The Eight PAYNE Children - 11 Months to 11 yo - Queens/NYC NY

Eight children were abducted from foster care in Queens on Monday during a visit with their mother, the police said on Tuesday.
The children, seven boys and one girl, ranging in age from 11 months to
11 years, were divided among three foster homes in Queens. They were
brought to the Forestdale child agency in Forest Hills for an authorized
group visit with their mother, the police said.

But when the mother, identified as Shanel Nadal, 28, left Forestdale
about 4 p.m. Monday, the police said, she took her children with her.

The Administration for Children’s Services
said it was working with the police to find Ms. Nadal. The agency said
arrest warrants had been issued for Ms. Nadal as well as the children’s
father, whom the police identified as Nephra Payne, 34. A police
statement said Mr. Payne might be traveling with Ms. Nadal and their
children in a black 1996 Chevrolet Suburban.

Mr. Payne and Ms. Nadal lived for many years in South Carolina. The
police said their current residence was on Amsterdam Avenue, in the
Manhattanville section of Manhattan.
Several people who live in their building said they had never heard of
or seen the couple, and only one of three residents who recognized the
couple in photographs remembered having seen them with children, but not
anytime recently.
The children were identified by the police as Nephra Payne, 11; Nephra
Ceo Payne, 10; Nephra Shalee Payne, 6; Nephra Umeek Payne, 5; Nephra
Yahmen Payne, 4; Nephra John Payne, 9; and Nephra Rahsul Payne, 6. The
girl, Nefertiti Payne, is 11 months old.
Forestdale, an agency that contracts with the children’s services
agency, declined to comment. Attempts to contact the foster parents on
Tuesday night were unsuccessful. It was not immediately clear why the
children were in foster care.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/21/nyregion/8-children-in-foster-care-were-abducted-by-their-mother-police-say.html

Child Agency Defends Itself in Queens Abduction Case
By SAM DOLNICK
Published: September 21, 2011


They had been going to counseling and parenting classes. They had impressed foster care officials with their apparent diligence and devotion to their eight children, who had been removed from their home because of accusations of abuse.

Shanel Nadal and her longtime boyfriend, Nephra Payne, appeared to have been well on their way toward reuniting their family — until Monday, when, something seemed to snap. During a supervised visit at a foster care center in Forest Hills, Queens, Ms. Nadal took the children inside to use a vending machine, then slipped down the stairs and out the back, the police said.

The abduction set off a manhunt that stretched across the city, as well as a flurry of questions about the daylight escape and the Payne family, which included seven boys, ranging from 6 years old to 11, all named Nephra (with different middle names), and an 11-month-old girl named Nefertiti. As of late Wednesday night, they had not been found.

The authorities were investigating why the Forestdale child care agency failed to prevent the family from leaving. And why, after months of painstaking work building trust, the parents decided to run.

“Imagine if someone took your children away from you,” Forestdale’s executive director, Anstiss Agnew, said Wednesday from the leafy campus where the abduction took place. “What would you do to get those children back?”

City officials had removed the children from their parents’ custody in 2009 because of accusations that Mr. Payne had abused his sons, and that Ms. Nadal had neglected them, according to two people with knowledge of their case who were not authorized to speak publicly. The children were divided among two foster homes, and then a third, when Nefertiti was born last September.

Both parents visited frequently, bringing snacks, showing up on time and doting on the children. They were as engaged with their children as circumstances would allow, and they longed for more, said Barbara Emanuel, Nefertiti’s caretaker.

“We’d talk about the baby, her development,” Ms. Emanuel said. She called Ms. Nadal, 28, “a sweet person, a sweet woman.”

Ms. Emanuel was at Forestdale’s three-and-a-half-acre campus on Monday for the routine visit among Ms. Nadal and the children, which took place under the supervision of two staff members. Two of the boys did their homework at a table while Ms. Nadal held the baby in her arms, kissing her frequently.

There were several other families there at the time, along with at least three other staff members.

Ms. Emanuel said several of the Payne children went inside to use the vending machine and ran back out to ask their mother for more money. Shortly after 5 p.m., Ms. Emanuel looked up and saw the family gone. “I beckoned the supervisor,” she said. “And then the search started.”

A frantic hunt turned up nothing. The family vanished so quickly that it appeared as if they raced to a waiting car. The police said Mr. Payne, 34, might have picked them up in a black Chevrolet Suburban.

“She was desperate,” Ms. Agnew said. “She had a plan.”

The local police said Wednesday that they were working with other police agencies, including some in South Carolina, where the couple lived for years, in an effort to find the family.

Michael Fagan, a spokesman for the Administration for Children’s Services, said the agency was investigating what went wrong. “During supervised visits, an agency staff member should be present at all times while still affording the family personal time together,” he said.

Besides Neferti Payne, the other children were identified by the police as Nephra Payne, 11; Nephra Ceo Payne, 10; Nephra John Payne, 9; Nephra Shalee Payne, 6; Nephra Rahsul Payne, 6; Nephra Umeek Payne, 5; and Nephra Yahmen Payne, 4.

Ms. Nadal’s MySpace page featured 11 photos of the children wearing matching jackets, smiling in a playground and posing for the camera. Ms. Nadal had been working at a hair salon and hoped to pass an exam for her insurance license, Ms. Emanuel said.

News of the escape quickly rippled through the child services community, which has been battered in recent years with several high-profile cases of horrific child abuse, including that of Marchella Pierce, a 4-year-old who died in 2010 weighing just 18 pounds.

The Payne case, at least so far, appeared to have a different tenor. Child advocates defended Forestdale, calling the agency a leader in the field with a strong record in improving parents’ child-rearing skills, particularly with fathers.

Edith Holzer, director of public affairs for the Council of Family and Child Caring Agencies, said the abduction illustrated the difficult balance foster agencies tried to strike between providing a safe setting and avoiding an institutional, penal feel.

“We’re not talking about a detention center or maximum security,” Ms. Holzer said. “We’re talking about trying to work with families in a family-friendly atmosphere.”

Indeed, the lawns and playground at Forestdale were not built to prevent escapes, said Ms. Agnew, its director. “I guess we could put up bars and put up a moat,” she said. “We’re trying to heal family here.”

There were red flags in the family’s case file. Ms. Nadal and Mr. Payne hid Nefertiti’s birth from child care officials for months by keeping her in New Jersey, according to a person with knowledge of the case. When the family court judge learned of the baby, the court ordered extra counseling and tighter restrictions. Case officers proceeded to treat the parents cautiously.

But Ms. Nadal had recently reached a new milestone that demonstrated the trust she was building with foster care officials: unsupervised visits with her sons. She had two unsupervised visits earlier this month, and she returned the children on time without cause for alarm, according to a person briefed on the case.

But there was also a growing sense that she badly wanted her children back.

“She just wants her kids,” Ms. Emanuel said.

Now, with the police search stretching to yet another day, the chances for a legal reunification look more slim than ever.

After the abduction, Ms. Emanuel sent a text message to Ms. Nadal, saying: “You did the wrong thing. This is not the way to go.”

Ms. Nadal never responded.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/22/nyregion/child-agency-defends-itself-in-abduction-case.html?ref=nyregion

The FBI is now involved in the search for the seven brothers and one sister who were abducted
by their parents during a supervised visit at a Queens children's
agency earlier this week. The children, ages 11 months to 11 years, had
been split up between three homes, and their mother Shanel Nadal allegedly texted one of the foster mothers, "I cannot live without my children. I cannot breathe without my children."


Police think that Nadal and boyfriend Nephra Payne took the children
in a black Chevy Suburban on Monday.

The seven boys are named after
Payne— Nephra Payne, age 11; Nephra Ceo Payne, 10; Nephra Shalee Payn,
6; Nephra Umeek Payne, 5; Nephra Yahmen Payne, 4; Nephra John Payne, 9;
and Nephra Rahsul Payne, 6—and the girl is 11-month-old Nefertiti Payne.
According to the NY Times,
"City officials had removed the children from their parents’ custody in
2009 because of accusations that Mr. Payne had abused his sons, and
that Ms. Nadal had neglected them, according to two people with
knowledge of their case who were not authorized to speak publicly. The
children were divided among two foster homes, and then a third, when
Nefertiti was born last September."


While Nadal seemed to be doing well during visits with some of her children, NBC New York reports,
"NBC New York has learned that the Administration for Children's
Services had doubts she was overcoming her issues and warned her last
week they were starting to plan for the possibility of terminating her
parental rights and putting the children up for adoption." It's
suspected that the family may be headed to South Carolina.


The agency where the abduction occurred, Forestdale, is being
investigated, because there should have been someone supervising Nadal's
visit with her kids. But the Times notes, "Child advocates defended
Forestdale, calling the agency a leader in the field with a strong
record in improving parents’ child-rearing skills, particularly with
fathers." The agency's executive director Anstiss Agnew said, "Imagine
if someone took your children away from you. What would you do to get
those children back?"


Nefertiti's foster mother, Barbara Emanuel, told the Post,
“I’m trusting in God that she finds it in her heart to do the right
thing... I guess she was desperate and looked for any opening" and added
in a plea to Nadal, "Bring them back ... and let the system work.”
http://gothamist.com/2011/09/22/eight_children_kidnapped_by_parents.php

NEW YORK, N.Y. -- The
New York City Police Department has requested assistance from numerous
South Carolina law enforcement agencies, including the South Carolina
Law Enforcement Division, in finding eight missing children that may be
in South Carolina.

Shanel Nadal

Shanel Nadal, 28, and John Nephra Payne, 34, who lost custody of
their children in 2009, are accused of unlawfully taking them from a
foster care facility in New York City on Sept. 19.

John Nephra Payne

According to SLED, both Nadal and Payne have ties to the Lowcountry area of South Carolina.
Read more: http://www.wyff4.com/news/29284050/detail.html#ixzz1Yp8GA1EP

I'd love to know what the "abuse" entailed. Apparently the kids wanted to be with their parents or they wouldn't have left with the mom so easily. Maybe they were being neglected and beaten, but it seems that the children who truly need protection are left to be killed, while other "the house was messy and the kids were spanked" cases result in families being torn apart. Just wondering

Officials say a Queens woman who allegedly took her own children from
a child welfare earlier this week may be in South Carolina.
Police are still searching for 28-year-old Shanel Nadal
and her eight children. Police say Nadal snuck them out of the
Forestdale Child Agency at in Forest Hills during what was supposed to
be a supervised group visit on Monday.

Nadal lost custody following allegations of abuse by the children’s
biological father, 34-year-old Nephra Payne, but now police say the
couple may be traveling together with the kids.

The Payne siblings, seven brothers named Nephra and one sister named Nefertiti, range in age from 11 months to 11-years-old.
Police said the suspect may be traveling with the 34-year-old father
Nephra Payne in a black 1996 Chevrolet Suburban, New York plate
#EXZ5896.

The New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services said that in
addition to the Suburban, the mother and children could be traveling in
a black 2003 Ford, 4-door sedan, NY Reg: ZDF6104 or a black Infiniti
J30, NY Reg: ETK1598

Anyone with information should call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477), visit www.nypdcrimestoppers.com or text their tips to 274637 (CRIMES) then enter TIP577.

Those with information can also call the NYS Division of Criminal
Justice Services Missing and Exploited Children Clearinghouse at
1-800-346-3543 or visit www.criminaljustice.state.ny.us.
http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2011/09/24/officials-queens-mom-of-8-missing-kids-may-be-in-sc/

8 Missing Children Found Safe
Updated: Tuesday, 27 Sep 2011, 7:43 AM EDT
Published : Tuesday, 27 Sep 2011, 5:52 AM EDT
BY KATHY CARVAJAL
MYFOXNY.COM - NYPD officers searching for eight children believed to have been abducted by their mother from a foster care agency in Queens last week were found alive and well in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, according to police.
The children were taken Monday night to the Harrisburg Administration for Children's Services.
Shanel Nadal, 28, and the childrens' father, Nephra Payne, 34, were arrested.
The children range in age from 11 months to 11 years old.
Published reports indicate they were preparing to spend the night in a van with no license plate.
Nadal who does not have legal custody of the children took the kids during a supervised visit with them at Forestdale Inc., an Administration of Children's Services facility in Forest Hills, Queens, at about 5 p.m. on September 19, 2011, authorities said.
Seven of the children are boys, all named Nephra Payne, after their father, and one is a girl, named Nefertiti Payne.



Read more: http://www.myfoxny.com/dpp/news/8-missing-children-found-safe-mother-abducted-arrested-20110927-KC#ixzz1Z9u4Y5ne

Can a judge please order these two so called parents be STERILIZED??? They do not need to have any more children. These poor 8 kids will now have to go through the system and probably live difficult lives. And these idiot parents will probably have another 8!

New York couple who abducted eight children in court Wednesday

The New York couple found in Harrisburg with their eight kidnapped children went in front of a judge Wednesday.

This was the second appearance for the couple. Their attorney says they did what any parents would do and they'll fight the charges.

Wearing matching striped Dauphin County Prison garb, Shanel Nadal and Nephra Payne walked silently into the courthouse. CBS 21 was the only station at the scene last month when they were caught in Harrisburg, preparing to spend the night all together in a van, after abducting their own eight children from a New York foster care facility.

“Any natural parent would have acted the same way to get the kids out of there,” stated their attorney, Norman Steiner. “Complaints were lodged with the agency and police. There was sexual abuse, molestation, physical abuse, starvation.”

The hearings took only a few minutes each as Nadal and Payne waived their right to fight extradition, which means they'll be transported back to New York. The children were in foster care because of abuse allegations, a charge their attorney downplays.

“There were disputed allegations that one of the children had a wound on his eye during a scuffle with another sibling and the father intervened appropriately,” Steiner explained.

Payne walked out of court silently, but Nadal had a final message, saying “take care of my babies.”

http://www.whptv.com/content/Dauphin/story/New-York-couple-who-abducted-eight-children-in/1T81yTaGykiNSlsr6MQN1w.cspx