been uncooperative with the investigators in helping to locate his son. Roderick Fountain’s attorney indicated in court this afternoon that “his client is innocent and had nothing to do with the disappearance of his son.”
- June 18, 2009
-
A Houston, Texas grand jury handed up an indictment for felony murder in the case of missing 3-year-old Kendrick Jackson. Prosecutors went to the grand jury on Thursday with new evidence. The indictment for felony murder alleges that Kendrick’s death happened during the commission of a felony – injury to a child. Roderick Fountain, already serving a ten year sentence for felon in possession of a firearm, will be transported to Houston to stand trial on the murder charge. If convicted Fountain could face a life sentence. Kendrick’s body still has not been found.
-
April 18, 2009
-
Roderick Fountain was never charged with the murder of his missing son, Kendrick Jackson back in April 2006. Kendrick has never been found. Roderick Fountain was sentenced to 15 years in prison for Felon in Possession of a Firearm, so he does sit in jail for something.
According to ABC.com, new information has come to light connecting Roderick Fountain to the murder of 3-year-old Kendrick Jackson. Prosecutors did not elaborate on what that new information is or how long it will take to file murder charges against Fountain. Unless a body is located winning the conviction will be difficult.
According to KTRK Legal Analyst Joel Androphy:
…To tie someone to the crime, someone would have to see him kill the boy, hurt the young boy, hide the body, someone’s going to have to overhear a conversation where he admitted something…
I hope Fountain shows enough compassion at this point to tell authorities where Kendrick’s body is so he can have a decent burial.
Brian Rogers, Houston Dad Charged with Killing Missing Boy, Houston Chronicle, Last Accessed: June 18, 2009.
MD Endangered Runaway: Tania Molina-Raudales
In my experience of writing about missing children it has been a rare occurrence when there is any news coverage devoted to a endangered runaway. I suppose there are reasons why this case is being covered in the media, but I certainly am glad that it is being given coverage.
The story really is a parent’s worst nightmare. You send your 12-year-old daughter off to catch her bus for school and you assume, just like all of the other days before, she arrived there safely. Except this day. A message is left on the answering machine telling you that your daughter did not attend classes that day. Most likely by the time you are listening to that message it is after you have come home from work and maybe it is about 6 or 7 p.m. You know your daughter left home at about 7:30a.m. She is missing for 12 hours now.
You don’t know what to do. Your daughter has never run away from home before and it seems as though things are going fine with her. She acts like any other normal 12-year-old little girl. You go around and talk to her friends and to the neighbors and your stomach drops when someone tells you they saw your daughter near the bus stop getting into a car and it appeared she was getting into the car willingly. The driver was an unknown male – it is time to call the police. That terrible day was Monday; today is Saturday and there is still no word about where your baby could be.
The scenario above is the nightmare the parents of twelve-year-old Tania Molina-Raudales of Silver Spring, Maryland are living. Police are concerned for her safety although at this time it does not look as though there is any foul play associated with Tania’s disappearance.
In researching this case I came across some disturbing comments left in one online newspaper’s comments section. Some are judging Tania because she does not dress like a twelve-year-old; they believe she dresses and looks much older. Some are judging her and her parents and claiming that most likely the car Tania was seen getting into probably belonged to her boyfriend. So far from all of the media accounts I have read Tania’s parents have not indicated she even has a boyfriend.
Some commenters have in gone so far to suggest that Tania has gone off to be initiated into a gang. Most of these comments, suggestions, or judgments have been based on the fact that Tania is a Hispanic female.
Below is how a friend of the family described Tania:
“This girl is very good, plays in the house, goes to school and come back and I don’t know what’s going on,” said Ronald Brown, a family friend.
It does not sound as if Tania was a very sophisticated young girl from that description
If you know where Tania Molina-Raudales is or of anyone who knows what happened to her on the morning of Monday September 22, 2008 please call the Montgomery County Maryland Police Department at 1-301-279-8000 or call 1-800-THE-LOST.
-
Missing: Tania Molina-Raudales
-
Tania is a twelve-year-old Hispanic female with black hair and brown eyes. She is 5’5″ tall and weighs 135lbs. Tania was last seen on September 22, 2008 getting into a dark colored, older model, four-door sedan.
-
Suspect: Unknown
-
Hispanic male
-
Suspect Vehicle
-
dark colored, older model, four-door sedan
As far as Tania getting into the car willingly, I am reminded of a similar case.
Thirteen-year-old Cori Baker was reported missing when she failed to come home from her Tulsa, Oklahoma school. People at school told authorities they had seen the girl getting into a vehicle driven by an African American male. The school surveillance cameras caught the incident on video. Yes, the girl did get into the vehicle willingly because the driver was her older sister’s boyfriend, Marquis Bullock. She knew him and they had made plans to go to the mall so Cori could buy her sister a Christmas present. She trusted him. He was arrested for Cori’s kidnapping and murder. In March of this year Cori’s remains were located in a paint ball field.
This is just one example of how the appearance of a teen willingly getting into a vehicle with someone does not mean it would be entirely safe for the teen to do so, even if the person is known to the teen. Marquis Bullock’s jury trial is scheduled to begin in March 2009.
This is how Corey Baker’s father spoke of his daughter:
Cori Baker has never run away and has good attendance in school. She loves basketball and had a game Saturday morning. She has been calling everyone, inviting them to come watch her play. Her father says she would’ve never missed that game willingly.
Cori Baker’s bedroom is that of a typical 13 year old: pictures of her and her friends on one wall, posters of cute boys on another, stuffed animals nearby and her most cherished possession, her basketball, still in her bed, where she often sleeps with it.
“Cori is silly, very outgoing, really loves her basketball games and just an all around great kid,” said Cori’s father, Daniel Baker.
Cori Baker’s father pretty much described his daughter the same way the family friend of the Molina-Raudales describes Tania. Not very sophisticated.
-
November 4, 2008
-
The Montgomery County, Maryland Department of Police reported on October 3, 2008 that Tania was located in a Silver Spring apartment of a friend; she was uninjured. Her parents asked police to thank the media for getting their daughter’s disappearance out to the public.
Parents Search for 12-year-old Silver Spring Girl, WIJLA.com, September 27, 2008.
Crime and Justice – Murder of Cori Baker, Crime and Justice.us, September 27, 2007.
OK v Bullock: Victim: Cori Baker, Oklahoma State Courts Network, September 27, 2008.
Burt Mummolo Remains of Cori Baker Found, KTUL.com, September 27, 2008.
Update: Missing Girl Located in Silver Spring, Montgomery County Maryland.gov, November 4, 2008.
Simon Rios Should Have Been Deported
Alejandra Gutierrez was reported missing on December 8, 2005 after not returning home from school that day. Her mother watched her walk down the street towards her school bus stop at approximately 9:50 a.m. and that is the last time anyone saw her alive except for her alleged murderers. Extensive searches of the area failed to locate Alejandra.
A seemingly unrelated crime was reported to police during the early morning hours of December 13, 2005. Simon Rios a thirty-three-year-old illegal Mexican National called 911 to report that he had murdered his wife and their three children. Read the rest of this entry »
