JONATHAN FOSTER - 12 yo - (2010) Houston TX

Authorities search for missing 12-year-old Houston boy



Authorities search for missing 12-year-old Houston boy

Posted on December 27, 2010 at 12:53 PM
Updated
today at 2:56 PM

HOUSTON – Authorities are looking for a missing 12-year-old Houston boy who was last seen in the afternoon of Christmas Eve.
Houston police say Jonathan Foster was last spotted near North Shepherd and 43rd on December 24 at around 1:45 p.m.
Authorities said Foster was at a babysitter’s house and left to go
retrieve some video games from his nearby apartment. He disappeared some
point after that.
Foster has a visible overbite and was last known to be wearing a
tan-colored t-shirt with musical notes and a guitar printed on it. He
was also wearing blue jeans and black and white tennis shoes.
More details surrounding his disappearance were not immediately available.
Anyone with information on Foster’s whereabouts is asked to contact the Houston Police Department at (713) 731-5223.
Why haven't we heard about this missing child until now? Nobody missed him Christmas Day? He's only 12.

http://www.khou.com/home/Authorities-search-for-missing-12-year-old-Houston-boy-112505914.html

just now on Nancy Grace, this is the first I have seen this. Amber Alert is being issued now according to the show!

http://texasequusearch.org/2010/12/amber-alert-missing-jonathan-foster-12-yrs-houston-tx-122410/

AMBER ALERT — Missing: Jonathan Foster, 12 Yrs., Houston, TX, 12/24/10

Posted on 27. Dec, 2010 by smckinney in Active Cases, Featured Articles, Missing Persons

12/27/10 — The search for 12-year old Jonathan Foster will continue on Tuesday, December 28, 2010 at 8:30 a.m. The Command Center is located at the Garden Oaks Baptist Church, 3206 North Shepherd, Houston, TX 77018. We will need foot searchers and ATVs — please bring enough food to sustain you throughout the day. Your Search Coordinator is Frank Black, and his cell number is (713) 301-6813.

Click links below to see news coverage of this story.
Click links below to see news coverage of this story.

http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=news/local&id=7866784

http://www.khou.com/news/local/Authorities-search-for-missing-12-year-old-Houston-boy-112505914.html

http://www.click2houston.com/news/26291558/detail.html

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7355330.html

12/27/10 — We have an immediate search starting for Jonathan Foster. The Command Center is located at the Garden Oaks Baptist Church, 3206 North Shepherd, Houston, TX 77018. We will need foot searchers and ATVs. Your Search Coordinator is Frank Black, and his cell number is (713) 301-6813.

12/26/10 — Jonathan Foster, age 12, was last seen in the area of N. Shepherd & 43rd on December 24, 2010 @ about 1:45 p.m. Jonathan has a very visible overbite. He was last known to be wearing a tan colored t-shirt with musical notes and a guitar printed on it. He was also wearing blue jeans and black & white tennis shoes with a red stripe. If you have seen Jonathan, have information … or know of his whereabouts, please contact the Houston Police Department @ (713) 731-5223 – or Texas EquuSearch @ (281) 309-9500.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7355330.html

Houston authorities looking for boy, 12
By LINDSAY WISE
Copyright 2010 HOUSTON CHRONICLE
Dec. 27, 2010, 3:42PM

Houston Police this evening issued an Amber Alert for a 12-year-old boy who disappeared on Christmas Eve.

Jonathan Foster was last seen about 1:45 p.m. Friday at the Villa Nueva Apartments, in the 800 block of Oak. He lives there with his mother and stepfather.

The boy, who has a visible overbite, was wearing blue jeans, white sneakers with a red stripe, a tan T-shirt with a guitar printed on it, and zip-up gray hoodie-type jacket. Details about how and when Jonathan went missing were not immediately available.

Jonathan has red or auburn hair and blue eyes. He is 4 feet 8 inches to 5 feet tall and weighs about 100 pounds.

He may be in the company of an adult female with a raspy voice.

The circumstances of Jonathan’s disappearance are under investigation, said Sgt. Stuart Harris of HPD’s Missing Persons Unit.

"We’re still trying to get down to exactly what happened and hopefully find him pretty quick," Harris said.

"I don’t know if it’s an abduction," the sergeant said. "I don’t know if he just walked off. I don’t know if there’s foul play involved. We have no reason to think he’s a runaway. …He’s missing under suspicious circumstances, which is always a major concern for us."

Texas EquuSearch on Monday issued a call for volunteers to aid in an immediate search of the area where Jonathan went missing, both on foot and in all-terrain vehicles.

Anyone who has seen Jonathan or knows his whereabouts should call HPD at 713-731-5223 or Texas EquuSearch at 281-309-9500.

http://blogs.houstonpress.com/hairballs/2010/12/jonathan_foster_12_have_you_se.php

Jonathan Foster, 12: Have You Seen Him?
By Richard Connelly, Mon., Dec. 27 2010 @ 6:28PM

Texas Equusearch is looking hard for a 12-year-old boy who went missing from North Shepherd and 43rd Street Christmas Eve.

No one seems too sure about wha't's happened to Jonathan Foster, but he went missing, his mom received a mysterious phone call at work, and nothing else has been heard.

An HPD officer told the Houston Chronicle, "I don't know if it's an abduction. I don't know if he just walked off. I don't know if there's foul play involved. We have no reason to think he's a runaway. ... He's missing under suspicious circumstances which is always a major concern for us."

Authorities are asking anyone who sees the boy, or has any clues to where he might be, to call all HPD at 713-731-5223 or Texas EquuSearch at 281-309-9500.

A statewide Amber Alert has been issued for a 12 year old boy who disappeared on Christmas Eve from Houston, Texas.
Jonathan Foster was last seen around 1:45 p.m. on Friday 12/24/2010
at the Villa Nueva Apartments. He resides there with his mother and
stepfather.
The boy has a visible overbite, was wearing blue jeans, white
sneakers with a red stripe, a tan T-shirt with a guitar printed on it,
and zip-up gray hoodie-type jacket.
Jonathan has red or auburn hair and blue eyes. He is about 4 feet 8 inches tall and weighs around a 100 pounds.
He may be in the company of an adult female with a raspy voice.
If you have any information about this alert, please contact the Houston Police Department at 713-308-3600.

I don't like the sound of this with players involved such as a "babysitter" and a "stepfather". I truly hope he's ok

kiwimom wrote:I don't like the sound of this with players involved such as a "babysitter" and a "stepfather". I truly hope he's ok

---The NG report on HLN with Jean Caseras also mentioned that the mother and step-dad were being interviewed separately and that there were too many conflicting stories that they were having a tough time with the time-line of events.

TomTerrific0420 wrote:

kiwimom wrote:I don't like the sound of this with players involved such as a "babysitter" and a "stepfather". I truly hope he's ok

---The NG report on HLN with Jean Caseras also mentioned that the mother and step-dad were being interviewed separately and that there were too many conflicting stories that they were having a tough time with the time-line of events.

That's not good Tom. Did they say why they didn't notify him missing straight away? Or did they, and the media is behind on this one due to Christmas?

Johnathan Foster just celebrated his 12th birthday in November. He was
last seen Friday at 1:45 p.m. near North Shepherd and 43rd in northwest
Houston.

Police believe someone abducted him from the neighborhood.

Johnathan is between 4 feet 8 inches and 5 feet tall and weighs 100 pounds. He has short red hair and a visable overbite.

He was last seen wearing blue jeans, a tan shirt with a picture of a
guitar, white sneakers with a red stripe and a zip-up grey hooded
jacket.

Police said he may be in the company of an adult female with a raspy voice.

Texas Equusearch volunteers were looking for the boy Monday evening.

Anyone with information is urged to call the Houston Police Department at (713) 308-3600.

http://www.39online.com/news/local/kiah-amber-alert-foster-story,0,3658934.story

Oh no. The picture's getting worse.

HOUSTON—The search for a missing 12-year-old Houston boy grew more
desperate Monday afternoon as volunteers combed the woods near train
tracks in a northwest Houston neighborhood.
An Amber Alert was issued Monday evening for Jonathon Foster, who vanished from his Garden Oaks home sometime on Christmas Eve.
"Please hold on, because we’re doing the best to find you," said Mary Gifford, the missing boy’s grandmother.
Foster was last seen by his stepfather around 1:45 p.m. Friday.　A few
minutes later, his mother received a mysterious phone call at work.
"Someone called and said it was an emergency," said Gifford. "But by the time she picked up the phone, no one was there."
Volunteers from Texas Equusearch searched through the woods Monday near the railroad tracks at T.C. Jester and 43^{rd Street.}
Foster suffers from Attention Deficit Disorder and, according to his grandmother, gets easily confused.
"That’s why we want him home safe," she said.
Volunteers planned to search until dusk Monday evening and were expected to resume Tuesday morning.
http://www.kens5.com/news/Search-for-missing-12-year-old-Houston-boy-grows-more-desperate-112535719.html

kiwimom wrote:

TomTerrific0420 wrote:

kiwimom wrote:I don't like the sound of this with players involved such as a "babysitter" and a "stepfather". I truly hope he's ok

---The NG report on HLN with Jean Caseras also mentioned that the mother and step-dad were being interviewed separately and that there were too many conflicting stories that they were having a tough time with the time-line of events.

That's not good Tom. Did they say why they didn't notify him missing straight away? Or did they, and the media is behind on this one due to Christmas?

---This time I think we can pin the fault on LE. He was reported missing when Mom got home (or so it has been reported). The LE reportedly held off, thinking he was a runaway. THIS CAN BE A DEADLY ERROR.
I think it should be paramount to presume the worst case scenario. Especially when a young boy was so eager for Santa's arrival and to rip open the gifts under the tree.

Houston homicide investigators Monday night were questioning witnesses in the disappearance of a 12-year-old boy last seen on Christmas eve.

Earlier in the day, police issued an Amber Alert for Jonathan Foster,
who was last seen at a north Houston apartment complex Friday afternoon.
Jonathan lived at the Villa Nueva Apartments, in the 800 block of Oak, near Shepherd and 43rd.

The boy's mother told police she last saw him at about 1:45 p.m. She reported him missing
at about 9:30 p.m., said Sgt. Stuart Harris of HPD's Missing Persons Unit.

The boy lives with his mother and stepfather at the complex. His father and other relatives
live within walking distance and he would often spend time at their homes, Harris said.

Relatives were cooperative with missing person's investigators, said Harris,
who added that Child Protective Services has no history of the boy.

Crime scene investigators took a computer, the sergeant said, to rule out whether
the boy may have fallen prey to an online predator.

Jonathan, who has a visible overbite, was wearing blue jeans,
white sneakers with a red stripe, a tan T-shirt with a guitar printed
on it and zip-up gray hoodie-type jacket. Details about how he went
missing were not available.

Jonathan has red or auburn hair and blue eyes. He is 4 feet 8 inches to 5 feet tall and weighs about 100 pounds.

He may be in the company of an adult female with a raspy voice, Houston police said in the Amber Alert.

Under investigation
The circumstances of Jonathan's disappearance are under investigation, said Harris

"We're still trying to get down to exactly what happened and hopefully find him pretty quick," Harris said.

"I don't know if it's an abduction," the sergeant said. "I don't know if he just walked
off. I don't know if there's foul play involved. We have no reason to
think he's a runaway. … He's missing under suspicious circumstances,
which is always a major concern for us."

Texas EquuSearch on Monday issued a call for volunteers to aid in a search of the area
where Jonathan went missing. The search is expected to resume this morning.

Anyone who has seen Jonathan or knows his whereabouts should call HPD at 713-731-5223
or Texas EquuSearch at 281-309-9500.

He may be in the company of an adult female with a raspy voice

---This may be a description of the voice on the phone that called the Mom at work about the "emergency".

Search resumes for missing 12-year-old Houston boy

HOUSTON—Volunteers from Texas Equusearch resumed their search Tuesday morning for Jonathon Foster, the 12-year-old Houston boy who went missing from his Garden Oaks home on Christmas Eve.

read more

http://www.khou.com/home/Authorities-search-for-missing-12-year-old-Houston-boy-112505914.html

Jonathan's uncle is posting in the comments

FBI Joins Search For Missing Boy



HOUSTON -- Houston police and the FBI are searching for any sign of a 12-year-old boy who has been missing since Christmas Eve.

An Amber Alert was issued for Jonathan Foster on Monday.


Jonathan was last seen at his family's home at the Villanueva Apartments in the 800 block of Oak Street at about 1:45 p.m. on Friday.


Police said that he might be in the company of an adult woman with a raspy voice.


The FBI has joined in the search. They're checking in with every registered sex offender in the area.


Jonathan's mother said he was home alone while she was at work.



read more



http://www.click2houston.com/news/26298521/detail.html

HPD: Missing 12-Year-Old Likely Kidnapped


snipped......

Texas EquuSearch volunteers are searching the area for any sign of Jonathan. They had about double the volunteers Tuesday as they did on Monday.
"Today we're getting a little bit more aggressive than we were yesterday," Texas EquuSearch founder Tim Miller said. "Yesterday was an investigative day with law enforcement. Investigators got several calls during the night with some possible leads, some possible areas. We got calls at our office. We met with homicide this morning. They gave us the areas they wanted us to search."

Miller said searchers will concentrate on nine sections of the neighborhood.

Jonathan is white with a fair complexion, 4 feet 7 inches tall and 85 pounds with sandy blond hair and a very visible overbite.

He was last seen wearing a tan T-shirt with musical notes and a guitar printed on it, blue jeans and black and white tennis shoes with a red stripe.

Anyone with information about Jonathan's whereabouts is asked to call Houston police at 713-7308-3600 or Texas EquuSearch at 281-309-9500.

http://www.click2houston.com/news/26298521/detail.html

Parents Questioned Over 12-Year-Old's Disappearance




HOUSTON - The investigation into the disappearance of a 12-year-old boy is intensifying. Both of his parents were taken in for questioning on Tuesday and their car was towed by police.
A 1990's model tan colored Mercedes Benz was towed away by the Houston Police Department just after noon Tuesday. It was towed from the home where Jonathan Foster lives with his mother and step father.
The young boy disappeared Christmas Eve from his mother's north Houston apartment.
The missing boy's parents were also driven away by HPD detectives in separate units just after the Mercedes was towed.
There was no indication the parents were taken into custody.
At a press conference Tuesday afternoon, police said a child's burned body found in northeast Harris County could not be confirmed to be the child because it was too badly burned.
When asked why it took three days for an Amber Alert to be issued in the case, police said it was because they didn't feel they were getting the full story behind the child's disappearance.
Meanwhile, volunteers from Texas Equusearch appear to be in standby mode until they hear word from detectives on the case.
Foster weighs about 100 pounds, red hair, has an overbite, and was last seen wearing a tan colored shirt and blue jeans.

http://www.myfoxhouston.com/dpp/news/local/101227-parents-questioned-over-12-year-olds-disappearance

Police unsure if body found in ditch is missing boy
Dec. 28, 2010, 3:14PM

Houston police say the search continues for a missing 12-year-old boy last seen on Christmas Eve as officials work to identify a small child whose badly burned body was discovered early this morning in northeast Houston.

Police say a passerby discovered the body at 9:28 a.m. near a culvert in the 1500 block of Schilder near East Hardy Toll Road.

HPD investigator Leslie Martinez said the child was about 3 feet tall. Police believe the body was burned elsewhere and dumped there. The body was found at the end of a shallow ditch along the roadway between two large buildings. There were no signs of fire around the ditch.

Officials say the body was so badly burned they can’t determine the child’s gender. The discovery sparked speculation that it was Jonathan Foster, who was last seen at a north Houston apartment complex Friday afternoon. Jonathan, a fifth-grader at Durham Elementary in HISD, lived at the Villa Nueva Apartments, in the 800 block of Oak, near Shepherd and 43rd.

Police issued an Amber Alert for Jonathan late Monday. The boy’s mother told police she last saw him at about 1:45 p.m. She reported him missing at about 9:30 p.m., said Sgt. Stuart Harris of HPD’s Missing Persons Unit.

The boy lives with his mother and stepfather at the complex. Other relatives live within walking distance and he would often spend time at their homes, Harris said.

HPD spokesman Kese Smith today said police cannot say if the two cases are connected until the medical examiner’s office identifies the body. Until an identification is made, Smith said police will continue searching for Jonathan.

"They are pursuing every lead they have," Smith said about investigators.

Jonathon’s grandmother, Mary Gifford, said today that she’s confident the boy will be reunited with his family.

"I believe he’s out there, I believe he’ll be found," she said. "Whoever has got him, let him go."

Asked what she would like to say to the child, Gifford replied, "Little fellow, I love you, hang in there, don’t give up, we’re looking for you."

Gifford, clutching a stuffed animal that she said belonged to her grandson, then got into a police vehicle that drove away.

Equusearch founder Tim Miller said this afternoon that volunteers are going back out today to look for areas that might have been burned.

Jonathan, who has a visible overbite, was wearing blue jeans, white sneakers with a red stripe, a tan T-shirt with a guitar printed on it and zip-up gray hoodie-type jacket. Details about how he went missing were not available.

Jonathan has red or auburn hair and blue eyes. He is 4 feet 8 inches to 5 feet tall and weighs about 100 pounds.

Anyone who has seen Jonathan or knows his whereabouts should call HPD at 713-731-5223 or Texas EquuSearch at 281-309-9500.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7356276.html

Child’s Body Found Burned in Houston – Missing Jonathan Foster

The Houston police say they got a call about a burned body in the 9900 block of East Hardy Road at about 9:30 a.m. today.
Investigators have determined it is the body of a small child. They
believe the body was burned somewhere else and then dumped near a storm
sewer pipe on East Hardy Road.
The person’s identity and the cause of their death has not been released at this time.
They have not disclosed if it could be Jonathan Foster, the 12 year
old boy for which an Amber Alert is currently in effect for in Texas.
The parents of Jonathan Foster are being questioned by police today and police have also impounded the couple’s car.
Foul play is suspected.
Jonathan Foster went missing on Dec. 24th, Christmas eve. A Missing
Child Alert was issued which was later upgraded to an Amber Alert.
Anyone with information is asked to call the HPD Homicide Division at 713-308-3600 or Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS.http://radioamber.net/?p=3758

Initial reports from the scene indicated that the burned body was about 1 foot shorter than Jonathan.
We have no other reports of children of this size missing in the Houston area.

Investigators waited three days to issue an Amber Alert following the
disappearance of a 12-year-old boy because of conflicting stories from
the boy’s parents, police said Tuesday.

"Until we were able to narrow down and confirm that an abduction had
taken place, we couldn't issue one," said Kese Smith, an HPD spokesman.

Jonathan Foster was last seen by his stepfather around 1:45 p.m. Friday,
police said. His mother reported him missing around 9:30 that night.

It’s unclear why it took so long for his parents to alert the
authorities, but police still waited until Monday afternoon to issue the
alert.

According to Smith, police must follow certain criteria – or there’s a
danger that too many Amber Alerts may be issued and the public might
ignore them.

The criteria include the following: the missing child must be 17 years
old or younger. Investigators must believe the child has been abducted
and that he or she is in "immediate danger." They must also conduct a
thorough investigation to eliminate other possible reasons for the
disappearance. Finally, they must have a “sufficient description” of the
child, the suspect, or the vehicle used in the abduction.

The founder of Texas Equusearch, Tim Miller, said an Amber Alert issued
sooner than Monday would not have been as effective because there was no
concrete information for the public to watch out for.

Miller said HPD does not deserve any criticism for its handling of the
case, but he did suggest a lack of resources and the time of year may
have played a role in the delay.

"We're the fourth-largest city in the nation,” Miller said.
“Unfortunately, it was on a holiday weekend. (The) Missing Persons
(Unit) has nine investigators to look up 500-plus people they get calls
on every single month."

That explanation is small consolation to some members of the boy’s family.

"He should've had an Amber Alert issued immediately on Friday when it
was reported,” said Karen Elliott, the boy’s great aunt. “He's a kid,
he's out there on his own. The longer you wait, the harder it's going to
be."

Volunteers continued their search Tuesday of the woods near the railroad tracks at T.C. Jester and 43rd in northwest Houston.

News that an unidentified child’s burned body had been found Tuesday in a
north Houston ditch fueled speculation that it may be Fosters’, but
police would not confirm the two scenes were connected.

Relatives still hope Foster will be found alive.

“I'm holding up as best I can,” said Homer O'Fallin, the boy’s stepgrandfather. “But I just want my grandson back.”

Houston police are investigating the death of a child whose badly burned body was found
Tuesday morning in a shallow ditch near a busy Houston toll road.
Houston police investigator Leslie Martinez said a
passerby discovered the body Tuesday morning along a roadway between
two large buildings near the Hardy Toll Road.
Martinez said the child was about 3 feet tall.
(Poster's Note: Jonathan was reportedly closer to five feet tall)
Police believe the youngster’s body was burned
elsewhere and then dumped in the ditch because there was no burned grass
or other signs of fire in the area where the remains were found.
Officials say they couldn't immediately determine the child's age or gender.
Arson investigators were at the scene Tuesday.
Police say no link has been established between
the discovery of the burned body and the Christmas Eve disappearance of
12-year-old Jonathan Foster, for whom a statewide Amber Alert has been issued.
"We cannot say that the two cases are connected," said Houston PD spokesman Kese Smith.

Houston police are
investigating the death of a child whose badly burned body was found
Tuesday morning in a shallow ditch near a busy Houston toll road.
Houston police investigator Leslie Martinez said a
passerby discovered the body Tuesday morning along a roadway between
two large buildings near the Hardy Toll Road.
Martinez said the child was about 3 feet tall.
Police believe the youngster’s body was burned
elsewhere and then dumped in the ditch because there was no burned grass
or other signs of fire in the area where the remains were found.
Officials say they couldn't immediately determine the child's age or gender.
Arson investigators were at the scene Tuesday.
Police say no link has been established between
the discovery of the burned body and the Christmas Eve disappearance of
12-year-old Jonathan Foster, for whom a statewide Amber Alert has been issued.
"We cannot say that the two cases are connected," said Houston PD spokesman Kese Smith.

The investigation into the disappearance of a 12-year-old boy is
intensifying. Both of his parents were taken in for questioning on
Tuesday and their car was towed by police. A 1990's model tan
colored Mercedes Benz was towed away by the Houston Police Department
just after noon Tuesday. It was towed from the home where Jonathan
Foster lives with his mother and step father. The young boy
disappeared Christmas Eve from his mother's north Houston apartment. His
mother says when she last called the house an unknown woman with a
raspy voice picked up the phone then hung up. The missing boy's parents were driven away by HPD detectives in separate units just after the Mercedes was towed. There was no indication the parents were taken into custody. At
a press conference Tuesday afternoon, police said a child's burned body
found in northeast Harris County could not be confirmed to be the child
because it was too badly burned. "There's no identification so we're not sure if the two cases are connected," Kese Smith with HPD said. That
leaves the family of the missing 12-year-old with hope that he will be
found alive. Mary Gifford is Jonathan's maternal grandmother. "I believe he is out there. Let him come home please," Mary Gifford, Jonathan’s maternal grandmother, said. When
asked why it took three days for an Amber Alert to be issued in the
case, police said it was because they didn't feel they were getting the
full story behind the child's disappearance. Meanwhile, volunteers from Texas Equusearch appear to be in standby mode until they hear word from detectives on the case. Foster weighs about 100 pounds, red hair, has an overbite, and was last seen wearing a tan colored shirt and blue jeans. Anyone with information is asked to call Houston Police Homicide at 713-308-3600.