Foster Parents Say Clothing Found Not Hasanni's

Noway

Foster parents say sweatshirt not Hasanni's

September 13, 2009

By Alan Wang

OAKLAND, CA (KGO) -- Volunteer search teams thought they had found some important clues Sunday in the case of missing Hasanni Campbell after they discovered a sweatshirt, sock and piece of a blanket on a hillside at the end of Chabot Road.

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The items were found a little more than one mile from the spot where Hasanni Campbell was reported missing 34 days ago. Police taped the area off as a potential crime scene.

Hasanni's foster parents arrived at the scene around 5:30 p.m. and quickly determined that the articles of clothing did not belong to the missing 5-year-old. Louis Ross and Jennifer Campbell said with confidence that the gray sweatshirt was the wrong brand. They said the sock and part of a blanket found were also not his.

Around 1 p.m. Oakland crime scene technicians were called in and the sweatshirt was photographed and tagged. On the day Hasanni went missing his foster father said he was wearing a gray sweatshirt and pants, and that is why the items got so much attention Sunday.

The sheriff's canine was given a whiff of the clothing and it took off in search of a scent, but it did not find one. Alameda County search and rescue dogs are also helping cover a nearby hillside by Highway 24 and Highway 13.

Hasanni disappeared about on August 10th and volunteers said the sweatshirt looked like it had been at the scene for about one month. The group of 50 volunteer searchers started the day planning to cover three areas, the Tamescal Regional Recreation Area, the Claremont Canyon Reserve and the area near Chabot Park.

After Oakland police investigators declared the case a homicide, the police stopped searching for Hasanni. But, local volunteers have continued looking and say they will continue even after Sunday's events.

Louis Ross and Jennifer Campbell were arrested on suspicion of murder, but they were released because investigators could not find enough evidence to charge them. On Sunday their attorney John Burris explained that their relationship with the police and media has become very guarded since their release, which is why the couple made very few comments Sunday.

http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/local/east_bay&id=7012945

Lavanda Dolce · ADMINISTRATOR/SITE CREATOR Joined: 09 Mar 2008 Posts: 4237

Ok, so my question is...aren't they suspects? So do you think they would admit if they were responsible?

RE:
nvestigators are trying to determine whether a sweatshirt that volunteer searchers found Sunday is that of a missing California boy with cerebral palsy, Oakland police said.
Hasanni Campbell was last seen August 10 outside a shoe store in Oakland, California, his foster parents say.

Hasanni Campbell was last seen August 10 outside a shoe store in Oakland, California, his foster parents say.

Volunteers looking for 5-year-old Hasanni Campbell found a small gray sweatshirt partially buried Sunday afternoon off a cul-de-sac near an Oakland neighborhood where his foster parents reported he had disappeared last month, CNN affiliate KTVU reported, citing Oakland police.

Hasanni was said to have been wearing a gray sweatshirt on August 10, the day his foster father reported him missing, CNN affiliate KGO reported.

"Because [the sweatshirt found Sunday] is similar, it's gray, it does appear to be small ... and 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 at the discovery site Sunday. Video Watch searchers pray after finding shirt »

Hasanni's foster parents, Louis Ross and Jennifer Campbell, told police Hasanni disappeared while Ross was dropping him off at a shoe store where Campbell worked.

Less than a month later, Oakland police said they were treating the disappearance as a homicide, and arrested Ross and Campbell -- who also is Hasanni's biological aunt -- on Aug. 28 as suspects. However, both were released a few days later after the Alameda County District Attorney's Office concluded there was insufficient evidence to charge them, Deputy District Attorney Tom Rogers said on September 1.

Police haven't said why the case had become a homicide investigation. A body has not been found.
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Ross and Campbell, who are engaged, have maintained their innocence.

In an interview last month with HLN's Nancy Grace, Ross said he left Hasanni outside his BMW for two to five minutes while he went to get his fiancee to open the back door of the store.

"By the time I got there, 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."
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"The most important question to ask about any work is "how does this serve the world?"" ~ by Marianne Williamson

Noway · Posted: Mon Sep 14, 2009 7:46 pm Post subject:

They'll test the sweatshirt regardless of what these two say.

But I saw what was reportedly a picture of the sweatshirt, and it was not the one Hasanni was wearing when he disappeared unless they forgot to mention that it had a logo on it.

And of course, they may say it is not a sweatshirt they bought for Hasanni or that he owned, but the "kidnapper" could have had Hasanni wear it on days following the kidnapping.

Personally, I think it belongs to someone in the neighborhood. I live within a mile of 3 schools and we often find clothing on our property. I always wonder how kids lose it and don't know ... but it happens.

Lavanda Dolce · ADMINISTRATOR/SITE CREATOR Joined: 09 Mar 2008 Posts: 4237

Yes, the media did report that it was not one that belonged to Hasanni as the police looked it over.
_________________
"The most important question to ask about any work is "how does this serve the world?"" ~ by Marianne Williamson