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momof6moderator
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Jun-11-03, 03:38 PM (EST)
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"Christian Ferguson"
 
   Amber Alert
Issued Wednesday June 11.

Christian Ferguson

9 yrs., 4', 75 lbs, black male with light complexion with a short afro hairstyle.

Christian is severely mentally challenged and may be dressed only in a diaper and wrapped in a multicolored blanket.

He is on a special diet and requires medication twice a day or he may slip into a coma.

He was in his parents car in St. Louis MO US at about 6:30 AM on Wed. June 11 when it was stolen. The vehicle has been recovered but Christian is still missing.

Anyone with information is asked to call the St. Louis PD at 314-231-1212 or dial 911.



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Justice_seekermoderator
unregistered user
Jun-13-03, 03:02 PM (EST)
 
1. "Alert Called For Disabled Boy"
In response to message #0
 
  


Alert is called for missing disabled boy

By Bill Bryan Post-Dispatch

updated: 06/11/2003 11:27 PM



Police are searching for Christian Ferguson, 9.
(Handout/P-D)

Police raced against time Wednesday night to find a profoundly disabled 9-year-old boy whose father reported him kidnapped and whose chance of survival more than a day without medication is considered slim.

Publicly, officers called a St. Louis Area Regional Abduction Alert, the St. Louis region's equivalent of an Amber Alert. And they repeated the details they were told about a carjacker who drove away with Christian Ferguson in his father's SUV.

Privately, detectives questioned family members, too, and said they were considering all possibilities.

The father, Dawan Ferguson, 30, of Pine Lawn, called police about 6 a.m. Wednesday to say someone had driven off in his maroon 1999 Ford Expedition after he got out to place a call at a pay phone at Skinker and Page boulevards in St. Louis.

He said Christian, wearing a diaper and wrapped in a red and blue blanket, was still inside.

There was no sign of the child when police recovered the SUV about two hours later where Ronbar Lane dead-ends at railroad tracks in the city of Ferguson, about 5 miles away. Officers searched with dogs but found no sign of the boy.

Christian is described as a light-complexioned African-American with a short Afro haircut. He is about 4 feet tall and weighs about 75 pounds.

A nurse who had managed Christian's needs for about two years told a reporter that he would have been unable to let himself out of the vehicle or to communicate. She said he can walk, but very unsteadily.

The child suffers from a rare disorder that prevents him from digesting protein, and requires continuing medication and feeding through a tube in his abdomen. His former nurse said he was deeply impaired physically and mentally, and she warned that feeding him meat could put him into a fatal coma.

A source close to the case described the condition as argininosuccinate synthetase deficiency. He said the boy was in a "very brittle medical condition" and added, "If they don't find him within 24 to 26 hours, he won't be alive."

Experts say most children who develop the condition as newborns die quickly, although those who survive can be sustained for some time.

Ferguson told officers he was driving Christian to a hospital for treatment when he stopped at a pay phone to call a doctor. Investigators said they did not understand why he would do that when he had a cell phone with him.

He left police headquarters about noon, after asking for a lawyer. Police sources said he had refused to take a polygraph test.

Police said they have no suspect and did not describe Ferguson as a suspect. Officers said he works as a bounty hunter, tracking fugitives for bail bondsmen. He has legal custody of Christian and a second son, Connor, 8.

Ferguson could not be reached for comment.

Police said a woman who lives with Ferguson told them he had left the house with the boy about 4 a.m. Detectives said Ferguson did not account for the period from then until 6 a.m.

Theda Thomas, the boy's mother, said she was frantic to find her son: "He needs his medication, and he needs his food - if he doesn't get it, he's going to die." She called him "a loving and great child."

Thomas, who lives in St. John with her mother, works at Midwest Library Service and is studying elementary education.

She said Christian suffered a seizure the day after he was born and went into a coma. Doctors diagnosed his condition and were able to give him a relatively normal first few years. With successive seizures, his condition worsened.

In 2001, he was in a coma for several weeks and suffered serious brain trauma, losing his ability to speak, she said.

When the parents separated in 1994, Ferguson got custody of Christian and Conner.

Ever since, Thomas said, she has fought to get the boys back. She said she and Ferguson were in court as recently as Monday.

Margie Binion, a licensed practical nurse with Maxim Health Care, said she had tended to Christian for about two years until January, when his government subsidy for home care was cut.

Ferguson and his children live in a one-story brick bungalow with white awnings along a street in Pine Lawn where children ride bicycles and play on the sidewalks. Nobody was home Wednesday afternoon and evening.

Details of the troubles between Ferguson and Thomas are sealed in juvenile records of the St. Louis Circuit Court. But their allegations of abusive conduct against each other have spilled into suits that Ferguson filed.

In January 2001, Ferguson claimed in a suit that Thomas had been "verbally abusive" with staff and threatened a doctor while Christian was being treated at Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital.

Judge Thomas Frawley then ordered Thomas to keep away from the children except for specific visiting times.

Thomas later wrote to the hospital, court records show, saying Ferguson had "lied" that she was out of control and claiming he was unfit because he failed to respond properly after once discovering Christian unconscious.

Stephen Pollihan, the acting St. Louis police chief while Joe Mokwa is out of town, said police were moving as swiftly as possible since "time is of the essence." Pollihan acknowledged a delay in issuing a public appeal for help, at 10:30 a.m.

Heather Ratcliffe, Jeremy Kohler and Peter Shinkle of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this report.

Reporter Bill Bryan:
E-mail: bbryan@post-dispatch.com
Phone: 314-340-8950

Copyright © 2003 St. Louis Post-Dispatch L.L.C. All rights reserved.


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Justice_seekermoderator
unregistered user
Jun-13-03, 03:05 PM (EST)
 
2. "Investigators Hired In Search For Boy"
In response to message #1
 
  


Investigators hired in search for missing boy

By Bill Bryan and Jeremy Kohler Post-Dispatch

updated: 06/13/2003 12:16 PM



Cassandra Lee(left, red) John Lee(Left,blue, nephew),10, Robert Lee(center,grey) 13, Joan Lee(right,plaid, mother) and Marcus Smith(red,glasses,friend) listen as participants of the vigil offer kind words and prayer for the family.
(DAWN MAJORS/P-D)
A lawyer for the father of a missing disabled boy said today that investigators had been hired to help find the child.

John Rogers, a lawyer for Dawan Fergsuon, said in a press conference Friday morning that he has hired investigators to follow up on the "few leads" available in the disappearance of Christian Ferguson, 9. He declined to discuss details.

Rogers said he is in continual touch with Ferguson. Asked why Ferguson was not present, Rogers said he did not want his client subjected to the kind of questions reporters would ask.

On Thursday, volunteers joined police in an increasingly grim rush to locate the boy, who disappeared the morning before and desperately needs daily medication to survive.

"It's doubtful that he's still alive," St. Louis Police Capt. Harry Hegger said as the day dragged on without news. Hegger heads the investigation into Dawan Ferguson's report that someone drove off with his parked SUV about 6 a.m. Wednesday with his son Christian in it.

Searchers who hunted in vain last fall for the missing Shawn Hornbeck in Washington County, Mo., set up a command post near Christian's mother's home in St. John. They used dogs to hunt for the boy in Ferguson, where the empty SUV was recovered about 8 a.m. Wednesday.

Many of the helpers paused for a prayer vigil Thursday evening at Page and Skinker boulevards, where Ferguson said someone drove off while he was out of the vehicle to use a pay phone.

Searchers were hampered by having no idea where to look. Police had checked the area in Ferguson without success immediately after the SUV turned up. Officers continued the hunt Thursday from two helicopters.

Christian is ill with a rare disorder called argininosuccinate synthetase deficiency, which inhibits his ability to process protein. It has long since robbed him of the ability to communicate or take care of himself.

In Pine Lawn, police searched at least two vacant, boarded-up houses on Sylvan Place, near where Dawan Ferguson lives with his partner Monica Broomfield. Dawan Ferguson, 30, has custody of Christian and a brother, although their mother, Theda Thomas, said she had been trying to take them back.

Alexsis Johnson, 14, who lives on Ronbar Lane in Ferguson, where the SUV was found, told a reporter she saw it parked there between 6 and 6:10 a.m. Wednesday, about the same time Dawan Ferguson said it was being stolen about five miles away.

Johnson said she's sure of the time because she and her mother leave on schedule each morning to take her mother's boyfriend to work.

Detectives are not calling Dawan Ferguson a suspect in the disappearance, but police sources said he declined to take a polygraph and cut short interviews Wednesday after asking for a lawyer.

Police said he had inconsistencies in his story about driving the boy to the hospital. For example, investigators said they could not understand why he would stop to use a pay phone when he was carrying a cell phone.

About 100 friends of the family paused in their search for Christian for a prayer vigil Thursday night at Page and Skinker.

Christian's maternal grandparents, Theodore and Sandra Wilson, said they have not met with the boy's father since Christian's disappearance. Theodore Wilson also said he doubted Ferguson's account of what happened.

"I don't understand why in the world he would stop to make a call when he has a cell phone," Theodore Wilson said after the vigil.

Sandra Wilson added, "We want him to come and talk to us face-to-face and tell us what happened."

Among the people who gathered to comfort the Wilsons was Angela Williamson, whose daughter, Cassandra "Casey" Williamson was abducted and murdered in Valley Park last year.

The Wilsons said volunteers will be needed for today's search beginning at 8:30 a.m. at the Marvin Park United Methodist Church, 9355 St. Charles Rock Road in St. John.

Christian's family set up two funds to receive financial help.

Donations to help pay the costs of searching can be made to Christian T. Ferguson Special Fund, Union Planters Bank, 10449 St. Charles Rock Road, St. Louis, Mo., 63114 or by calling 314-426-6900.

The family has collected $1,000 toward a reward for information leading to the safe return of Christian. Further donations to the fund can be made to the Christian Reward Fund, Bank of America, 944 St. Charles Rock Road, St. Louis, Mo. 63114 or by calling 314-284-1106.

Donald E. Franklin of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this report.

Reporter Bill Bryan:
E-mail: bbryan@post-dispatch.com
Phone: 314-340-8950


Reporter Jeremy Kohler:
E-mail: jkohler@post-dispatch.com
Phone: 314-241-9435


Copyright © 2003 St. Louis Post-Dispatch L.L.C. All rights reserved


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Justice_seekermoderator
unregistered user
Jun-13-03, 03:09 PM (EST)
 
3. "Vigils Held For Missing Pine Lawn Boy"
In response to message #2
 
  

Vigils Held For Missing Pine Lawn Child

6/13/2003 10:04:50 AM


Related Video
56 k / 120 k

(KSDK) -- It's been nearly 48 hours since anyone has seen nine year old Christian Ferguson, but still his family is not giving up hope. Friday morning family members will organize a search for Christian in Pine Lawn.


Christian Ferguson. He is 9 years old.
Christian was last seen in the 6100 block of Page Wednesday morning. Friends and family are now putting up posters with Christian's picture, hoping some one will recognize him. Thursday evening, friends, family and strangers held two separate prayer vigils to support the through prayers and money.

At one of the prayer vigils, in Pine Lawn, participants inflated heart-shaped balloons, and marched down Sylvan Street to the home where Christian lived with his father. Then they sent the helium-filled balloons skyward.

Search Description • Christian is "severely disabled."
• He is a black male.
• Short cropped Afro style hair.
• Medium complexion.
• Wearing a Pampers brand diaper.
• Wrapped in a blue blanket, possibly with red trim.
• Born September 9, 1993.


The other prayer vigil was located at Page and Skinker, where Christian disappeared after the car he was sleeping in disappeared Wednesday morning.

Christian's father, Dawan Ferguson, told police he got out of the car, to use a pay phone, when somebody jumped in and drove off.

At the Page and Skinker prayer vigil, participants joined in singing church songs. they hoped "this little light of mine," would point search and rescue teams in the right direction.

Reward Donation Information Donations toward a reward fund for safe return of Christian Ferguson should be sent to:

Bank of America
C/O "Searching for Christian Reward Fund"
8944 St. Charles Rock Road
St. Louis, MO 63114
Place Account # 003479939699 on your check



A reward fund has been established to prompt information about what happened to Christian Ferguson. The so-far $1,100 fund has been set-up by the Knights of Peter Claver, a Catholic organization, and by Dynasty Tours. Organizer Vincent Wallace, sr., says the reward is contingent upon Christian’s safe return.

Joining the search for Christian are volunteers from the Shawn Hornbeck foundation. They have set up a command center at Marvin Park United Methodist Church, at the intersection of Woodson and St. Charles Rock Road in St. John.

Along with people, the Hornbeck group brought in dogs, specially trained to find human scents. the goal: go over areas previously covered by the police.

The Hornbeck Foundation will get the volunteer system up and running. then turn it over to local volunteers. Shawn Hornbeck is the Richwoods, Missouri boy who vanished last year while riding his bike.

If you know anything about Christian’s whereabouts, you're asked to call St. Louis police at 314-444-5327.


http://www.ksdk.com


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Justice_seekermoderator
unregistered user
Jun-13-03, 03:11 PM (EST)
 
4. "Search Dogs; Hornbeck Foundation Helping"
In response to message #3
 
  


June 13, 2003


SEARCH DOGS; HORNBECK FOUNDATION HELPING

Volunteers are being asked to come help in the search for a severely disabled nine-year-old boy. Christian Ferguson has not been seen since Wednesday morning. Search dogs spent Thursday afternoon looking for any sign of Christian. Search Volunteer Bill Weldon said, "We reason things out in our minds. We search rhyme and reason. A dog just follows his nose." Volunteers with the Shawn Hornbeck Foundation (Shawn Hornbeck disappeared from Richwoods, Missouri last October) followed those dogs noses through the Ferguson neighborhood where the allegedly stolen SUV was abandonded, and tagging along was Christian's stepdad, Victor Thomas. He said, "We apprecitate the rescue teams helping. We're going to continue for however many days it takes, no matter how many months it takes, were not going to give up until we find Christian. The dogs simply look for a scent. Those at the other end of the leash in cases like these have to be prepared to find a boy or a body." While searchers and Christian's mother remains hopeful, her family have questions for Christian's father, who's 911 call sparked a S.A.R.A.A. alert and a metrowide search. When asked if Christian's Grandmother Sandra Wilson believed him, she said, "No. When he comes and talks to me, maybe I'll believe him." While dozens of volunteers search for Christian, police--including homicide detectives--search for any clues to the little boy's whereabouts. As detectives follow all leads, Victor Thomas will keep looking for a boy he's learned to love as his own. "When Christian became ill, he wasn't the same Christian we know, but as far as loving, that will never change." Investigators told the Post-Dispatch they were trying to figure out why Christian's father stopped to use a pay phone Wednesday morning, since he had a cell phone with him.


www.fox2ktvi.com/


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Justice_seekermoderator
unregistered user
Jun-13-03, 03:13 PM (EST)
 
5. "Search Continues For Disabled Boy, 9"
In response to message #4
 
  


Friday, June 13, 2003


Search continues for missing disabled boy, 9


ST. LOUIS (AP) -- A mother pleaded Thursday for public help in finding her profoundly disabled 9-year-old son, worried that the boy reported snatched in a carjacking a day earlier may be in a race-against-the-clock need of his medications.




Christian Ferguson

Volunteers aided by a dog joined in the frantic search for Christian Ferguson, reported by his father to have been abducted shortly after 6 a.m. Wednesday by someone who sped away in the man's sport utility vehicle with the boy in the backseat.

Police, who interviewed Christian's parents and stepmother later Wednesday but said only they were cooperating, refused to discuss the case Thursday, beyond that the physically and developmentally disabled boy remained missing.

"I'm not going to reveal what we're doing," police Sgt. Robert Davis said.

In the meantime, Christian's mother publicly appealed for all to help in finding her son.

"I feel like I'm doing everything I can by talking to the media because that's the only way I have to put the word out," Theda Thomas said. "I want help from anybody, anywhere. I don't care who you are or what you look like. I just need your help."

Thomas pressed that time was of the essence, given the family's voiced concerns that Christian -- said to suffer from a rare protein-digestion disorder -- might not survive more than a day without his required medication.

"I'm worried about the time," Thomas said, fearing that the 4-foot, 75-pound boy, without proper drugs, eventually could "go to sleep and never wake up."

"All I can do is stay here and wait for answers," she said outside her home in St. John, a St. Louis suburb where fliers with Christian's picture and description were plastered on cars throughout the family's neighborhood.

Christian's father, Dawan Ferguson, told police he was driving his son to hospital treatment when the parent stepped away briefly from his 1999 Ford Expedition to use a pay telephone, leaving Christian in the back seat and the keys in the ignition.

A stranger then jumped into the vehicle and sped away, the man said.

The SUV turned up abandoned about two hours later and five miles away in the St. Louis suburb of Ferguson, with no sign of Christian -- said to be last wearing only a diaper and wrapped in a multicolored blanket.

Investigators told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch they were trying to sort out why Dawan Ferguson used the pay telephone when he told the newspaper he had a cell phone with him.

Hours into the search, police Lt. Col. Stephen Pollihan said "this isn't your normal abduction," explaining that the boy's medical condition made it paramount that he be found quickly.

Police called the St. Louis area's equivalent of an Amber Alert about two hours after Dawan Ferguson reported the carjacking. Pollihan said the department was reviewing why there was a delay before police got the word out about Christian's disappearance.

After Dawan Ferguson and Thomas separated in 1994, Ferguson got custody of Christian and the boy's 8-year-old brother, Connor.

Thomas said she still fought for her children and appeared in court as recently as Monday.

"I can't get into a lot of detail about what was said in there," she said Thursday. "But the judge, he had no reasons that I could understand for not allowing me to see my kids."

In January 2001, Ferguson claimed in a lawsuit that Thomas had been verbally abusive with staff and threatened a doctor while Christian was being treated at a hospital. A judge ordered Thomas to keep away from her children, except for specific visiting times.

According to court records, Thomas later told the hospital in writing that Ferguson "lied" that she was out of control. Thomas claimed then that Ferguson was unfit because he failed to respond properly after once discovering Christian unconscious.

© Copyright 2002 News Tribune Co. All rights reserved.


©Copyright 2002 Associated Press. All rights reserved.


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Justice_seekermoderator
Charter Member
Aug-05-03, 09:03 PM (EST)
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6. "Police Think Ferguson Is Dead"
In response to message #5
 
  


Police Think Christian Ferguson is Dead

AP/KWMU



Christian Ferguson


ST. LOUIS, MO (2003-08-05)


St. Louis police say there's no evidence that a 9-year old boy is still alive, eight weeks after he went missing.

They've given up hope that they'll find Christian Ferguson alive; he's severely disabled and needs daily medication.

The Post-Dispatch reports police have raised questions about the information that has come from the boy's father, Dawan Ferguson. The father told police someone stole his SUV with Christian inside, after he got out to use a pay phone.

publicbroadcasting.net/kwmu/news.newsmain?action=article&ARTICLE_ID=530083


© Copyright 2003, KWMU



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Brie
unregistered user
Aug-22-03, 09:32 AM (EST)
 
7. "A Lost Child Launched"
In response to message #6
 
   The Shawn Hornbeck Foundation is happy to announch the launch of www.alostchild.com, which contains a searchable missing childrens data base. We currently only have children listed for Missouri and Illinois, but we're working feveriously to add all the other states. Please, stop by and if you have any suggestions for the site, or notice any descrpencies leave a message on the board.


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starfish
unregistered user
Aug-23-03, 10:06 AM (EST)
 
8. "UPDATE"
In response to message #6
 
   Not looking good for Christian Ferguson's father. Investigators found that Christian's medications were last purchased (a 30-day supply) in early February. Siblings saw father carrying Christian to the SUV at 4am. Digging tools found at the home.

Full story:
http://www.ksdk.com/news/news_article_lc.asp?storyid=45806


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LadyBugmoderator
Member since Dec-6-03
151 posts
Oct-06-03, 09:23 PM (EST)
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9. "Christian"
In response to message #8
 
   Posted by:
Diane unregistered user
Oct-06-03, 02:58 PM (EST)

"Christian"

I was just now reading the last post about. I hate to think that his father had anything to do with the disappearance of this truly unique gift from GOD. I can't imagine how someone can do this to their own child.



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brie
unregistered user
Oct-06-03, 10:38 PM (EST)
 
10. "Birthday Vigil"
In response to message #9
 
   The family and searchers for Christian Ferguson will be holding a candle light vigil instead of celebrating his birthday this Thursday, Oct. 9th, 2003.

For more information please contact:
The Christian Ferguson Search Command Center
Marvin Park United Methodist Church
9355 St. Charles Rock Road
St. John, MO 63114
877 204-7283


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brie
unregistered user
Jul-29-04, 04:14 PM (EST)
 
11. "Investigative report"
In response to message #10
 
   I hope this url works for everyone.
http://www.ksdk.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=64410

Also Christian's website just got an over haul. We're still trying to get all the news stories linked to the site.
http://www.alostchild.com/christianferguson/


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Brenda Miller
unregistered user
Feb-10-06, 12:41 PM (EST)
 
12. "RE: UPDATE"
In response to message #8
 
   Im so curious, where was Christian's brother on the day the father alledges that little Christian was in the suv that was stolen. Was the other child at the fathers home or elsewhere. PLEASE respond.


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CSS
unregistered user
Mar-22-06, 04:51 PM (EST)
 
13. "RE: UPDATE"
In response to message #12
 
   He was at his fathers home.


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