HASANNI CAMPBELL - 5 yo with CP (2009) - Oakland CA

Search Organizers Hold Vigil For Missing Boy


Posted: 9:53 pm PDT September 7, 2009Updated: 9:56 pm PDT September 7, 2009On Monday night, about two dozen people gathered for a prayer vigil in honor of missing Fremont five-year-old Hassani Campbell at the College Avenue Presbyterian Church.
It has now been four weeks since the five-year old was reported missing from the Rockridge neighborhood in oakland.
Hasanni's foster father Louis Ross and foster mother Jennifer Campbell attended the service.
This past Saturday, more than 100 civilian volunteers, including the San Jose Search and Rescue Team and the Newark Community Emergency Response Team, searched Lake Elizabeth Central Park in Fremont, according to event organizer Sherri-Lyn Miller.
The case is now being treated as a homicide instead of a missing person case, so the civilian searchers said they were relieved not to find Hasanni's body at Lake Elizabeth.
"We didn't find Hasanni here and that is good news for us," Miller said. "Now we can go to Oakland and focus on the area where it was reported he disappeared."
Miller added that the search party's main goal was to eliminate Lake Elizabeth as a site where Hasanni could be.
Miller added that the search party's main goal was to eliminate Lake Elizabeth as a site where Hasanni could be. She said there will be a vigil for Hasanni every Monday night until he is found, starting Monday night.
Another search for the missing Fremont boy is planned for this Saturday. Organizers said this time they'll focus their efforts on the Rockridge neighborhood where his foster father reportedly last saw him.

Volunteers plan to scour across Oakland this weekend to search for a 5-year-old disabled boy who has been missing for a month.Organizer Sherri-Lyn Miller says dozens are expected to help in the search on Sunday for Hasanni Campbell.Hasanni was reported missing on Aug. 10 by his foster father, Louis Ross.

Ross said he briefly left the boy outside his car in the parking lot of
a shoe store where his fiancee and Hasanni's foster mother, Jennifer Campbell, works.Ross said when he returned the boy, who has cerebral palsy, was gone.Hasanni
is black, 3 feet tall, weighs 30 pounds and was last seen wearing a
gray sweat shirt and gray pants. He wears arches on his legs to help
him walk.

Volunteers searching for missing Fremont 5-year-old Hasanni Campbell reported
finding children's clothing in Oakland's Rockridge District today, less
than a mile from where his foster father had reported him missing last
month, authorities said.
A gray sweatshirt and a sock and a blanket were found at about 1:15 p.m.
at the end of Chabot Road, near the intersection of Highways 13 and 24,
authorities said.
The discovery has drawn Oakland police crime scene investigators and
Alameda County search dogs to the scene, which has been cordoned off by
yellow tape.
Hasanni was reportedly wearing a gray sweatshirt when his foster
father, Louis Ross, reported him missing Aug. 10. Ross said he last saw
the boy outside a shoe store on College Avenue in Oakland where his
fiancee and the boy's foster mother, Jennifer Campbell, works.
Oakland police arrested the Fremont couple Aug. 28 on suspicion of
being involved in what they believe is the killing of the boy, who has
cerebral palsy, but the Alameda County district attorney declined to
file charges. Ross and Campbell have said they are innocent.
The foster parents arrived at the scene this afternoon along with their legal adviser, Oakland attorney John Burris.
"We have no idea at this point if it's even connected to Hasanni,"
said Sherri-Lyn Miller, a San Leandro print-shop owner who has been
organizing regular searches for the boy.
"Because it is similar, it's gray, it does appear to be small, we
want to make sure - this is pretty close to the area where he was
missing - we want to make sure that we analyze it and confirm," Oakland
police Sgt. Arturo Bautista told reporters.
There is a $60,000 reward for information leading to Hasanni's
whereabouts. Anyone with information is asked to call Oakland police at
(510) 777-3211 or (510) 238-7934, or Crime Stoppers at (510) 777-8572.

The foster father of a 5-year-old boy missing for more than a month
says a sweat shirt found by volunteer searchers does not belong to the
boy.Louis Ross
told police that his foster son Hasanni Campbell was wearing a gray
sweat shirt when he went missing on Aug. 10. On Sunday the volunteers
found a similar shirt buried in the hills of Oakland. Ross saw the
shirt and told reporters and others at the scene it did not belong to
Hasanni.Police Sgt. Arturo Bautista says investigators were analyzing the shirt.

Ross and his fiancee Jennifer Campbell
- Hasanni's foster mother - were arrested last month on suspicion of
murder, but they were released after prosecutors said there was not
enough evidence to file charges. Detectives in the case have continued
to focus on the couple.

Community
members are planning to search Ardenwood Historic Farm on Saturday for
5-year-old Hasanni Campbell, the disabled Fremont boy who was reported
missing on Aug. 10. San Leandro print store owner Sherri
Miller, who has organized several searches for the boy, said volunteers
are needed at 8 a.m. Saturday at the park, which is at 34600 Ardenwood
Boulevard in Fremont. Volunteers should meet at the main entrance. The
boy, who has cerebral palsy, was reported missing by his foster father
Louis Ross, who said he last saw him standing in the rear driveway of a
store in Rockridge where his foster mother Jennifer Campbell works.Ross, 38, and Campbell, 30, are engaged and expecting a child in late November.Last
weekend, volunteers searched many areas in Oakland, turning up a
child's gray sweatshirt at the end of Chabot Road in the Oakland Hills,
about a mile from where Hasanni was last seen. Ross said the piece of
clothing does not belong to the boy, but it will be several weeks
before DNA tests being done on the item are completed. Police have said the sweatshirt does not appear to belong to Hasanni. In
Fremont, volunteers have searched Lake Elizabeth, Alameda Creek Trails,
the Quarry Lakes area, the Salt Flats and part of Coyote Hills. In
Oakland, volunteers have searched parts of the Rockridge district. Miller said organizers are planning an auction in October to raise money to cover search costs.
Miller said she's looking
for a venue that would hold 500 to 1,500 and items to be auctioned. To
help, call Miller at 510-276-9090.The boy is described as
light-skinned African-American, 3 feet tall, weighing 40 pounds. He
last was seen wearing a gray sweatshirt and gray pants. He wears braces
on his feet for his cerebral palsy.Anyone with information is
urged to call the Oakland Police Department 510-777-3211 or
510-238-7934 or Crime Stoppers at 510-777-8572. The reward for
information leading to the conviction of the person or people who
abducted Hasanni is $60,000. For more information, call Miller or
e-mail findhasanni@gmail.com.

The family of Hasanni Campbell will be privately commemorating his sixth birthday today, while volunteers are organizing another search for the missing Fremont boy on Saturday.

Hasanni's grandmother, Pamela Clark, said the family "is just in
seclusion" today.ad originally planned to hold an event for the boy,
but it was called off out of respect to the family.

However, Miller said that organizers will be searching Coyote Hills
Regional Park in Fremont starting at 8 a.m. Ssues, Miller said.

More than 75 people have already signed up to join the search,
according to Miller. She said 124 people joined the last search, which
took place near Lake Elizabeth in Fremont.

Hasanni, who suffers from cerebral palsy, was reported missing from the
parking lot of the Shuz of Rockridge shoe store in the 6000 block of
College Ave. about 4:15 p.m. on Aug. 10 by his stepfather, Louis Ross.

The boy's foster mother, Jennifer Campbell, works at the store. Ross, 38, and Campbell, 30, lived with Hasanni and another child, a 1-year-old girl, in Fremont.

On Aug. 28, Oakland police arrested Ross and Campbell and said they were treating the case as a homicide instead of a missing person case.

But the Alameda County District Attorney's Office announced several
days later that it wouldn't file charges against Ross and Campbell
because of insufficient evidence.

Oakland police have no new tips in the case, and police spokesman Jeff Thomason has said, "Don't stop looking for him."

Miller said people wishing to join the search can call (510) 276-9090 or send an e-mail to findhasanni@gmail.com.

Volunteers will also be at the Rockridge Street Festival on Sunday.

It's been nearly two months
since Hasanni Campbell, a 5-year-old Fremont boy with cerebral palsy,
was reported missing from behind a shoe store in Oakland's Rockridge
neighborhood. And in those two months, the attention the case
is getting has lessened significantly. The once-weekly vigils on Monday
nights have turned into once-a-month gatherings at the request of his
foster parents. An organized search for the boy hasn't been done since
the last weekend in September. And it's been 10 days since
Hasanni has been mentioned in the local news, said Sherri Miller, the
40-year-old San Leandro woman who has been heading the searches and
organizing the vigils. Earlier this week, Miller held a planning
meeting for a Nov. 1 fundraising dinner at a Livermore winery. The
turnout of volunteers was far lower than she expected.Still, Miller is pressing ahead. "We're
not giving up. The volunteers that are left still want to do things,"
Miller said. As for the searches, "We are now at a point where we don't
know where to look, so we just have to look everywhere." The
boy was reported missing Aug. 10 from the rear driveway of Shuz of
Rockridge, where his foster father, Louis Ross, 38, has said he left
the boy alone while he went to the front of the store to alert Jennifer
Campbell, the boy's 30-year-old foster mother and aunt, that he had
arrived to drop off Hasanni and the boy's 1-year-old sister.Hasanni has not been seen since, and police have no new leads. Ross
did not return phone calls for this story. While stories about Hasanni
appeared on television and in newspapers nearly daily after he went
missing, the coverage has since waned. Miller said people
come into her San Leandro print shop asking for updates on the boy.
They want to know any news on him, she said."They say, 'We haven't heard anything about him,'" she said.To
keep his name in the news and raise money for search efforts, Miller
and Courtney Tascoe-Burris are planning a fundraising dinner from 2 to
8 p.m. Nov. 1 at Garre Vineyard & Winery, 7986 Tesla Road,
Livermore. The winery donated the space, but the women need
people to decorate, set up the event space, park cars, serve, clean up
and collect tickets. Miller and Tascoe-Burris, daughter of Oakland
civil rights attorney John Burris, who has counseled the missing boy's
foster parents, also are seeking donations of food and silent auction
items. They also want vendors to come set up booths — at a cost — at
the event. "There is much to do in the next (three weeks). We are confident that we will be able to pull it off," Miller said.Invited
guests include Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, San Francisco Mayor Gavin
Newsom, Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums, Fremont Mayor Bob Wasserman, Oakland
and Fremont City Council members, and others. Miller hopes
people will buy $30 tickets for the event, which will include a dinner
of either roast beef, chicken or a vegetarian entree, garlic mashed
potatoes, vegetables and a glass of wine.There also will be
entertainment from Shot Gunn Haze, the Rabe Ups, and a couple of the
original members of Santana, Miller said. Marco Valley and Kelly Lynn
Flynn, soloist musicians, will play during dinner, Miller said. "We
don't want him to be forgotten," Miller said. "He's still out there
somewhere, and we need to find him and bring him home. It will be two
months on Saturday that he's been gone. (Children) don't just vanish
like that."

Organizers
raised about $1,000 at a fundraiser for Hasanni Campbell, the missing
Fremont 6-year-old who hasn't been seen in almost three months.Sherri
Miller organized a dinner, silent auction and entertainment Sunday at
the Garre Vineyard & Winery in Livermore. The winery donated the
space. The money will be used for future searches and possibly to hire a private investigator, she said. "It was a good turn out," she said, adding that there were about 120 people at the event. The
boy was reported missing Aug. 10 from the rear driveway of Shuz of
Rockridge, where his foster father, Louis Ross, 38, has said he left
the boy alone while he went to the front of the store to alert Jennifer
Campbell, the boy's 30-year-old foster mother and aunt, that he had
arrived to drop off Hasanni and the boy's 1-year-old sister. The girl
has been placed in protective custody and will not be returned to the
couple.Neither Ross nor Campbell, who is due to give birth to
her first child at the end of this month, attended the fundraiser, and
they have not been involved in the searches or vigils in recent weeks.
The boy's grandmother and an aunt were at the event Sunday, Miller
said. The couple were arrested on suspicion of murder in late
August, but they were released from custody a few days later when the
Alameda County District Attorney's Office declined to file charges
against them.Police have not discussed new leads in the case.Anyone
with information is urged to call the Oakland Police Department at
510-777-3211 or 510-238-7934 or Crime Stoppers at 510-777-8572. The
reward for information leading to the conviction of the person or
people who abducted Hasanni is $75,000.Supporters continue to
hold monthly vigils for the boy. The next one is 6 p.m. Nov. 10 at the
College Avenue Presbyterian Church, 5951 College Ave. in Oakland. For
more information, call Miller at 510-276-9090 or e-mail findhasanni@gmail.com.

Three months after Hasanni Campbell was reported missing from the
parking lot of an Oakland shoe store, the reward for him has been increased
to $75,000.
Hasanni, who has cerebral palsy, was reported missing by his
foster father, Louis Ross, from the parking lot of Shuz of Rockridge in the
600 block of College Avenue about 4:15 p.m. on Aug. 10.
Hasanni's foster mother, Jennifer Campbell, works at the store.
Ross, Jennifer Campbell, Hasanni and another child lived together in Fremont.
Hasanni was 5 years old at the time he was reported missing and his sixth
birthday was on Sept. 24.
Sherri-Lyn Miller, a San Leandro print shop owner who has been
organizing searches, vigils and fundraisers for Hasanni, said only four
people attended a candlelight vigil for Hasanni at the College Avenue
Presbyterian Church, near the site where he was reported missing, on Tuesday,
which marked the three-month anniversary of his disappearance.
However, 10 members of the news media were present, Miller said.
The reward for Hasanni had stood at $60,000 but Miller said
Alameda County Supervisor Gail Steele has gotten the city of Fremont to
contribute an additional $10,000 and Steve Winn Volkswagen in Newark added
$5,000.
Previously, Alameda and San Francisco counties contributed $25,000
each and Crime Stoppers offered $10,000.
Miller said a fundraising event in Livermore last weekend raised
another $1,000, which will help pay for some of the cost of searches for
Hasanni and for fliers.
Asked if she thinks there's still a chance Hasanni can be found
alive, Miller said, "All we can do is hope. We're not giving up. He's out
there somewhere and deserves to be found."
Miller said Ross and Jennifer Campbell weren't at the vigil on
Tuesday and haven't been involved in the search effort recently.
On Aug. 28, Oakland police arrested Ross and Campbell and said
they were treating the disappearance as a homicide instead of a missing
person case.
But the Alameda County District Attorney's office announced
several days later that it wouldn't file charges against Ross and Campbell
because of insufficient evidence.
Miller said the next vigil for Hasanni will be on Dec. 10, which
would mark four months since he was reported missing.
Anyone with information about Hasanni is urged to call the Oakland
Police Department at (510) 777-3211 or (510) 238-7934 or Crime Stoppers at
(510) 777-8572.
Miller said people who want more information or want to make a
contribution may visit www.hasannicampbell.com or send an email to
findhasanni@gmail.com.

Hasanni is still missing and there are no new clues or leads. We have raised funds to increase his reward which sits at $75,000. STILL NO LEADS. This little boy was last seen publicly on Video Surveillance on August 6, 2009 at a Wal Mart Store in Fremont, Ca. Hasanni was reported missing 4 days later in Oakland, CA. Citizens came together and we became dubbed the Hasanni Campbell Search Team. Still nothing, we continue to distribute flyers and we ask everyone to email us @ findhasanni@gmail.com and request a flyer. We will continue to update this blog as things develope. At this time Hasanni's Foster Parents are getting ready to deliver their first biological child.

citizensforthelost wrote:Hasanni is still missing and there are no new clues or leads. We have raised funds to increase his reward which sits at $75,000. STILL NO LEADS. This little boy was last seen publicly on Video Surveillance on August 6, 2009 at a Wal Mart Store in Fremont, Ca. Hasanni was reported missing 4 days later in Oakland, CA. Citizens came together and we became dubbed the Hasanni Campbell Search Team. Still nothing, we continue to distribute flyers and we ask everyone to email us @ findhasanni@gmail.com and request a flyer. We will continue to update this blog as things develope. At this time Hasanni's Foster Parents are getting ready to deliver their first biological child.

---Thank you C4TL for your update. This case is, like most of these, very troubling and I hope that we can all find Hassani safe, despite what LE has judged to be the outcome. We welcome your information!

Sherri-Lyn Miller
isn't certain but it might have been her own life-changing experience
that has led her to help others who are suffering greatly.
Miller
has been a force behind the organization of vigils, searches and
fundraisers for Hasanni Campbell, the disabled Fremont boy who went
missing in August. She was also the one who printed 10,000 fliers and
more than 350 T-shirts when Sandra Cantu disappeared from her Tracy
mobile home park in March. Hasanni remains missing. The little girl's
body was found in a suitcase in a Tracy pond.Miller has owned a
San Leandro print shop for the past two years but recently switched
gears, cofounding, with two other women, The Citizens for the Lost
Society, a nonprofit organization that provides resources for missing
children and adults."She totally has a heart for these kind of
things," said Celina Carleton, the secretary and co-founder of the
organization who met Miller at a vigil for Hasanni. Miller's life these days is a long way from what she was doing four years ago. In
2005, Miller was an Internet sales manager for a car dealership, a job
that earned her six figures annually, had her driving a company car and
dressing in power suits, she said. That was until she slipped on an
open ketchup packet and tumbled down 13 cement stairs at work, she
said. She broke her sacroiliac joint, at the bottom of the back and on either side of the spine, and went on
workman's compensation for two years and then disability because she
couldn't work full time, she said. "I can't sit or stand for too long,"
she said. "Some days, I can't even get out of bed."
Miller said she needed to earn a living but also required flexibility to deal with her medical condition. A
friend was making customized T-shirts and so Miller gave it a shot too,
opening All In One Stop, a San Leandro print shop which specializes in
R.I.P. T-shirts to memorialize people who have died violently, but also
printing business cards and letterhead. Her professional and personal lives have blurred in recent months. She
often becomes friends with the families and friends of young men and
women who have died violently, showing up with shirts and support at
their street memorials and funerals. And she donates fliers and
T-shirts for missing persons. "It just seems to come naturally
to me," said Miller, 40. "Somewhere I can relate to them. A loss is a
loss whether it's monetary, human or mental. When people go missing,
it's the same thing."Though the focus of the new nonprofit is on
searching for missing people, Miller said the group will also help
people who are homeless or suffering from any type of personal loss. "You don't have to be missing to be lost," she said. "There a lot of lost people out there walking the streets every day."When
I got hurt at work, I lost everything. Besides material things, I lost
my hobbies, my identity, my money." Miller said the organization will
provide clothing and food, counseling referrals and social service
resources to anyone who asks. "Human services," she added. The
nonprofit has a board of directors and bylaws, an annual meeting date
and plans to apply for tax exempt status within the next six months or
so. Miller is asking people this holiday season to drop off toys for
needy children at her shop at 15976 E. 14th St. in San Leandro. Courtney
Tascoe-Burris helped cofound the organization and sits on the board of
directors. Her father, civil rights attorney John Burris, was advising
Hasanni's foster parents, Louis Ross and Jennifer Campbell, when the
boy first went missing. Tascoe-Burris, 24, met Miller at the first vigil for the boy. "It was clear to me that she wanted to be proactive in getting something done, like myself," said Tascoe-Burris. Tascoe-Burris
said she has long had an interest in missing persons cases, especially
those that involve a child or adult of color. "Cases that have
struck me are missing people of color who are underrepresented in the
media. It's one of those things where you see the problem and wonder
how you can get involved. It's painful to watch. This presented an
opportunity to really try to give anything I could to keep Hasanni in
the news." Miller knows about keeping the face of a missing child in the news.When
she first saw Sandra Cantu's family on the evening news, she noticed
they didn't have T-shirts with the 8-year-old girl's picture on them."They were talking about her but no one had a visual of the girl," Miller said. Miller
quickly got involved, first donating two dozen T-shirts to the cause
and then connecting with family members and printing 350 T-shirts and
10,000 fliers free of cost to them, she said. "I spent a lot of
time with her father's people dropping off shirts and fliers — a lot of
back and forth between San Leandro and Tracy," she said.When
police found a suitcase containing Sandra's body, Miller said the
girl's uncle drove to her print shop to tell her the news in person.
"He didn't want me to see it on the news," she said. Then came
Aug. 10, the day Ross says he left Hasanni behind at a Rockridge shoe
store while he went to the front of the store to alert Campbell, who
worked there, that he had arrived. Ross says that when he returned the boy was gone. Oakland police say the boy was never there. Miller was one of the first to search for Hasanni the next day."I
thought, 'Here we go again,' and soon I was on the phone to the Oakland
Police Department and had a picture of their (missing person) flier
e-mailed to me," she said. She gave T-shirts to Ross and
Campbell, and stood stoically by them as reporters asked them questions
about the disappearance. The couple was subsequently arrested on
suspicion of murder but criminal charges were not filed and they were
released. Campbell, pregnant at the time, has since delivered her baby.
The couple has repeatedly not returned calls for comment and has not
been available for interviews for several months.Still, Miller
has persevered, leading searches, organizing vigils and putting
together a fundraising dinner last month that raised about $1,000 to
continue the search for Hasanni. Oakland police spokesman Officer Jeff
Thomason said police continue to investigate the case."He needs to be found," said Miller. "It's just that simple."

A group of 50 volunteers scoured the East Bay on Saturday, looking for
signs of Hasanni Campbell, the 6-year-old boy with cerebral palsy who
was last seen outside a shoe store in Oakland's Rockridge District on
Aug. 10.
All they got, according to two volunteers, was a cold rebuke from
Louis Ross, Hasanni's foster parent who was arrested in connection with
the case but later released.
Vanessa Pereda and her mother, Kari Johnson, said they were taping
posters in the Fremont neighborhood where Ross lives with his fiancee,
Jennifer Campbell, who was also arrested and released.
Neither Campbell nor Ross have been charged in relation to the boy's
disappearance and both said after their release that they are innocent.

Pereda and Johnson said that as they taped a poster to a parking
sign directly outside the couple's home, Ross appeared in the upstairs
window and shouted, "You guys need to stay out of my yard."
Pereda, who has volunteered for four search parties to find Hasanni, said she was caught off- guard by Ross' behavior.
"You'd think he'd be more helpful and supportive," she said. "We're trying to find Hasanni."
Johnson, who like her daughter was dressed in a bright yellow
"Search Team" T-shirt, added that she hopes Ross will notice all the
new posters that line the streets of his neighborhood.
"He may think people have forgotten," she said, "but we haven't."
No one answered the door at Ross and Campbell's home after the
alleged incident, and attorney John Burris, who has been advising Ross
and Campbell, did not return a phone call.
The alleged incident only highlighted the tension that has grown
between Hasanni's foster parents, who were the last people to see the
boy alive, and the cadre of volunteers and well-wishers who are anxious
to find the boy.
Sherri-Lyn Miller, a San Leandro resident, started the nonprofit
Citizens for the Lost, in the wake of her efforts to help find Hasanni.
The volunteer group organizes searches for missing persons and aims to
keep their cases visible in the media.
Miller said she befriended Jennifer Campbell in the days after
Hasanni's disappearance, and even gave Campbell a ride to pick up Ross
when he was released from jail.
"We're out here looking for their child; we'd like if they were here with us," Miller said.
She said she hasn't spoken to either parent since she dropped them off from jail.
Police and FBI agents with search dogs scoured Ross and Campbell's
Fremont home in late August after Oakland police arrested the couple.
Ross told police that the boy disappeared about 4:15 p.m. Aug. 10
from Ross' BMW, which was parked on a driveway on Harwood Avenue off
College Avenue in Oakland. The boy vanished when Ross walked around the
corner to Shuz of Rockridge, a shoe store on the 6000 block of College
where Campbell works, Ross told police.
The foster parent told police that he had been preparing to drop
Hasanni off and had gone to unlock a door to the store, authorities
said.
Hasanni's godmother, Regina Douglas of San Francisco, has said she
doubts that Ross and Campbell were responsible for the boy's
disappearance.
Investigators said they doubt Hasanni could have gone far if he left
the car by himself. He uses leg braces and has difficulty walking.
Hasanni is African American, with a light complexion, brown hair and
brown eyes. He is about 3 feet tall and weighs 30 pounds. He was last
seen wearing a gray sweatshirt and gray pants.

It has been more than four
months since Hasanni Campbell was reported missing. On Saturday, about
50 volunteers participated in the latest search for answers in the
disappearance of the Fremont boy."We all know what we don't want
to find," search coordinator Wayne Slack Sr. said. "We want to find
him. We want to find out what happened to Hasanni."Then, Slack added, "Let's be realistic, I don't think we're looking for a live child now."The
volunteers began at 8 a.m. searching sections of Highway 84 near DeVry
University and near the home in Coyote Hills where Hasanni, whose 6th
birthday was in September, lived with his foster parents and sister.
The search expanded to about 50 members throughout the day and branched
out to Berkeley, San Leandro and Hayward. The group also
distributed 10,000 fliers, some of them at the Walmart store on Osgood
Road, in Fremont, the last place the boy had been confirmed seen,
according to police."We may or may not find anything, but we
have to at least try," said Sherri-Lyn Miller, one of the search
organizers. "We got to look everywhere. I know we got 10,000 fliers and
by the end of the day people are going to see his face."Cate
Coelho, of Rodeo, volunteered to hand out fliers in front of the
Walmart, donning a red shirt with an image of Hasanni. Coelho said she
was disappointed by the lack of effort in searching for the boy."I'm trying to help in a search that I feel no onecares
about," Coelho said. "I think it's terrible and sad that a child could
be lost like this and nobody cares. It was in the news, then it just
disappeared. I just wanted to do something to help because I feel so
bad for this child."Hasanni, who has cerebral palsy, was
reported missing Aug. 10. His foster father, Louis Ross, 38, said the
boy vanished soon after he was temporarily left alone in the rear
driveway of a shoe store in Oakland's Rockridge neighborhood where his
aunt and foster mother worked. Ross and the aunt, Jennifer Campbell,
30, also cared for Hasanni's 1-year-old sister, who has since been
removed from the couple. Shortly after Hasanni went missing,
police briefly held the foster parents on suspicion of murder, but they
were released after criminal charges were not filed. They have been
unavailable for comment ever since. "They were involved in
everything we did up until their arrest," Miller said of the foster
parents' search for Hasanni. "We just wish they would cooperate, but
they don't so we have to do what we do to find him."Saturday was
the last search of the year for Hasanni. A vigil is planned for Jan. 10
at College Avenue United Presbyterian Church, in Oakland. Miller said
the group would continue to search for Hasanni until he is found."He's out there somewhere," she said. "He deserves to be found."

OAKLAND, Calif. -- There was a new
twist Monday night in the case of missing Fremont five-year- old
Hasanni Campbell who disappeared last August. His foster parents -- who
were once suspects in the case -- have moved away from the Bay Area.
There has been new police activity at their former home in Fremont.Campbell’s
foster father Louis Ross claimed he left the child outside a Rockridge
district shoe store where Hasanni's aunt and foster mother Jennifer
Campbell worked. He said that when he returned minutes later, Hasanni
was gone.But no one ever saw the boy in the busy neighborhood
and tracking dogs never found his scent. Now the couple, long under
suspicion in the boy’s disappearance, has apparently moved out of the
Bay Area.San Leandro businesswoman Sherri Miller has organized
vigils, searches, and fundraisers to try to find the missing boy. At
first, the events were with the participation of Campbell’s foster
parents. “Don't let him be a picture on a milk carton,” said Ross in an
interview last August not long after the boy disappeared.Almost
six months after that interview took place, the Fremont house Ross
rented with Jennifer Campbell stood vacant and for sale.
A neighbor who didn't want to be identified said the couple packed
up with their new two-month-old baby two weeks ago. “There was a lot
of stuff being thrown away,” said the neighbor. “There was a couple of
people who came to help with the move.”At about the same time, another
neighbor said she saw police come around and seize one of the couple's cars.
“I saw a cop and they had a tow truck,” said neighbor Joey Ann.
“They towed a BMW, I think. It was a white car.”Monday night,
Oakland police did not confirm any new turns in the case.Ross
was cooperative with authorities during the investigation until he and
Jennifer Campbell were arrested on suspicion of murder and jailed
briefly. Charges were never filed due to lack of evidence.“Once they
were arrested, they cut off contact with everybody,” said Sherri Miller.Miller
said in December, when volunteers tried to post missing flyers around
the couple's Fremont home, Ross told them to "get the hell out.
"Hearing the couple may be gone for good affirmed her worst fears about their motives.“If
you care anything about that child, you'd be doing everything in your
power; you'd be on every tv station you could, trying to find this
child unless you know there's no hope of finding him,” said Miller.
“Jennifer's had her baby. She's recovered. There's no reason for her
not to be looking for her nephew and trying to come up with some
answers.”Miller also voiced concerns about the couple’s newborn child.
“It makes me wonder about their new baby,” said Miller. “What kind of safety does she have?”The
last time Hasanni Campbell was seen publicly -- four days before he was
reported missing -- was captured on surveillance video as the little
boy walked in a Walmart store in Fremont with his foster parents and
two-year-old sister.Monday night, KTVU spoke by phone with
Hasanni's maternal grandmother. She said she did not know where the
couple is, or if they're still together.A rally is planned outside
Oakland Police headquarters on February 10th to show Hasanni Campbell has not been forgotten.

About a dozen people dropped everything Tuesday and started a new search for the missing Bay Area child.
Hassani Campbell, 5, hasn't been seen since August. His foster father reported him
missing after he said he left him for a short time in an unlocked car
while he went inside a shoe store in the Rockridge area of Oakland.
Sherri-Lynn Miller claims a well known psychic told her that Hassani Campbell is somewhere in Mt. Diablo Park.
The word from a psychic was enough for a group of dedicated people, most
who have never met the little boy, to stop what they were doing and hit
the road late Tuesday afternoon.
Oakland police say they are not taking part in the search. Miller and her search
party are only armed with flashlights Tuesday night and they say they
won't let darkness stop them.
Miller is the owner of a shirt shop in San Leandro
and has become the defacto leader of the dwindling group of people
hoping to find the boy. His relatives often don't even show up for
searches or memorials in his honor.
Miller said they will search an area off Marsh Creek road. She said the
psychic gave her a very specific location and surroundings where the
boy's body would be found. Miller said the pyschic called them out of
the blue with the tip.
Hassani's foster parents were initially arrested in the case, but Oakland police then released them.
The news media just learned Monday that the foster parents, Louis Ross and Jennifer Campbell, recently moved out of the Bay Area.

OAKLAND — Organizers are
gearing up for a rally Feb. 10 ¿at the Oakland Police Department to
mark six months since Hasanni Campbell went missing.The Fremont
boy was reported missing Aug. 10 from the rear driveway of Shuz, a
shoestore in Oakland's Rockridge neighborhood. His foster father, Louis
Ross, 38, told police he left the boy alone while he went to the front
of the store to alert Jennifer Campbell, the boy's 30-year-old foster
mother and aunt, that he had arrived to drop off Hasanni's 1-year-old
sister. The girl has been removed from the couple, who have not been
available for comment for several months.Sherri-Lyn Miller, who
has organized searches for the now-6-year-old boy for six months, said
the couple has split up after the birth of their baby girl in late
November. Miller has not had contact with them in many months — "which
is ridiculous, because they should be contacting the people who are out
looking for that child," Miller said.Last month, the couple
reportedly moved out of the Fremont home they rented, said Realtor Ritu
Khurana of KTSB Realty. The home is now for sale, Khurana said. Ross
reportedly has moved to Arizona. Pamela Clarke, Jennifer Campbell's
mother, said she does not know where her daughter is living or if the
couple is together.About two weeks after the boy was reported
missing, the couple were arrested on suspicion of murder. They were
jailed but later released when prosecutorsrefused to file charges against them.Two
akita dogs that were removed from the home when the couple were
arrested were euthanized in September after the couple failed to pick
them up and attempts to have the dogs adopted also failed, said Fremont
police Lt. Mark Riggs, who is tempoarily heading the Tri-City Animal
Shelter in Fremont.Organizers will rally at 6 p.m. Feb. 10 at
the Oakland Police Department, 455 7th St. Community and church members
will attend, and anyone who wants to participate may come to the
Citizens for the Lost offices at 15976 E. 14th St. in San Leandro
between noon and 6 p.m. Saturday to make signs, pick up fliers and
learn more about the event, Miller said. Call 510-315-2321 for more
information."This is not to bash the police," Miller said. "We
hope that they will be involved and come out and speak to the crowd and
let the public know that this little boy is not forgotten.
"Police are not commenting on the case, which they said remains under investigation.

Six months after 6-year-old Hasanni Campbell disappeared outside an
Oakland shoe store, volunteers are planning another rally since the
child's foster parents dropped their public campaign to find him.Hasanni,
who has cerebral palsy, was reported missing Aug. 10 by his foster
father, Louis Ross, who said he had briefly left the boy by his parked
car in the city's upscale Rockridge neighborhood, where Ross' former
fiancee, Jennifer Campbell, worked.Ross told police he went to
the store's front entrance to ask Campbell to open the back door, but
when he returned to the parking lot, the boy was gone.Police are now treating the case as a homicide.The
pair previously were arrested on suspicion of murder but then released
because prosecutors didn't have enough evidence to file charges.After
initially attending vigils and publicizing the search for Hasanni, Ross
and Campbell are no longer working with volunteers, said Sherri-Lyn
Miller, who is organizing a Feb. 10 rally for the boy in front of
Oakland police headquarters.Ross and Campbell split up after the
birth of their daughter in November and have moved out of the Fremont
home they shared, Miller said.It's unclear where Ross and
Campbell are living now. Ross could not be reached for comment
Wednesday and a call placed to Campbell's mother was not immediately
returned.Miller said she's stunned that Campbell, who is Hasanni's biological aunt, is not working more closely with volunteers."(Campbell) had a pass while she was pregnant, but an innocent person would help look for, not run from him," she said.Miller
also said volunteers passing out fliers about Hasanni near Ross' home
last month were disturbed when Ross cursed at them and ordered them out
of his neighborhood.Another volunteer, Celina Carleton, said she
hopes next week's rally will inspire more people to join the search for
the little boy."We haven't given up hope," Carleton said. "We are going to find Hasanni."

OAKLAND -- About 20 people
attended a candlelight vigil in front of the Oakland Police Department
on Wednesday night to mark six months since the disappearance of
Hasanni Campbell. The Fremont boy, now 6, was reported missing Aug.
10 from the rear driveway of Shuz, a shoe store in the Rockridge
neighborhood. The boy's foster father, Louis Ross, 38, told police he
left the boy alone while he went to the front of the store to alert the
boy's foster mother and aunt, Jennifer Campbell, 30, that he had
arrived to drop off Hasanni's 1-year-old sister. The girl is now in
protective custody.Wednesday night's rally was organized by The
Citizens for the Lost, a group cofounded by Sherri-Lyn Miller and
Courtney Tascoe-Burris. The group has held fundraisers, vigils and
searches since the boy went missing."It's really enlightening to
see you all here," said Tascoe-Burris, daughter of attorney John
Burris, who was advising the foster parents for a short time. "All of
us are here for a common purpose, because of a little boy lost."Police
have said they are investigating Hasanni's disappearance as a homicide.
In late August, police arrested Ross and Campbell on suspicion of
murder. The Alameda County District Attorney's Office later declined to
file criminal charges, and the two were released from jail.Neither
has been available for comment for several months. The couple has split
up, and Ross has moved out of state, authorities said. Campbell's
whereabouts are unknown, saidher mother, Pamela Clark, 62. Clark was at the vigil briefly Wednesday night.Police said the case remains under investigation. "We
have never stopped investigating it. With the level of evidence,
witness statements and canvasses, there's a massive level of
information that's coming in on this investigation," said Oakland
police spokesman Officer Jeff Thomason. "We're still pursuing this
case, and we're not going to stop pursuing it until there's closure."Anyone
with information about Hasanni's disappearance may call Oakland police
at 510-777-3211 or 510-238-7934, or Crime Stoppers at 510-777-8572.
There is a $75,000 reward for information leading to Hasanni's
whereabouts.

OAKLAND, Calif. -- A candlelight
vigil on Wednesday night marked the six months that have passed since
Hasanni Campbell was reported missing by his foster father.About
two dozen people gathered to sing songs about their determination to
find Hasanni. Though the group was small, it was passionate."There's a lot of unanswered questions," said Celina Carleton. "There's definitely a lot of frustration."Angry
but resolute, volunteers who participated in the search for the little
boy urged anyone with information to contact police.Courtney
Tascoe-Burris helped organize the vigil. "This is ground zero for the
investigation," said Tascoe-Burris. "This is where we're going to be
able to solve this case and bring Hasanni back home."Hasanni's foster parents have moved and did not attend the vigil.But organizers warmly greeted Hasanni's grandmother, Pamela Clark when she arrived."I think it's great to have people out here supporting my missing grandson," Clark said.Foster father Louis Ross reported Hasanni missing August 10th of last year.Ross
said he last saw the boy standing by Ross's BMW in the Rockridge
neighborhood where Hasanni's foster mother, who is also her aunt,
Jennifer Campbell worked.At the time of Hasanni's disappearance,
Campbell was pregnant and engaged to Ross. Three weeks later, police
arrested the couple on suspicion of homicide. They were released when
the district attorney's office declined to file charges due to
insufficient evidence.Oakland's new police chief met with Hasanni's grandmother and the volunteers."There
are some leads we're following up on," said Chief Anthony Batts. "We've
had conversations with the DA. and the DA has us looking at other
things. We will continue to further that investigation,"While
the chief declined to say whether the couple are still considered
suspects, a source has told KTVU the two remain the focus of the police
investigation. Others said Ross and Campbell have ended their
relationship.They said Ross has moved to Arizona and Campbell to Los Angeles with the couple's newborn daughter.Ramona
Tascoe asked police to make the Hasanni Campbell case a top priority.
"There is no child that should be left behind, particularly a foster
child," said Tascoe."Somebody knows something. Somebody saw
something," said Courtney Tascoe-Burris. Volunteers vow to continue
their search for Hasanni Campbell until they find an answer.

Missing Child Advocate Finds Pooch




A woman who has spent countless hours looking for a missing child she has never met found herself in need of help this week. And after three days of searching, she got it.

Sherri-Lynn Miller is a t-shirt designer by trade, but has become the top spokesperson for the dwindling group of people who are searching for 5-year-old Hassani Campbell, who has been missing for six months.

Miller's dog Snow, a six and a half pound bichon, disappeared Wednesday after getting out through a door that was accidentally left open.

A frantic Miller spent the second half of this week posting fliers with pictures of her doggie.


Someone finally contacted Miller late Friday or early Saturday and returned the dog. The girl said she recognized the dog from an earlier Web article.

Snow, a new mom, is now back where she belongs with Miller and with her litter of puppies.

This story happily has a happy ending.

A small group of people who
are still organizing searches and vigils for missing Hasanni Campbell
plan to hold a rummage sale today in Oakland's Rockridge neighborhood.Sale
offerings will include, artwork, antiques, televisions, clothes,
children's toys and household wares, said Sherri-Lyn Miller with the
Citizens for the Lost Society, or CFLS. The event will run 11 a.m. to 6
p.m. at College Avenue Presbyterian Church, 5951 College Ave., in
Oakland.Hasanni, who was born with cerebral palsy, was 5 when he
was reported missing Aug. 10 from the rear driveway of Shuz of
Rockridge, a shoe store on College Avenue. The Fremont boy's foster
father, Louis Ross, has said he left the child alone when he went to the
front of the store to alert Jennifer Campbell, the boy's foster mother
and aunt, that he had arrived to drop off Hasanni and the boy's
1-year-old sister. Hasanni has not been seen since. Since the
disappearance, many searches have been held in Oakland, Berkeley and
Fremont, and monthly vigils have been held on the 10th of each month.This
month, Miller said, supporters wanted to do something different to
raise money to continue the searches. The group also will hold a
barbecue and release 243 balloons — one for each day the boy has been
missing — at 4:15 p.m. Anyone who wants to sign a balloon may do so
between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. today, Miller said.Anyone who wants to
donate items to the sale must take them to the church before 9 a.m. today. Miller said
Hasanni's grandmother will be at the sale along with many community
supporters and longtime volunteers of the Hasanni Campbell Search Team
and CFLS, which recently qualified as a nonprofit organization.It
is not likely Ross or Campbell will be there. The pair were jailed on
suspicion of murder for a few days after the boy's disappearance but
were released when Alameda County prosecutors declined to file charges.
Neither has responded to repeated requests for comment during the past
five months. They are believed to have left the area.For more
information, call 510-315-2321 or go to www.citizensforthelost.com.

http://www.examiner.com/x-1168-Crime-Examiner~y2010m4d9-Hassani-Campbell-update-Fundraiser-to-be-held-Saturday-to-continue-search-for-missing-Oakland-boy


Hassani Campbell update: Fundraiser to be held Saturday to continue search for missing Oakland boy

Hassani Campbell update: Fundraiser to be held Saturday to continue search for missing Oakland boy

Hassani Campbell has been missing since Aug. 10, 2009 and his whereabouts are still unknown. An event will be held Saturday to help fund a new search for the Oakland boy.
Hassani’s foster father, Louis Ross claims to have left Hassani—then 5-years-old—standing outside his BMW for two to five minutes, as he went to open the front door of the shoe store where the boy’s aunt, Jennifer Campbell, worked. He said he did so to ask her to open the back door so Hassani, who suffers from cerebral palsy, could enter with ease.
During an interview with HLN’s Nancy Grace, Ross explained, "By the time I got there [to the car], 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."
To see photos regarding the case, click here.
In late August, both Ross and Hassani’s aunt were arrested on suspicion of murder, however, each was released shortly thereafter for lack of evidence. According to reports, they have since left the Oakland area.
The Citizens for the Lost Society will hold a rummage sale in Rockridge on Saturday, which will include art work, televisions, clothing, children’s toys, and other household goods. The event will take place from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the College Avenue Presbyterian Church at 5951 College Ave., in Oakland, according to the Oakland Tribune.

The organization that
continues the search for Hasanni Campbell will hold a child safety fair
Saturday to mark the 11 months he's been missing.Hasanni, who was
born with cerebral palsy, was 5 when he was reported missing Aug. 10
from the rear driveway of Shuz of Rockridge, a shoe store on College
Avenue. The Fremont boy's then-foster father, Louis Ross, told
police he left the child alone when he went to the front of the store to
alert Jennifer Campbell, the boy's aunt and then-foster mother, that he
had arrived to drop off Hasanni and the boy's 1-year-old sister.The
boy has not been seen since. The couple lost custody of the girl and
have not been seen or heard from in many months. It is believed they
have left the area.Citizens For The Lost, a nonprofit established
after Hasanni's disappearance, is teaming up with the East Bay Chevs
Car Club for a car show, safety fair and barbecue from 11 a.m.-6 p.m.
Saturday at the College Avenue Presbyterian Church, 5951 College Ave. All
proceeds will go toward the continuing search for Hasanni, organizer
Sherri-Lyn Miller said. "Don't we owe it to Hasanni to remember
him and involve the community to find a resolution in his case?" she
said. "Ultimately, we don't want to forget that this marks 11 months
since he's been gone. Not only are people coming out to learn child
safety but to remember that this boy is still is missing."Miller
said that if Hasanni is not found, the group will be back next month
to mark the anniversary at the Oakland police station, where they held a
candlelight vigil and rally earlier this year.Shortly after
the boy went missing, Ross and Campbell were jailed on suspicion of
murder for a few days. They were released when Alameda County
prosecutors declined to file charges.Since the disappearance,
many searches have been held in Oakland, Berkeley and Fremont, and
monthly vigils have been held on the 10th of each month.For more
you information on the event or about donating to the cause, contact The
CFL Society at 510-315-2321 or e-mail citizensforthelost@gmail.com.
The group's website is www.citizensforthelost.com.