Shawn Nieman - Age now 8 - Missing since March 6th, 2008

[Mary]

This has not been posted on the Missing & Exploited Children (http://yourmichigan.com/www.missingkids.com) list, and sadly, no amber alert has ever been posted.

http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/15807397/detail.html


http://www.clickondetroit.com/2008/0406/15807354_240X180.jpg (http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/15807397/detail.html#)

WYANDOTTE, Mich. -- Wyandotte police are searching for an 8-year-boy, Shawn Nieman, who police said was kidnapped by his biological mother, Alice, nearly a month ago.Police said the boy was taken after a judge ordered that his father, Shawn Webster, be given sole custody.His father said that after a month it's tough not having him around.

"Well, it's real tough, it's real tough," Webster said."We're used to him being here almost every day. The kids are used to him being here almost every day. And now he's not here. I don't know what it's like for him."Police believe that Alice Nieman could be driving either a black 2006 Jeep Commander, license plate No. ALIBRAT; or a 1994 Ford pickup, license plate No. BLV6800.

[Mary]

Shawn has now been added to the missing and exploited kids web site. This is his poster (http://www.missingkids.com/missingkids/servlet/PubCaseSearchServlet?act=viewChildDetail&caseNum=1092606&orgPrefix=NCMC&seqNum=1&caseLang=en_US&searchLang=en_US)

[Harrison]

I have a difficult time understanding why an Amber Alert was never posted and that this boy's plight has been published by the news media a month after the fact. Talk about giving the kidnapping parent a head start!

[Mary]

http://www.thenewsherald.com/stories/040908/loc_20080409008.shtml


Mother sought in boy's disappearance

By Jim Kasuba, The News-Herald

PUBLISHED: April 9, 2008
In the case of most kidnappings, the victim knows his or her kidnapper.

http://204.176.34.102/phpadsnew/adlog.php?bannerid=741&clientid=756&zoneid=39&source=&block=0&capping=0&cb=7f987385a53323746d9855681958348b
In fact, in most instances the kidnapper is a noncustodial parent, authorities say.
That's the case with Alice Nieman, whose last known address was in Lincoln Park. Police believe the 32-year-old woman took her 8-year-old son, Shawn, in mid-March and disappeared after a judge changed the child's custody.
Jessica Webster said her husband, Shawn, had joint legal custody of his son until Nieman took him out of school and began to home school him.
Home schooling is legal in Michigan and is considered to be an effective way of educating children.
Webster said the court agreed with her husband, however, that the boy would have a more stable home life with his father and her. They both are professionals with steady jobs, she said.
"My husband was given sole legal custody," Webster said. "He went to get him and he wasn't there. She had moved out of the house."
Webster said the last communication between her husband and Nieman was March 17. He text-messaged her that a judge had signed a court order and that she must comply with it. She replied to the message with a voicemail message.
"She said she was out of town and that this is not going to happen," Webster said.
About three weeks ago police narrowed down her location through a cell phone. There were two "hits" in Dearborn and one in Taylor, so police believe that, at least initially, Nieman wasn't too far away.
The couple, who reside in Wyandotte, has been in touch with the Police Department, which continues to seek the woman and missing child.
Detective Lt. Bobie Heck said one avenue in helping police find Nieman is to let the public know that they're looking for her. The case also has been reported to the National Center of Missing and Exploited Children.
Webster said Nieman quit her job and closed her bank account.
"There is a felony warrant for her arrest for parental kidnapping," Webster said. Anyone with information on the whereabouts of Nieman or her son, Shawn, is asked to contact Wyandotte police at 1-734-324-4405.