Devin Davis Missing: Search For 2-Year-Old Texas Boy Now A 'Recovery' Effort

More than 100 people are out searching Thursday for Devin Davis, a missing 2-year-old boy from Cleveland, Texas, who is believed to have wandered out of his home Tuesday. The search, however, is likely a recovery mission, according to a missing-person search-and-recovery group that is assisting law enforcement.

"You always keep the hope, but I think everyone understands at this point in time we are more in a recovery mode than a rescue mode," Ken DeFoor, a search coordinator with Texas EquuSearch, told The Huffington Post.

In addition to Texas EquuSearch, multiple law enforcement agencies and emergency services workers are out searching for Davis.

DeFoor said the areas being searched for the boy are heavily wooded, infested by alligators and extremely dangerous.

"There are snakes everywhere, large wild hogs and alligators," he said. "We have cautioned searchers not to stand close to the edge [of waterways], and we have a gunman with each search team to keep alligators back if that becomes an issue."

An Amber Alert was issued for Davis on Tuesday afternoon. According to the Liberty County Sheriff's Office, the boy's mother, April Davis, said she last saw her son when she took a nap with his 1-year-old sibling. When she awoke at about 3:30 p.m., she discovered a door to the home unlatched and the child gone. Davis also said the doors to her Jeep were ajar.

The distraught mother searched for her child for approximately 35 minutes before notifying police. Her call to 911 triggered the full-scale search and an Amber Alert, police said.

Davis and her husband, Mike, have denied requests for media interviews. Davis spoke once to reporters Tuesday, telling ABC13.com that she was shocked by her son's disappearance.

"I just don't understand how someone can disappear off the face of the earth. He's never done anything like this before," Davis said.

The Davis family has only lived at their home in Southeast Texas for about a week. According to The Houston Chronicle, Mike Davis was discharged from the military after serving in Bosnia and Iraq. The family moved to the area from Virginia this month after he got a machinist job.

On Wednesday, the FBI and Texas Rangers interviewed the Davis family. A spokesperson for the sheriff's department said authorities have not ruled out the possibility of foul play.

Meanwhile, DeFoor said searchers today are concentrating on some small bodies of water, as well as some nearby wooded areas.

"We started at 6:30 this morning and put our sonar boat in a reservoir that is approximately a quarter mile from the [Davis] residence," DeFoor said. "Another search team is west of us searching some areas of woods along County Road 2252."

Devin Davis is described as a white male, with red hair and blue eyes. He is approximately 30 inches tall and weighs about 40 pounds. He was last seen wearing a red and gray jersey T-shirt and jeans. He was not wearing shoes. Anyone with information is urged to contact the Liberty County Sheriff's Office at 936-336-4500 or Texas EquuSearch at 281-309-9500.

Texas EquuSearch is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization. Those interested in making a donation can do so by visiting texasequusearch.org.

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Comments

[Kendall Hawley]

12:27 PM on 04/02/2012

The little boyʻs body was found and police donʻt believe there was any foul play on the part of the mother. How unbelievably tragic for the parents, to have to go through something like this and then deal with the masses who decided "somethingʻs just not right here," and be accused of murdering their own child. When are we going to grow up and realize how much all this armchair speculation can hurt people?

[SonyaInTx]

05:59 PM on 04/01/2012

Deadbolts that can only open with a key. That's the solution to a smart toddler.....

[Hannah Knise]

07:15 PM on 03/31/2012

He is only 30 inches tall so unless her stood on something how did he reach a deadbolt AND car door handles? My daughter is 34inches tall and can just barley reach the door knob and cant grab and open a car door. Also why did she lose custody of her older child hum? Something smells rotten and its her. http://www.examiner.com/missing-persons-in-national/devon-davis-mother-takes-polygraph-test

[edtea2000]

10:01 PM on 03/31/2012

Listen, kids are resourceful. I remember my two year old leaving my apartment early in the morning and thank God for this grandmotherly lady who would take him inside her home and notify me that my child was eating breakfast in her home. That black lady was an angel on Earth and thank God that my son was alright. I remember another young man who was in turmoil, because his two year old brother escaped from a locked and chained apartment door. After frantically searching for the little boy, he was found floating face down in the pool, which had a locked gate. It happens.

[Hannah Knise]

03:16 PM on 04/01/2012

Yeah, well when you lose custody of your older child and then your second oldest child goes missing it sounds like you have bad parenting skills. Shame the state of VA didn't think about the welfare of this younger two as well.

[southingtonian]

06:14 AM on 04/02/2012

agreed. when I was still answering the phones for poison control in our area, a call came in from a mom whose 2 year old had eaten nearly a full tube of mint toothpaste. The clever child had climbed out of his crib, closed the door behind him, and closed the bathroom door before climbing from his potty to the toilet to the sink top to get to the toothpaste. The light was still on because the parents were still getting ready for bed, which is why he was discovered in flagrante.

[Kerri Zwetzig Wilson]

05:52 PM on 03/31/2012

Sadly it looks like he may have been found. http://blog.chron.com/newswatch/2012/03/missing-boy-search-now-a-criminal-investigation/

[vvn0612sln0502]

06:53 PM on 03/31/2012

Now they can do an autopsy and find out how he died. RIP little Devin!

[Amber79]

04:00 PM on 03/31/2012

Being the mother of four children I know exhaustion. I also recall when they were little laying down with the youngest to get them to sleep and dozing off with them while my other children played. This does not make a bad parent. When my 8 yr old was three my husband was watching them I had put them all to bed and locked the doors I then ran for a quick trip to the grocery store. Not 15 min had gone by since I left and my husband called me hysterical saying our son was missing and he had the whole neighborhood out looking. The 10 min it took me to get home I had every horrible image pass through my mind it was pure terror. We had a canal that ran not 200 yards behind our neighborhood and the idea of him wandering there had me sobbing on the way. When I pulled into the drive there was my husband holding our son and he was near tears. A neighbor had found him and told us he said " I wanted to go with mom." He must have woken up seen me drive off then he unlocked and went out the front door. It happens being a parent is terrifying at times. My heart and prayers go out to this family.

[HSW]

03:03 AM on 03/31/2012

Alow this family to hope, or grieve, it can potentially prove to be an honest accident. I'm praying for the child, and hope you all are too. save the condemnation for when the truth is discovered. Pray for the parents and for his sibling. and pray that the kind of tragedy this family is going through never reaches you. Pray for the child. Don't cast judgment so early. it's hard, because of what we've all seen.å
God Bless you all. No matter by what name you call GOD

[Nancy Spungen]

10:31 PM on 03/30/2012

After mom failed part of a poly and her older child was taken away from her in VA...I think mom may know more than she's saying...My opinion.

[vvn0612sln0502]

08:41 AM on 03/31/2012

I think so too. Where did you read about him being taken from her in VA?

[vvn0612sln0502]

07:07 PM on 03/30/2012

Interesting article...it says that the mother failed part of the polygraph test she took:

http://www.beaumontenterprise.com/news/article/Mom-of-missing-toddler-fails-part-of-polygraph-3440869.php

[Leann Garvey Blose]

09:34 PM on 03/30/2012

don't believe everything you read when it doesn't come straight from the source (police). Obviously, the police did not release this statement and it more than likely is not true.

[vvn0612sln0502]

08:38 AM on 03/31/2012

we'll see......

[camsheel]

06:49 PM on 03/30/2012

Sorry. But the door was not locked.? How does a little boy just go out the door . Somthing is not right?

[Cye]

09:22 AM on 04/08/2012

When my niece was very small, perhaps 4 or 5, her mother used to lock the door to her and her husband's bedroom to prevent her from getting into her parents bedroom and making mess. One day though, my niece surprised us all by calmly picking the lock to the bedroom with part of a broken toy.

2 years old is probably too young for this kind of cunning, but as a general rule kids can be surprisingly resourceful when they want to be.

[katyland]

03:04 PM on 03/30/2012

Watched the vedio of mother pleading for childs return, I hate to say it, but something is not right with this, I fear its another child dead some where and never will be found and parents or parent are responsible,

[sjh1976]

02:54 PM on 03/30/2012

Poor little guy. My heart goes out to the family. I can't imagine how the mother must feel. As the mother of three, with my two oldest being only two years and one day apart, I know how exhausting it can be, and how easily you can doze off when you have a moment's peace. I also know how smart two-year olds can be and how quickly they can get into trouble and into something. I remember cleaning up one mess only to have another take its place. Think before you judge this mother. I am sure she is beating herself up enough. Why don't you all use that energy to pray and hope that a miracle happens instead of pointing fingers. I don't care what you say, it could happen to you in a blink of an eye.

[PhloxJeana]

03:41 PM on 03/30/2012

You're absolutely right. Anyone who can condemn her either is not a parent, not a custodial parent, or has pollyanna memories about how they raised their children. F&F.

[Hannah Knise]

07:09 PM on 03/31/2012

Oh knows she lost custody of another child when she lived in my state....

[Cye]

09:23 AM on 04/08/2012

Yeah, its easy to judge when you're not a parent. Or when you don't know the particulars of a case.

[amd52]

10:15 AM on 03/30/2012

My heart goes out to this family, what a little cutie. He looks the type of little boy you just want to cuddle and put your arms around. Prayers are sent to the family and all who are looking for him. I know what a surprise it could be thinking your child can open the door. That happened to me with my youngest daughter, she was 3 at the time doors were locked and i had to go to the bathrm. Here i am on the pot and i hear by ma, i was frantic. She made it into the bkyard on the swing set. After that, put one of those high chains on top of all the doors. Bless you little one and hope you are safe and sound and soon found so, your parents can cuddle you again. God Bless

[justme2005]

08:14 AM on 03/30/2012

The jeep doors were ajar....don't think the kid would have the strength to open let alone reach them.....hope they find him alive...so sad

[PhloxJeana]

03:45 PM on 03/30/2012

We like to think that 2 year olds can't get to the cookies on top of the refrigerator or a gun in the top of the closet. But they can. They have nothing better to do than to figure out how to get into (or out of) things. Paren't just don't expect something like this.

[Arthur Davis Arthur]

12:01 PM on 03/31/2012

You are right, however, he would have to be taller than the average two year old to open just one door, and he may have, but after pulling whatever he used to open the first side of the jeep, he would then want to drive as mom and dad . Which means he may have wanted to hear the car's engine, play with the horn or signal lights, prior to opening the other door from the inside, after his attention was lst with that monster machine jeep. So he then wanders off bare feet and all.
There were dogs on location, those dogs were not able to find his direction used for leaving his home ? His mother's nap was less than a half hour, therefore, he his a pretty fast and a very clever child, ( as he probably is/was ) the door he used to get outside was bolted, another little chore for him, but he is up to the task, the jeep with two doors that are ajar, he mastered that task, very well. In less than a half hour, while the mother took a nap, not deep slumber, she was exhausted, may not have heard a thing, as some person took him from out of the home, wanted to drive the jeep but had a change of mind, and just left without awakening the mother . Plausible ? Yes ! Factual ? I really don't know, wasn't on site during this sad, occurrance ; .

[sgentilejr]

07:57 AM on 03/30/2012

The car doors being found in the open position raises many issues and questions. Could the 2 year old have reached and opened the Jeep vehicle doors? Why would he open both car doors?? If he wandered away__search dogs would have or at least should have picked up the scent and trail to follow his footsteps.
We are overlooking to possibility that an unknown person made off with the boy. That unknown person may have also opened the vehicle doors looking for valuables to steal or possibly vehicle keys inside of it to take the vehicle. That vehicle needs to be very carefully searched for fingerprints that do not belong to the mom and day. If they find unidentified fingerprints on or in the vehicle ___looking in the woods and lakes may be a waste of time and unknown fingerprints in/on the vehicle would show someone was at the home while the mother was asleep.

[HeyFolks]

10:31 AM on 03/30/2012

This family had just moved. Others could have easily touched that car during their travel. An identifiable latent fingerprint is not as easy to find as they make it look on CSI. There could be fingerprint upon figerprint upon fingerprint making it even harder to get a clear full print. The possibilities of those doors being ajar could be endless...mom forgetting to close them all the way when she was taking her children/groceries out, somebody opening the doors to steal something but didn't take the child. Or God forbid, the open doors could be just a set up to make it look like somebody tried to get into or steal the car, throwing off an investigation. It will all come out. Stranger abduction is still very, very rare. Most children are killed by their own parents and there is still the possibility that the child did wander off to the boggs while the mom was sleeping.

[moniquedelacroix]

06:10 AM on 03/30/2012

VERY easy in that time frame to not have the house as secure as you thought it was. Little kids can wander. Everyone needs to sleep some time including parents, and they must have been utterly exhausted with moving and all. Too, there is the possibility of an intruder. Odd that the vehicle doors were also open? Yes, the parents are often the first ones that need to be eliminated in cases like this, but not everyone is Susan Smith.

[Joseph Schmoe]

08:06 AM on 03/30/2012

"Everyone needs to sleep sometime" does not trump" small children need constant supervision" except for people who live in "wishful-thinking land." Which, by the way, is usually right next to where the snakes and alligators live.
Well, at any rate, they'll never listen to Jerry Reed's "Amos Moses" quite the same way again.

[trisha08]

08:52 AM on 03/30/2012

Constant supervision? That is impossible. Are parents supposed to also stay up all night to watch their children sleep? You can't physically watch them 24/7.

[PhloxJeana]

03:49 PM on 03/30/2012

Did you stay at home and raise children, specifically a one year old and a two year old? I did and only had one child. I can tell you it's exhausting. What would you have had to say if she had had the stomach flu and had spent 20 minutes in the bathroom? Would she still be negligent? If so, that shows how easy it is to tell others how they're supposed to do their jobs without having done it yourself.