HARRIS Children - San Antonio TX / Michigan

San Antonio
authorities have issued an Amber Alert for four missing children:
Briana Harris, 13; Nichelle Harris 9; Kenneth Harris 6; and Dante
Harris, 5. San Antonio authorities believe Alphonse
Harris took the four children yesterday without permission. He's the
father of Brianna and the grandfather of the other missing children.
Police believe the children are in grave danger. Police
say Alphonse Harris is driving a 1999 tan Dodge Caravan with Texas
license plate number 52P-GX5. They believe he is headed to his home in
Pontiac, Michigan. If you have any information, please contact San Antonio police or your local police agency
* * * *
Police in San Antonio, Tex. issued an Amber Alert Sunday for four
children who may have been abducted by a Michigan man heading back to
Pontiac.According to police, Alphonse Harris, 53, took his
daughter and three grandchildren without permission. Police said the
children are believed to be in grave danger.The man's daughter, Briana Harris, 13, and grandchildren Nichelle Harris, 9, Kenneth Harris, 6, and Dante Harris, 5 are missing.Alphonse Harris is believed to be driving a 1999 tan Dodge Caravan with Texas license plate 52PGX5.

* * * *


An Amber Alert has been issued for four children who, authorities believe, were taken by a noncustodial family member.
The alert was issued Sunday evening after the family of the children
told Bexar County Sheriff's Office investigators that 53-year-old
Alphonse Harris took his daughter and three grandchildren without
permission. Investigators said Harris also has a warrant for his arrest
on a family violence charge.
The missing children are his daughter Briana Harris, 13; and his
grandchildren Dantae Lamar Harris, 5, Kenneth Dominic Harris, 6, and
Nichelle Denise Harris, 9.
Harris drove here from Michigan because of the death of the
children's legal guardian, investigators said. The deceased was Briana
Harris' mother and the grandmother of the younger three children.
He is believed to be driving a tan 1999 Dodge Caravan with a Texas license plate No. 52PGX5.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Sheriff's Office 24-hour line at (210) 335-4630 or (210) 336-4603.

Although it is believed four Bexar County siblings
are still missing, Texas emergency officials have canceled the
statewide Amber Alert for the children.

The Bexar County Sheriff's Office Sunday initially issued an Amber Alert for the siblings from San Antonio.

Dantae, Briana, Nichelle and Kenneth Harris are believed to have been taken by their grandfather, Alphonse Harris.

Officials said they believe the children are no longer in Texas.Officials said it's likely they are traveling in a tan colored 1999
Dodge Caravan with Texas license plate 52P GX5, and they may be heading
to Michigan.

If you know anything about the whereabouts of the children or suspect, you're asked to call police at (210) 335-4630 or 911.

It's been a
tough weekend for the family of Alice Harris. The 49-year-old's loved
ones decided to take her off of life support Saturday following a
stroke earlier last week. The mother of two died. Then, less than 24
hours following her death her 13-year-old daughter and three
grandchildren were kidnapped by her ex-husband. There is
a multistate search for the four children and the Michigan man
authorities believe abducted them from their Bexar County home Sunday
afternoon. He's no stranger to the kids. In fact, investigators said
Alphonse Harris is father to the oldest of the kidnapped children and
grandfather to the other three. They think he's taking them back to his
home in Pontiac, Mich. Sunday night authorities issued an
Amber Alert for four children: 13-year-old Briana Harris, 9-year-old
Nichelle Harris, 6-year-old Kenneth Harris and 5-year-old Dante Harris.
According to Bexar County Deputies, he took them in his
former wife's van from her home in the 7200 block of Montgomery Sunday
afternoon. Investigators said he'd been alone with the kids following a
dispute with a 27-year-old daughter by his deceased wife. Family
members said he also stole belongings from the home too. Deputies said Harris is driving a 1999 tan Dodge Caravan with Texas
license plate number 5-2-P-G-X-5. They recieved reports he called his
mother while driving in Oklahoma City, OK sometime Sunday. She
reportedly advised him to return the children back to San Antonio. The children's family said Briana had been using Harris' cell phone to
send text messages about their whereabouts without her father's
knowledge. But, when Harris reportedly discovered the secret texts he
threatened his teen daughter. The family called this a
tremendously difficult time. They are praying for the safe return of
four children as well as mourning a loved one's death that's only a few
days old. If you have any information, please contact Bexar County deputies at (210) 335-4603.

Poster's Note: As of this writing there is a state Amber Alert in Texas for this case. Some articles have said that it was discontinued. That may or may not be the case...

A state-wide Amber Alert remains in effect for
four Bexar County children. Authorities are looking for a family member
who they believe took them and doesn't have legal custody.  

That person is Alphonse Harris. The 53-year-old man is from Michigan.
Authorities say he took four children -- his 13-year-old daughter
Briana and his three grandchildren, 9-year-old Nichelle, 6-year-old
Kenneth and 5-year-old Dantae.

Deputies say he drove here after the death of the children's legal guardian. It's believed he's headed back to Michigan.


A state-wide Amber Alert was issued for four Bexar County children.
Lakiesha Harris is the three younger children’s mom and says, “They
were gone when I woke up in the morning, they were not here...there's
no clothes that were packed, nothing.”
The oldest missing child, Briana, is Lakiesha's sister and she thinks she
could be in the most danger. Authorities agree saying Briana has been
contacting her family through text messages and her dad's cell phone.
Lakiesha says, “She said she's scared, she doesn't know where she is, [saying] ‘Please help me, I want to go home.’”
And the last time she called, she got caught.
Bexar County Deputy Ino Badillo says, “He's basically threatened to hurt her
if she continued to contact family so we're very concerned for her
safety and these three other children.”
The biggest concern at this point is Alphonse Harris' previous problems with his temper.
In addition to the Amber Alert, there is a family violence warrant out for
Alphonse Harris. He was last seen driving a tan 1999 Dodge Caravan with
Texas license plate 52P-GX5.  
If you have seen them, or have any information on their whereabouts, call 210-355-4630. It's a 24-hour
line operated by the sheriff's office.

Four missing children, the subject of a 10-state Amber Alert have been found safe. The Bexar County Sheriff’s Office says the man
believed to have taken them contacted it on Tuesday morning about
returning the children to San Antonio.

The sheriff’s office got in touch with the FBI
and the Pontiac, Michigan police. Alphonse Harris, the man accused of
the unauthorized removal of the children, was found sitting on his
front porch in Pontiac after earlier providing a fictitious address to
authorities.

According to police, he immediately turned himself
in without incident and the children were recovered inside the
residence and are in good condition.

Police say 53-year-old
Harris took the four children -- his 13-year-old daughter Briana and
his three grandchildren, 9-year-old Nichelle, 6-year-old Kenneth and
5-year-old Dantae on Sunday.

He drove here after the death of the children's legal guardian, deputies say.

There's new information on the four children abducted from here and found in Michigan.

A judge decided to keep the kids in Michigan with Child Protective
Services for now. And relatives in both states aren't happy about it
one bit.

Lakiesha Harris says she's thankful her three young
children and little sister are safe. But now all she wants is for the
kids to be sent from Michigan back home to San Antonio.

“Their school and everything they know is here, Lakiesha says. “And we
have enough family here in Texas to keep them stable here."

Lakiesha says she called police when her father Alphonse Harris came to
town to help with her mom's funeral over the weekend. She says Harris
kidnapped his 13-year-old daughter Briana and his grandchildren
Nichelle, Dantae and Kenneth after they got into a fight.
Police found Harris and the children Tuesday nearly 1500 miles away at his family's house in Pontiac, Michigan.

Relatives in Michigan are blaming Lakiesha for stirring up too much
trouble and launching what they called an unnecessary nationwide search
for the children. Now the children are in foster care. Lakiesha's late
mother was the legal guardian of her children.

This kidnapping
case is becoming a nasty custody battle between the children's
relatives in Michigan and Texas. Another hearing has been scheduled for
September. And Bexar County deputies are making arrangements to bring
Alphonse Harris back for kidnapping and assault charges.

The four children who were kidnapped by a
relative and driven to Michigan last month returned to San Antonio this
week, relatives said.
“They really don't understand all of what happened yet,” Denise
Thomas, an aunt who has been granted temporary custody of the kids,
told reporters Thursday.
Authorities said 53-year-old Alphonse Harris abducted his young
daughter and three grandchildren from a Northeast Side home after their
legal guardian — Alice Harris, who was his ex-wife — died on Aug. 16.
He allegedly stole the woman's van and drove the children to
Pontiac, Mich., without alerting authorities or the guardian's
relatives. The three youngest children — Lamar Harris, 5; Kenneth
Dominic Harris, 6; and Nichelle Denise Harris, 9 — were unaware that
their grandfather was kidnapping them, relatives said.
But, they said, his 13-year-old daughter, Briana Harris, understood
the magnitude of the situation, so she grabbed his cell phone when he
was not looking and sent a text message to her aunt, Thomas, to let her
know she was scared that he was driving them out of San Antonio.
The message triggered an Amber Alert.
“I wasn't scared at all,” Briana told reporters Thursday.
On Aug. 18, two days after the kidnapping, police in Pontiac
arrested Alphonse Harris. Harris was taken to the Oakland County Jail
on three counts of kidnapping and two counts of assault bodily
injury-family.
The family's peace was shaken last week, when authorities here
learned that the suspect was released from jail because there had been
a snag in issuing a warrant.
“Someone really dropped the ball for that to happen,” said Ben
Wallis, an attorney for the children's guardian, Thomas, the sister of
their deceased grandmother.
After Bexar County prosecutors rushed warrants over to Michigan, the
suspect was rearrested. He is being held in jail pending extradition to
Texas. Authorities also are investigating whether foul play was
involved in the death of Alice Harris.
It appeared that she died of natural causes, but relatives found it
suspicious that she passed away while her ex-husband — whom she had
filed protective orders against — was inside.
“It looks suspicious, but we're ultimately waiting for autopsy
results,” said Deputy Ino Badillo, a spokesman for the Bexar County
Sheriff's Office.
Thomas enrolled the kids in school this week. While the younger
children do not understand what happened, they still seem troubled by
the ordeal, Thomas said.
“As a family, we're still grieving, (but) we are going to move forward,” she said.

A wanted man was arrested in San Antonio on Wednesday night and is
free on bond Thursday after he allegedly kidnapped his daughter and
three grandchildren in August, officials said.
Alphonse Harris, 53, was released around 12:15 a.m. Thursday, when
he posted bail on $31,000 bond. He faces three counts of kidnapping and
two counts of assault, officials said.
The children were returned to San Antonio in September and currently are staying with an aunt, officials said.
Authorities said Harris, who is from Pontiac, Mich., abducted the
kids after his ex-wife and the children's legal guardian, Alice Harris,
died on Aug. 16. He drove the children to Pontiac without alerting
authorities or the guardian's relatives. Text messages sent from his
daughter to an aunt triggered an Amber Alert.
Two days after the alert, Harris was arrested at a home in Pontiac, where the children were found unharmed.