Maryland kin keep vigil for boy<P><BR> 2-year-old's disappearance stuns family members; some fear<BR> the worst<P> By Joe Cantlupe <BR> COPLEY NEWS SERVICE <P> April 29, 2002 <P><BR> FREDERICK, Md. – There is anguish, worry and disbelief on Hope Circle.<P> This is where 2-year-old Jahi Turner lived until recently, and his<BR> disappearance 3,000 miles away in San Diego has several residents –<BR> including the boy's extended family – talking.<P> "This is very shocking. We can't make sense of what has happened," said<BR> the boy's great-grandmother, Sylvia Naylor. "What we are trying to do is<BR> find answers and pray."<P> Jahi's biological father, Tramane Sampson, 24, said he last saw Jahi a few<BR> days before the boy was taken by his mother and stepfather to the West<BR> Coast. He fears the worst.<P> "Anything can happen so close to the border," he said.<P> Jahi has been missing since Thursday afternoon. The boy's stepfather,<BR> Tieray Jones, told police he left the toddler for about 15 minutes at a<BR> Balboa Park playground while Jones went to get a soda. When he<BR> returned, Jahi was gone.<P> Jahi's mother, Tameka Jones, is a sailor and was at sea aboard the<BR> amphibious ship Rushmore at the time. She has since returned to San<BR> Diego.<P> Sampson, 24, said he broke up with Jahi's mother while she was pregnant<BR> and acknowledged that they don't get along. He has told police he knows<BR> nothing about Jahi's whereabouts, and police say he is not a suspect in the<BR> abduction.<P> Sampson said he wants to come to San Diego to search for his son, "but I<BR> can't afford it."<P> Last night, as a steady rain fell, family and residents held a candlelight vigil<BR> in the cul-de-sac not far from where Jahi had lived with his grandparents.<BR> Some of Jahi's relatives in Maryland don't get along, but all have been<BR> praying for the safe return of their kin.<P> Until a few weeks ago, Jahi had been staying with Penny Thompson, the<BR> boy's maternal grandmother. She has declined to talk to reporters, but<BR> police officers who have spoken to her say she's deeply worried about her<BR> grandson's well-being.<P> She's not the only one living in the neighborhood of apartments and town<BR> houses who is concerned. A neighbor of the Thompsons had a small note<BR> strung on the doorknob:<P> "Jahi, we are praying for your safe return," it read.<P> About 150 yards away, in another Hope Circle town house, Jahi's paternal<BR> grandmother, Dina Naylor, said her grandson is all she thinks about. Like<BR> Sampson, she fears the worst.<P> "Sometimes I think the baby was given away to somebody. Sometimes I<BR> think somebody just took him," Naylor said.<P> The last time she saw Jahi was a few days before he was flown to San<BR> Diego. They played catch together most of that afternoon, she said.<P> "I keep thinking, 'What is he doing? Is he crying? What is he doing?' "<P> In their last conversation, Jahi's mother assured Naylor that Jahi was fine.<P> "She said, 'I can go to work at the base, and keep Jahi in day care, and then<BR> pick him up,' " Naylor said. <P> The family of Tieray Jones could not be reached yesterday. He grew up in<BR> nearby Montgomery County and then moved to Frederick in his teens. He<BR> attended a vocational school, and held odd jobs before he moved to<BR> California, neighbors said.<P> The Frederick County Sheriff's Office said Jones is wanted on two separate<BR> warrants for missing court appearances on misdemeanor marijuana<BR> possession charges, but police in San Diego say he is not a suspect in<BR> Jahi's disappearance.<P> Jahi lives with his mother and stepfather in a Navy housing complex on<BR> Beech Street, about a mile from the Balboa Park playground where Jahi was<BR> last seen.