DOMINICK ARCENAUX - 3 yo - Ouachita County/ Chidester AR

Dominick Arceneaux - Chidester, AR

The Ouachita County Sheriff’s Officer has requested activation of a Morgan Nick Amber Alert for three-year-old Dominick Wesley Arceneaux.

The child’s mother believes someone abducted him. According to Amber Arceneaux, around 2:00 p.m. Tuesday, Dominick walked outside their mobile home and she hasn’t seen him since.

Authorities have been searching a lake located behind the Arceneaux home near Chidester.

Dominick has brown hair, brown eyes and was last seen wearing blue jean shorts with red stitching on the pockets.

http://amberalert.com/blog/2009/02/1...ick-arceneaux/

The search has resumed for a 3-year-old boy who went missing outside his home by White Oak Lake in Ouachita County on Tuesday afternoon. The Center for Missing and Exploited Children arrived to lend their support.

The disappearance of Dominick Arceneaux has shaken a lot of residents., but it has mad the community pull together. In fact, you'll see missing poster signs on a lot of store windows.
About five miles from the Chidester city limits is where the command post is setup, and it's where 3-year-old Dominick was last seen.

Erin Smelser with the Outchita County Sheriff's Department says, "The family is doing about like you can expect scared, upset, worried and just ready to get their little boy back."

New since Wednesday, two members from the National Center for Exploited Children arrived from Virginia to help the search.
Smelser explains, "They have maps of areas and this is their expertise. This is what they do and they are guiding us in the investigation."

Meantime, deputies still have not ruled out the possibility that Dominick was kidnapped. In fact, again Thursday they were interviewing frequent customers of the Hog Wild Saloon, a bar just a few yards from the boy's home.

As for the nearby 1,700 acre lake, four divers spent the day dragging the water looking for any clues. However, the water is murky which is making the search more difficult.

Volunteer searcher Charles Fowler says, "You've got a 3-year-old that is missing out there and he's somewhere."

Fowler has been searching the surrounding woods for the past two days and says the conditions are rough.

He explains, "You've got thickets, briar thickets. You've got gullies. You've got hills. You've got just general woods to go up and down. If you can't get your four wheeler through it then you get out and walk."

It's anything to find the little boy whose picture has touched so many.

"I will be out here until they find the kid," says Fowler.

Dominick's father is in the service in Georgia and Today's THV is told that he has made his way back to Arkansas. Meantime, search crews will continue their efforts first thing Friday morning.
Dominick is 3-feet-tall, weighs 38 pounds and was last seen wearing blue jean shorts with red striped on the pockets and no shirt or shoes.
You're asked to call the Outchita County Sheriff's Department with any information. That number is 870-837-2200.
Stay with Today's THV and todaysthv.com for more on the search for Dominick.


http://www.todaysthv.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=80009&catid=2

Update: Search Continues For Missing Boy, Sex Offenders Interviewed

Investigators spent the day searching the area where 3-year-old Dominick Arceneaux was last seen. Meantime, they also interviewed what the sheriff calls potential suspects, like registered sex offenders in the county.


About 70 volunteers showed up Wednesday to help search for Dominick; people like Melissa Vela and Tara Honeycutt who drove 30 miles to lend their support.

Vela explains, "Saw it on the news this morning and called the sheriff's department to see if they were taking volunteers. As soon as we found out they were we decided to come on up and help."

It was Tuesday afternoon when Dominick's mother says he left their house to go play. Today's THV spoke to her just hours later.

"He went outside and played he came back in and knocked his boots off. He wanted to play in the mud. He walked back outside and just disappeared. It was only about 5 minutes when we noticed anything was up," says Amber Arceneaux.

White Oak Lake is directly behind their home, but Sheriff David Norwood says the boy's mother taught Dominick about water safety and always instructed him to stay away.

Norwood says, "From her indication he is scared of water and wouldn't go around water."

Still though dive teams are searching the lake, but so far there are no clues which are why deputies aren't ruling anything out.

"We are treating it as a drowning. We are treating it as someone may be missing in the woods. We are also treating it as it may be a kidnapping," Norwood explains.

More: http://www.todaysthv.com/news/news.aspx?storyid=79925

This is so tragic. I can't help getting mad when I read about this though. A 3 year old should never be let out to play unsupervised and is too young to understand the dangers of water etc let alone deal with a stanger who may be intent on luring them away. I'm not saying this little boy has had an accident but we need to keep screaming about inadequate parenting from the rooftops until something is done about it.

Dominick Wesley Arceneaux

Age and/or DOB: 6/15/2005 Missing Date: 2/10/2009 Missing from City: Chidister Missing from County: Ouachita	Sex: Male Race: White Height: 3 ft. Weight: 38 lbs. Hair: Short brown hair Eyes: Brown Complexion is described as: Dark
Last seen wearing blue jean shorts with red stiching on the pockets..

kiwimom wrote:This is so tragic. I can't help getting mad when I read about this though. A 3 year old should never be let out to play unsupervised and is too young to understand the dangers of water etc let alone deal with a stanger who may be intent on luring them away. I'm not saying this little boy has had an accident but we need to keep screaming about inadequate parenting from the rooftops until something is done about it.

Kiwi, I so agree with you. I think every parent should go to school and learn how to parent. This is ridiculous, letting a 3yr old go outside by himself. She should be arrested for negligence. A 3yr old has no clue about safety. That has to be taught and no matter how many times you tell a 3yr old to be careful they really do not comprehend danger.

When my nephew was 2, he opened our front door and wandered out. I heard the door and heard everyone talking in the other room. Something still told me to get up and look anyway. When I went outside, he was almost to the road. I brought him in and told my sister that she needed to watch her son better. I was so upset about what could have happened. She told me he would never have done what I had said he did, and we really got into it. I said it was a good thing I was there then, if she was that clueless about what he could do. We have a good relationship now but often butted heads over her children. She wasn't purposely doing anything, just really didn't get what kids are all about and how easily you can lose sight of them and something happens. Now the boys are older and she is more experience and a much better parent to her little girl. It's scary how poeple can just lack that knowledge that kids are not little adults and need so much. Once, my dad and I came over to visit her and there was a baby in diapers in the street at night. The parents lived across the street and had no idea he was out there. Nothing but a diaper.

Re: Main Blog ~ Wed., Feb. 18th, #1
by oviedo45 Today at 4:19 pmPolice Find Child's Body Near Where 3-Year-Old Arkansas Boy Vanished

Wednesday, February 18, 2009




FOX16.com
Dominick Wesley Arceneaux
LITTLE ROCK, Ark — Sheriff's deputies have recovered a child's body near the area where an Arkansas boy disappeared a week ago.
Chief Deputy Joe Strickland of the Ouachita County Sheriff's Office told The
Associated Press that searchers recovered the body from a "body of
water" near where 3-year-old Dominick Arceneaux disappeared Feb. 10.
Strickland says the body has yet to be positively identified, but deputies have called off an Amber alert for the child.

Dominick disappeared while playing outside his mother's trailer near White Oak
Lake in the southwestern Arkansas town. Police and FBI agents had been
interviewing neighbors, family members and passers-by about the boy's
disappearance.

Group prayer - please.

Sheriff: Body found identified as missing Ark. boy



By JON GAMBRELL – 5 hours ago
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — A sheriff in Arkansas says a body found
Wednesday has been identified as that of a 3-year-old boy who had been
missing for more than a week.Ouachita County Sheriff David
Norwood says searchers found the body of Dominick Arceneaux of
Chidester floating in White Oak Lake. Norwood says the boy's body was
about 300 feet down the shoreline from his mother's mobile home on the
southwestern Arkansas lake.Norwood says deputies don't suspect
foul play in Dominick's death, but "nothing's been ruled out." He says
the boy's body has been taken to the state crime laboratory for an
autopsy.Police and FBI agents had been interviewing neighbors, family members and passers-by for days about the boy's disappearance.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gd9gk0jtHJslYuvVWV9_3Ew_5KlwD96E82JO0

Sheriff: Body found identified as missing Ark. boy



By JON GAMBRELL – 5 hours ago
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — A sheriff in Arkansas says a body found
Wednesday has been identified as that of a 3-year-old boy who had been
missing for more than a week.Ouachita County Sheriff David
Norwood says searchers found the body of Dominick Arceneaux of
Chidester floating in White Oak Lake. Norwood says the boy's body was
about 300 feet down the shoreline from his mother's mobile home on the
southwestern Arkansas lake.Norwood says deputies don't suspect
foul play in Dominick's death, but "nothing's been ruled out." He says
the boy's body has been taken to the state crime laboratory for an
autopsy.Police and FBI agents had been interviewing neighbors, family members and passers-by for days about the boy's disappearance.



http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gd9gk0jtHJslYuvVWV9_3Ew_5KlwD96E82JO0

for the friends of family of this precious child

hi sus
i am as well, this one really hurts for some reason - not sure why - i am saddened by it more so than others i have read about- maybe because our blog cared enough to create an entry just for him.

God Bless this child what a sad day. I pray the Lord touches this family and friends of this beautiful little boy.

This is just heart-breaking. May God comfort this family.

2/21/09

"....

Officials have now ruled the death of 3-year-old Dominick Arceneaux of Chidester an accidental drowning. The crime lab's autopsy, completed Saturday, ruled out foul play.

...."

Wanted to post this for closure :(

Poster's Note: Found this little guy way back on Page 3 of our Found Children section. Couldn't find anything about cause of death so I dug it up and posted it. This was before parents started drowning their kids on purpose...

A 3- year-old boy who was found dead after an eight-day search in
Ouachita County died by accidental drowning. Authorities said Friday
that autopsy results indicate there was no foul play in the death of
Dominick Arceneaux.
The boy was playing in his yard in
Chidester on Feb. 10 when he vanished. The property abuts White Oak
Lake, but Dominick’s mother, Amber Arceneaux, said her son was afraid
of water. A massive search effort included the lake, nearby woods and
anyplace else in the area that Dominick may have been able to reach.
The boy was bare foot when he disappeared.

A volunteer
firefighter found Dominick’s body on Wednesday. He was in the lake,
about 10 feet from the shore. The search involved numerous agencies,
including the Arkansas State Police and the FBI. Agents visited
registered sex offenders in the region and questioned them about the
boy’s disappearance. Ouachita County Sheriff David Norwood said law
officers stopped motorists at roadblocks near the Arceneaux home in
hope that drivers may have seen some thing the day Dominick
disappeared. Amber Arceneaux said her son was outside for about five
minutes, then she noticed he was gone.

Law officers
expressed frustration throughout the ordeal, saying they had no clue
what happened to the boy. Officials had to rule in all possibilities.
Sheree Mitchell, a great aunt of Dominick’s, said the boy’s mother has
not accepted that the death was an accident. "We still don’t believe he
went into that lake," Mitchell said Friday from the Hog Wild Saloon,
which is on the family’s lakeside property. "We still don’t believe
that."

Norwood said no strangers were reported in the
area on the day Dominick disappeared. Also, none of the dogs on the
property barked during that time. Mitchell and Amber Arceneaux were
home at the time Dominick vanished, but neither saw or heard anything
out of the ordinary, Norwood said. Mitchell said the outcome offered
little solace. "They did tell us it was very fast," Mitchell said of
the boy’s death.