INNOCENCE DAVIS and CASPIAN THOMAS - 3 and 2 yo (6/2014)/ Charged: Mother and Father; Racheal Davis and Cole Michael Thomas - Estero FL

LCSO searches for 2 missing Estero children

Published: Jun 24, 2014 3:10 PM EDT
Updated: Jun 24, 2014 5:12 PM EDT

LEE COUNTY, Fla.- The Lee County Sheriff's Office is asking the public's help in locating two missing children.

Innocence Davis, age 3, and Caspian Thomas, age 2, were last seen at their residence at 21450 South Tamiami Trail in Estero, around 11:30 a.m. Their mother reported them missing.

The Department of Children and Families says the two are brother and sister.

Deputies assigned to Road Patrol, K9, Marine Unit and Aviation Units have been searching the area, but have been unable to locate the children.

Innocence is a white female, 3 feet tall, thin build, curly blonde hair. She was last seen wearing a pink shirt and yellow panties.

Caspian is a white male, 2 ½ feet tall, buzz-cut blonde hair. He was last seen wearing a plastic diaper.

DCF has had past contact with the family, but has no open cases with them at this time. Their last contact was in 2012.

The state has issued a Missing Child Alert for the children.

Anyone with any information on Innocence & Caspian whereabouts is asked to call the Lee County Sheriff’s Office at (239) 477-1000.

http://www.winknews.com/Local-Florida/2014-06-24/LCSO-searches-for-2-missing-children

Missing Estero children reportedly found

Published: Jun 24, 2014 3:10 PM EDT
Updated: Jun 24, 2014 6:12 PM EDT

LEE COUNTY, Fla.- Crews on the scene say the missing children have been found, but the Lee County Sheriff's Office cannot confirm that they have the children.

Innocence Davis, age 3, and Caspian Thomas, age 2, were last seen at their residence in Ester, around 11:45 a.m. The Department of Children and Families says the two are brother and sister. Their mother reported them missing at 1:53 p.m. LCSO does not know why there was a delay in reporting them missing.

Deputies assigned to Road Patrol, K9, Marine Unit and Aviation Units have been searching the area for hours.

DCF has had past contact with the family, but has no open cases with them at this time. Their last contact was in 2012.

The state even issued a Missing Child Alert for the children.

The American Red Cross and the FBI are also on the scene.

Count on WINK News to bring you information as we get it.

http://www.winknews.com/Local-Florida/2014-06-24/LCSO-searches-for-2-missing-children

Reports: Missing Estero children found

Melissa Montoya and Chris Umpierre
6:14 p.m. EDT June 24, 2014

6:05 p.m. update

Deputies are still searching for the missing Estero children, Sgt. Scott Lineberger said at 6:05 p.m.

Lineberger said he can't confirm if the children have been found. A Sheriff helicopter continues to fly overhead.

The family of the missing children had a prior history with the Department of Children and Families, but the last contact dated back to 2012, according to DCF spokeswoman Natalie Harrell. She declined to divulge particulars such as the allegations or the number of prior cases due to confidentiality laws. There is no current investigation or case, she said.

http://www.news-press.com/story/news/local/estero/2014/06/24/lee-deputies-search-two-missing-estero-children/11319741/

6:27 p.m. update

Emergency personnel placed the missing girl into an ambulance at the trailer park.

Covered Wagon resident Omar Olguin said he saw deputies carrying a girl from the woods. The girl had scratches on her back.

"The cops were carrying the girl," Olguin said. "She seemed scared because she was holding tight."

The boy hasn't been found, Olguin said.

http://www.news-press.com/story/news/local/estero/2014/06/24/lee-deputies-search-two-missing-estero-children/11319741/

LCSO locates missing Estero girl

Published: Jun 24, 2014 3:10 PM EDT
Updated: Jun 24, 2014 6:40 PM EDT

LEE COUNTY, Fla.- The Lee County Sheriff's Office has confirmed that 3-year-old Innocence Davis has been found and is under medical observation.

Innocence and 2-year-old Caspian Thomas were last seen at their residence in Estero around 11:45 a.m. The Department of Children and Families says the two are brother and sister. Their mother reported them missing at 1:53 p.m. LCSO does not know why there was a delay in reporting them missing.

Deputies assigned to Road Patrol, K9, Marine Unit and Aviation Units have been searching the area for hours.

DCF has had past contact with the family, but has no open cases with them at this time. Their last contact was in 2012.

The state even issued a Missing Child Alert for the children.

The American Red Cross and the FBI are also on the scene.

Count on WINK News to bring you information as we get it.

http://www.winknews.com/Local-Florida/2014-06-24/LCSO-searches-for-2-missing-children

6:40 p.m. update

Deputies have found the missing Estero girl, but are still actively searching for her brother.

Sgt. Scott Lineberger said 3 year old Innocence Davis was found alive and medical personnel are evaluating her. An ambulance left Covered Wagon at 6:30 p.m. Lineberger couldn't say if deputies know where the brother is.

http://www.news-press.com/story/news/local/estero/2014/06/24/lee-deputies-search-two-missing-estero-children/11319741/

9:25 pm update

About 100 first responders are now aiding in the search for two-year-old Caspian, the Estero boy who went missing at around noon today.

Lee County Sgt. Scott Lineberger said the search is comprised of people from LCSO, Collier County Sheriff's Office, Estero fire, Cape Coral Police Department, Naples Police Department and others.

Lineberger said the agencies have equipment capable of searching in the dark.

"I do not know the search area, but it's extensive," Lineberger said.

Lineberger said he could not provide information on the status of Caspian's older sister Innocence.

According to neighbors, the three-year-old girl was seen taken out if the woods with scratch marks. Lineberger said he could not confirm this information.

"It's a child missing," Lineberger said. "No matter who is missing we are committed to find the child."

Lineberger said he could not say when the rescue would turn to recovery.

"That will be determined through the investigated process," Lineberger said.

http://www.news-press.com/story/news/local/estero/2014/06/24/lee-deputies-search-two-missing-estero-children/11319741/

Missing Estero siblings have been found

10 p.m. update

Eighteen-year-old Carlos Sanchez who lives in the trailer park said officers ran out of the trailer park, jumped into their patrol cars as they were yelling "they found the baby, they found the baby."

Seconds later an ambulance sped by in the direction of the patrol cars, Sanchez said.

Lee County Sgt. Scott Lineberger said he was found about 10 or 12 minutes ago. He was found by The Lee County Sheriff's Office K-9 unit, Southwest Florida K-9 unit and urban search and rescue.

Caspian is being medically evaluated. LCSO would not release his condition or which hospital he's been taken to.

http://www.news-press.com/story/news/local/estero/2014/06/24/lee-deputies-search-two-missing-estero-children/11319741/

Mother of found Estero toddlers arrested on child neglect charges

By MARYANN BATLLE, JESSICA LIPSCOMB, JANELLE O'DEA
Posted June 24, 2014 at 3:31 p.m.
updated June 25, 2014 at 8:26 a.m.

UPDATE:

The mother of two Estero toddlers found after an eight-hour search Tuesday has been arrested on two child neglect charges, according to the Lee County Sheriff's Office.

The mother, 28-year-old Racheal Davis, was booked at 12:13 a.m. Wednesday along with another man, 29-year-old Cole Michael Thomas, on the two felony charges.

The pair were being held without bond Wednesday morning. Thomas' relation to the children isn't immediately clear.

EARLIER:

Two Estero toddlers were found alive Tuesday after a tense eight-hour search that stretched past dark and overwhelmed a south Lee County mobile home and RV park.

The brother and sister, Innocence Davis, 3, and Caspian Thomas, 2, were reported last seen around 11:45 a.m. at home in the Covered Wagon Mobile Home & RV Park along U.S. 41 South in Estero.

Emergency crews found Innocence first, bringing her out of the woods covered in a blue blanket about 6:30 p.m. A K-9 unit didn’t find Caspian, who was last seen shirtless and wearing a plastic diaper, until almost 10 p.m. Their conditions were not available Tuesday night.

Neighbor Omar Olguin, 14, said he saw a deputy emerge from the woods with Innocence. The girl had no shoes or shirt, and her back and arms were red with scratches, Olguin said.

By nightfall, more than 100 emergency responders converged on the site to try to find the still-missing boy, Lee County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Scott Lineberger said.

They came from agencies from across Southwest Florida and beyond, including the FBI, Lee County Sheriff’s Office, Estero Fire Rescue, Collier County Sheriff’s Office, Hendry County Sheriff’s Office and the American Red Cross.

"We thank everyone in the community for the support," Lineberger said.

Searchers used infrared cameras to look for the boy in the woods and water surrounding the mobile home community.

His discovery capped a day of searching that started when the children’s mother made a call to law officers, about 1:53 p.m., said Lineberger, who wouldn’t confirm the parent’s name and did not explain the lapse in time between when the children were last seen and the call to authorities.

Natalie Harrell, a regional spokeswoman for the Department of Children and Families, said the agency has had prior involvement with the family but the most recent contact was in 2012.

Harrell said the children’s mother is identified in DCF records as Racheal Beasley or Racheal Davis. Harrell said there was no male guardian for the children listed in DCF records.

Dale Davis, who lives outside Savannah, Georgia, said he and Beasley split up in 2009 after five years of marriage.

Davis said he has custody of the couple’s three children but not Innocence and Caspian, he said.

Beasley’s “neglectful ways” with the children was one of the contributing factors in the divorce, Davis said.

“That’s one of the reasons we split up,” he said. “I had evidence to prove she’s not a fit mother.”

Davis said Beasley has two other children who are living with her relatives in Georgia and north Florida, he said.

Davis said he hasn’t spoken with his ex-wife in about three years. He learned of the children’s disappearance Tuesday after his parents saw it on the news.

Carla Mendoza, 14, said she has talked to the children’s mother a few times. She remembers seeing them last weekend, and it appeared they were celebrating someone’s birthday.

“They were a happy family, so we don’t know how this could happen,” Mendoza said.

Mendoza also said Innocence and Caspian’s mother works at night and could have been asleep when the children disappeared.

Throughout the search, helicopters circled the Covered Wagon neighborhood. Deputies with K-9s searched the woods next to the mobile home park. The Sheriff’s Office marine units were on the Estero River, which runs behind the community.

Law enforcement officials looked in cars and went home by home asking people if they had seen the children, Cesar Botero said.

Botero said his parents have lived in the park for about five years, and he visits almost every day with his 2-year-old daughter.

“We want to know what happened because we have kids, too,” Botero said. “It’s the first time we’ve seen this.”

Samantha Crager, 20, a neighbor, said she has seen Innocence and Caspian playing outside, sometimes without supervision.

“I would be so sick if something happened to them,” Crager said.

http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2014/jun/24/lee-deputies-searching-missing-children-estero/

Parents of found Estero toddlers arrested on child neglect charges

By Naples Daily News staff
Posted June 25, 2014 at 8:59 a.m.
updated June 25, 2014 at 10:02 a.m.


LCSO
Rachael Davis, left and Cole Michael Thomas faces two felony charges of child neglect.

ESTERO — The parents of two Estero toddlers found after an eight-hour search Tuesday have been arrested on two child neglect charges, according to the Lee County Sheriff's Office.

The mother, 28-year-old Racheal Davis, and father, 29-year-old Cole Michael Thomas, were booked just before 12:15 a.m. Wednesday on the two felony charges. The pair are dating but not married. Davis was ordered held on $10,000 bond, while Thomas received $20,000 bond due to his criminal history. Both were ordered not to have contact with the two children until the Florida Department of Children and Families allows them.

Davis and Thomas told investigators they were asleep when their children, 3-year-old Innocence Davis and 2-year-old Caspian Thomas, wandered out of their trailer sometime between noon and 1 p.m. Tuesday, the Lee County Sheriff's Office said Wednesday morning.

Innocence was located at about 6 p.m., between two trailers at Covered Wagon Mobile Home & RV Park, where the family lives, the Sheriff's Office said. She was spotted less than 500 feet from her home, though it's unclear how far she might have wandered.

Caspian was found about four hours later outside an apartment on Lansing Loop, which is about a quarter-mile southwest of the park. He was wearing only a diaper and had fallen asleep.

Both children were dehydrated, dirty and covered with scratches after spending several hours in 90 degree-plus heat, but neither was seriously injured. They were treated and released into custody of the Florida Department of Children and Families.

Davis has been involved with DCF on six prior occasions involving reports of child neglect, according to an arrest report. Responders noted the family's home was in "deplorable condition."

In an interview with detectives, Thomas said Davis has seven children, three of which are with their father after being taken away by DCF. The agency doesn't release information that could confirm Thomas' account.

Davis and Thomas gave similar accounts of the morning leading up to the disappearances.

Davis said she worked an overnight shift the day before, getting home at about 7:30 a.m. Tuesday. At about 11:30 a.m., Davis woke up, got drinks and snacks for the two children, put on a movie and went back to sleep, she told investigators. She awoke again at about 1 p.m. and couldn't find her two kids, according to the arrest report.

Thomas said he woke up at 7:30 a.m. for work but went back to sleep at about 8:30 a.m. when he couldn't find a ride to his job. Davis roused him at 1 p.m. when she noticed the children were gone, according to the arrest report.

Davis and Thomas said the kids have wandered off before.

They both recounted the kids leaving their home and chasing a cat about two weeks ago. A maintenance worker found them near the laundry building, the report said.

Thomas also recalled an instance when the kids ran across U.S. 41, a three-lane road in both directions, to their mother's workplace, Sun Mart.

Davis said she thought she locked her front door Tuesday morning, but Thomas said it was feasible Innocence could have unlocked it.

"Cole advised that Innocence is very smart and can easily open the locks on the doors and Caspian follows her everywhere," the arrest report said.

http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2014/jun/25/parents-found-estero-toddlers-arrested-child-negle/