Amber Alert issued for infant Daniel Jackson Lowe taken during carjacking/ Amber Alert canceled, baby found safe!!!

ARITON, AL (WAFF) - Three children were abducted Sunday night during an assault and carjacking. Two of the children have been located, but the third is still missing.

Police are asking the public to be on the lookout for 3-month-old Daniel Jackson Lowe.

They said he and his two brothers, Brian and Charles Dacus, were taken by the carjacking suspects. Brian and Charles were found Monday morning in Black, Alabama near the Florida state line.

[ADPS alert information]

The suspects were last seen driving a 1991 Maroon or Burgundy Buick LeSabre with Alabama license plate number 34B19D8.

Anyone who sees Daniel or has any information on his whereabouts is asked to call the Dale County Sheriff's Office at 334-774-2335.
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Alert Information
Category: Alert
Status: Active
Case Number: 11060037
Date Issued: 06/06/2011
Comments: UPDATE Daniel Jackson Lowe was last seen on Sunday evening, June 5, 2011 in Ariton, Alabama. Daniel and his two siblings Brian Dale Dacus III, and Charles Clinton Dacus were taken by unknown suspects in an alleged assault and carjacking. Two of the children were located; however 3 month-old Daniel is still missing. The suspect was driving a 1991 Maroon or Burgandy Buick LeSabre with Alabama license plate number 34B19D8. Any information please contact Dale County Sheriff's Office at 334-774-2335.
Contact Information
Contact: Inv. Tim Crooks
Phone: (334) 774-2335
Alternate Contact:
Alternate Phone:
Person Information
Status: Abducted
Name: Lowe , Daniel Jackson
Gender: Male
Race: White
Eye Color: Brown
Hair Color: Black
Height: 2'0
Weight: 13 lbs.
Current Age: 3 Month(s)
Age Last Seen: 3 months
Location Last Seen: Ariton, Alabama
NCIC Number: M630071112
Comments:
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For the life of me I cannot get the photo of this baby to show up here!
Please go to the link above for the photo - someone help?

Thanks for posting this Raine! Ariton is about 30 miles from me, as is Black, where the two older children were found. Everyone in the area is looking out for little Daniel, and praying hard he is found safe. It's been 102 degrees here today....hoping and praying he is found soon.

A bit of local coverage with photo...
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Daniel has a different last name than his brothers.
Custody issues? Family child abduction.
Thank goodness the other boys were not harmed.

Welcome to VH SasseyRebel! Thanks for the link to the local story and the picture.
I think it's real strange that the parents were 'carjacked' by a 'stranger' that they met online. These 'strangers' didn't harm the other two children and they're safe but this newborn is missing? I wonder if this has something to do w/ the black market and selling babies. I hope my thought is way out in left field but I can't think of any other reason for these strangers the parents met online to carjack them and take their newborn.

Thanks for the welcome!!! I thought the situation strange too, and the same black market thought crossed my mind too. It's very strange the older kids were found "left?" in Black, which is about 50 miles from Ariton. One source says the person who found the kids in Black took them to a Walton County, Florida hospital. Geneva County, Alabama hospital would have been MUCH closer, so that's odd too. Ariton is a very small, intimate, neighborly town, and Black is even smaller. Honestly, the whole thing sounds fishy to me...
:scratch:

I agree with you Sassy Rebel! I've read too that Ariton is a nice town and that a carjacking is the last thing they would expect there. I didn't realize that Black was 50 miles away. I wonder who this person is that 'found' the two other children? They took them to a hospital instead of calling LE, that's strange too!
I hope we are both wrong about the black market baby idea. this baby is found safe and sound....

~SassyRebel~

Update: Amber Alert Search Centered In Geneva County, AL

A statewide Amber Alert remains in effect for a three-month-old baby who was last seen Sunday night in southeast Alabama. The search for Daniel Jackson Lowe is centered in Geneva County, just above the Florida line, southwest of Dothan.
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Abducted Ariton infant still missing


ARITON—The search for a 3-month-old Dale County boy crossed state lines on Monday after authorities say a stranger his family met online may have abducted him and two of his siblings Sunday night.

An AMBER Alert remained in place Monday for Daniel Jackson Lowe after two of his siblings were found abandoned in a driveway in Black, which is in Geneva County, according to the Walton County, Fla., Sheriff’s Office.

Authorities were looking for a white Honda or Lexus with gold trimming after 5 p.m. Monday upon discovering two other vehicles – an Isuzu and Buick LeSabre – in which the suspect or suspects may have been traveling with baby Daniel.

According to Dale County Sheriff Wally Olson, an assault and carjacking were reported around 9 p.m. Sunday southeast of Ariton, where three children – including Daniel – were allegedly taken by a person or persons that Daniel’s mother and boyfriend met on the Internet.

Olson said there appears to be no relation between the parents and the suspects. Nor was a motive released as to why two of the children were dropped off and Daniel remained missing.

“Right now we don’t really know what we’re looking for, but we have been looking night and day and will continue until we find the baby,” Olson said. “We’re still trying to put all the pieces together ourselves and are processing the vehicles for more information.”

An AMBER Alert is issued when a child is abducted and the case meets certain criteria for the incident to be broadcast on radio, television and highway signs, according to the program’s website.

A child for whom an AMBER alert was issued from Holmes County, Fla., last month was recovered safely in Kentucky after a motorist recognized the description of a suspect’s vehicle, officials said.

Residents around Ariton said criminal activity like carjackings and assaults seldom – if ever – occurred in the area.

“We’re so close-knit and everyone really knows everyone. I don’t know that we even have police around the clock because nothing really happens here,” Ariton resident Michael Dooley said.

Resident Justin Warren agreed.

“Everybody just keeps to themselves,” he said. “Not a lot goes on in places like this.”

Officials said Walton and Geneva County sheriff’s departments and multiple other state and local agencies assisted the Dale County Sheriff’s Office with the search on Monday.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Dale County Sheriff’s Office at (334) 774-2335.

---------------------

Victim: Daniel Jackson Lowe

Current Age: 3 Month(s)

Gender: Male

Race: White

Eye Color: Brown

Hair Color: Black

Height: 2'0

Weight: 13 lbs.
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Another thing that I find strange is that the only photo of this baby is the one up thread that looks like a newborn picture.
Don't these parents have any other photos of their son? He is three months old!
This whole thing doesn't not sound right to me.

I agree raine that is strange and sad that the only photo released is a newborn picture. That is not going to help to locate him as babies change a lot in 3 months time.

Updated: Jun 07, 2011 10:22 AM CDT

ARITON, AL (WBRC) -
A missing baby has been found safe by the FBI at a residence after being taken during a carjacking.

The Alabama Department of Public Safety issued an Amber Alert on Sunday night for missing three-month-old Daniel Jackson Lowe.

Lowe and his two siblings, Brian Dale Dacus III and Charles Clinton Dacus, were taken by unknown suspects in an alleged assault and carjacking on Sunday evening in Ariton, Alabama.

Two of the children were located, but three-month-old Daniel Lowe was not found with them.

The suspects were driving a 1991 maroon or burgandy Buick LeSabre with an Alabama license plate number 34B19D8. The suspects were previously believed to be driving a 1996 Gray Isuzu Rodeo SUV with plate number 61B93J9.

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Associated Press - June 7, 2011 10:24 AM ET

OZARK, Ala. (AP) - Alabama authorities say they've found a missing 3-month-old child after an Amber Alert was issued when the baby went missing in Dale County in southeast Alabama.

State public safety officials said the infant, Daniel Jackson Lowe, was found safe early Tuesday.

The Dothan Eagle reports that no other details on his location were available Tuesday morning.

Police had said that Daniel and two brothers were reportedly taken in a carjacking Sunday evening. Sheriff's officials said the brothers were found earlier, but the infant wasn't located until Tuesday.

Few other details on the circumstances surrounding the case were immediately available.

Information from: The Dothan Eagle, [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Thank God the baby was found! We've had too much sad news, especially with the Michelle Le being a homicide investigation now. This is wonderful that this baby is in safe hands. Something tells me there's going to be more to this story, but the children are all safe and it is the most important thing.

Can't wait to hear the rest of this story!! Am sooooooooooooo glad he was found safe!!! Three arrests, so far, no wonder everyone thinks from Bama are rednecks...check out these two!

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I'm "well blessed" and he needs mammary support more than I do!

Published: Tuesday, June 07, 2011, 2:02 PM

DOTHAN, Alabama -- Two people were arrested on Tuesday in connection with the kidnapping of three Ariton children on Sunday, reports the Dothan Eagle.

Police arrested Melissa Lynn Mione and Robert Wesley Rogers on Wednesday in the kidnapping of three children around 9 p.m. on Sunday, when the two suspects took the vehicle of the children's mother and her boyfriend while the children were in the car. The suspects knew the family from an apparent online relationship, says the report.
Who is the father of Daniel? Is it this Rogers person? Were the kids and the baby Alone in the car? What is the extent of the "online relationship"?? So many questions!

An AMBER alert was issued for 3-month-old Daniel Jackson Lowe on Monday after his two siblings were found in Geneva County shortly after the incident. Daniel was found late Monday evening or early Tuesday morning by the FBI.

Police tell the newspaper that there is no apparent motive as to why the two other children were dropped off and baby Daniel held captive.

Mione and Rogers were arrested and charged with three counts of first-degree kidnapping and one count of first-degree robbery each.

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The Associated Press
Published: Tuesday, June 7, 2011 at 3:15 p.m.
Last Modified: Tuesday, June 7, 2011 at 3:15 p.m.

Authorities say two people are charged with kidnapping and robbery following an alleged carjacking that led to an Amber alert for a 3-month-old boy.

Melissa Lynn Mione and Robert Wesley Rogers are each being held on felony charges following their arrest Tuesday.

Police say three children were inside a vehicle that was taken Sunday night in Ariton. Two of the children were dropped off, but a 3-month-old boy remained missing and authorities issued an Amber alert.

The child was found early Tuesday at a location officials haven't identified. Dale County Sheriff Wally Olson says there doesn't appear to be any connection between the suspects and the parents of the children who were in the car.

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Now, I am Really confused! First of all, from what I gather..the kids and the baby were in the car w/out the mom and bf. WTF????

And, this report states there is no connection between the mom and the kidnappers. The other report says they had an online connection. WHICH IS IT??

Arrests made in Ariton baby abduction

OZARK — Three Wiregrass residents face felony charges for allegedly luring a family to Dale County and then kidnapping three children, leading authorities across two states for the investigation.

Melissa Lynn Mione McGee, 36, of Daleville, Westly Rogers, 23, of Ozark, and Joshua Ronald Fuller Gilley, 26, of Enterprise, were each charged with three counts of felony first-degree kidnapping and one count of felony first-degree robbery in Dale County. McGee was arrested Monday night, while Rogers and Gilley were arrested Tuesday.

The trio also face kidnapping charges on the federal level.

While authorities released very few details to media Monday and Tuesday relating to the case, Dale County Sheriff Wally Olson said in a press conference Tuesday evening that the trio somehow lured a family to the Ariton area and took three children and a vehicle around 9 p.m. Sunday.

Two toddlers were rescued in Black, which is in Geneva County, early Monday after they were found in a resident’s driveway.

Authorities said the third child, 3-month-old Daniel Jackson Lowe, was rescued by authorities early Tuesday at a Dothan residence.

Olson said each of the three children is in the custody of the state Department of Human Resources and appears unharmed.

Olson said none of the three suspects is related to the victims in the case.

No information was released on the parents of the children, nor was a motive released. Officials wouldn’t release information on the three vehicles allegedly used to transport the children.

Olson said the sheriff’s department was assisted by multiple local agencies as well as the Alabama and Federal bureaus of investigation and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

The investigation is still underway, according to authorities.
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The above article is from SassyRebel's last post above, I just copied/pasted it in it's entirety here.
Wrap, the two articles you posted said that two people were arrested, the one of Sassy Rebel's says three. The first story you posted said the two were arrested Sunday night. No wonder you are confused the media can't even get it right.
The two children were found together in a resident's driveway in Black which Sassy Rebel said is about 50 miles away (the post is above, I'm doing this from memory). The resident took the two children to a hospital.
The baby was found at a residence in Dothan and I have no idea where this is.
The parents met these people on the Internet, then they met them in person and then they were carjacked with the three kids in the car.
There's got to be a big story behind all of this, all three of these kids are in the custody of the state.
I hope I'm making sense here, I thought I kind of understood it until I began explaining and now I'm not too sure.

Olson said each of the three children is in the custody of the state Department of Human Resources and appears unharmed.

Why would the kids be in the custody of Dept of Human Resources???? Is that like child protective custody? Color Me Confused!

Why wouldn't the children be back with their mother? Something is truly rotten here. I am beginning to wonder about the alleged internet connection and if the mother was fit. Again, MOO.

If you read up thread I was thinking that this was a black market baby selling deal and I'm not so sure now that it's not.

Another strange thing was that the ONLY photo of the baby put out in the media was a newborn one. This baby was three months old and we all know how much they change in three months. Weird.

There's got to be a big story behind all of this, all three of these kids are in the custody of the state.
I hope I'm making sense here, I thought I kind of understood it until I began explaining and now I'm not too sure.

Raine, you are making a hell of a lot more sense than the media. :scratch:

I sure hope that someone in Alabama will get the goods on what really went down.

Raine, you brought up a great point about the "black market" theory.

There are a lot of questions, too many different versions and I Still want to know why these kids would be placed with the State Human Resources. Are they hiring them?

And that's bad.

Wrapitup wrote: There are a lot of questions, too many different versions and I Still want to know why these kids would be placed with the State Human Resources. Are they hiring them?

My first thought when I read that today was that the parent's hands are not clean in all of this. IF they tried to sell their baby and IF these people were found via Internet and IF the connection was made Sunday night then it makes sense that the state would have custody of all three kids. Other than that, I dunno.....

Neither do I, but would love to get the boards take on this. There is much more to come with this very confusing story.

Bottom line: Thank goodness the kids are Safe!

Good news he was found.

And the story continues to be bizarre...local update:

A federal criminal complaint released Wednesday details the events that allegedly resulted in the kidnapping of three small children (2, 1 and 2 ½ months) and the arrest of three Wiregrass residents on kidnapping, assault and carjacking charges.

Melissa Mione McGee, Westly Rogers and Joshua Gilley all face state and federal charges related to what investigators claim was a bizarre scheme to lure a family to a secluded area in order to kidnap the children.

The three are scheduled for a first appearance in federal court Wednesday at 4 p.m.

According to the complaint, the contact between the suspects and victims began in April when a man known as “Nate” made contact with the children’s mother’s boyfriend through a social networking site known as mocospace.com. At the time, the boyfriend, mother and children all lived in Blount County and were apparently facing economic problems. The complaint alleges “Nate” told the boyfriend he could help them find employment.

The complaint did not release the names of the mother, boyfriend or children.

On May 21, the complaint states “Nate” introduced the boyfriend to a woman referred to as “Jewels” during a telephone conversation. “Jewels” was later identified as Melissa Mione McGee. “Jewels” claimed to be a human resources representative from Memphis and promised the boyfriend a job and a place to live in or near Ozark.

The complaint states the family moved to Ozark and stayed at the Ozark Inn where they were visited by McGee, who provided the family with small amounts of money and promised them a job at a metal fabricating business at $17 per hour.

Sunday, the boyfriend, mother and her three children drove to a rural location near Brundidge for the purpose of meeting with McGee, who had promised the family a mobile home to live in.

McGee introduced the mother to “Nate” and another man known as “Mike”. Almost immediately, the complaint states the two men attacked the boyfriend and mother, tossed them from their vehicle and left with the three children still in the back seat.

The story becomes even more bizarre.

Investigators learned a Wiregrass man had taken custody of the two oldest children from another person and had been paid $100 to take the children to a hospital. The man told investigators he was afraid to take the children to the hospital, so he placed the children in the back yard of a “familiar residence” in Black, which is in Geneva County. The people living there later noticed the two children “wandering alone in the yard” and took them to a hospital in DeFuniak Springs, Fla.

McGee was later located by investigators and admitted to participating in the kidnapping, according to the complaint. She identified “Mike” as Westly Rogers and “Nate” as Joshua Gilley. The complaint states Rogers confessed and said the plot was conceived by McGee, who wanted to take the children because she claimed they were being abused and wanted to deliver at least one of them to its biological father in Slocomb.

The youngest child was located at the residence of an acquaintance of McGee in Dothan, who told investigators that McGee had dropped the child off earlier to be babysat, and claimed the baby was McGee’s


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I'm thinking DHR has the kids simply because the parents were living in a motel, have no jobs, thus no way to provide for them...DHR is what most states call Family and Children's Services or something similar....
To clear the muddy water a bit, Dothan is about 40 miles south of Ariton and about 25 miles east of Black. Largest city in the area...if anyone has traveled to Panama City Florida via 231S, you went thru Dothan. Stranger still, the story says the woman arrested wanted to return the baby to his biological father in Slocomb, which is a lil three red light town 15 miles east of Dothan ( I live in Slocomb, home of famous tomatoes!).

Thanks for updating us Sassy Rebel! This story is getting more strange by the day.
Do you think maybe McGee knew the biological father of the baby? Just kind of wondering how else she would know who to take the child too. This is so weird!
Thanks for the location update of the towns and their distance from each other. Wrap used to live in FL so I'm sure she'll be familiar with the highway you mentioned.

On June 6, an Amber alert was issued for three small children who authorities said were abducted from their Dale County home by a woman and two men.

By June 7, all three children (then ages 2, 1 ½ and 2 ½ months) were recovered unharmed and suspects Melissa Lynn McGee, Westly Rogers and Joshua Gilley were arraigned in federal court on charges of conspiracy to commit kidnapping, kidnapping and carjacking.
Melissa McGee
Westly Rogers
couldn't find pic of Joshua Gilley

The three are accused of masterminding a plan to lure an Ariton area couple for the purpose of abducting their children. According to the indictment against them, “McGee asked Rogers and Gilley to help her take the children away from their mother by force. Rogers and Gilley physically assaulted the children's mother and her boyfriend, and removed them from the vehicle in which the children were riding. Rogers and Gilley took the vehicle with the children in it and drove away.”

Each has pleaded not guilty. A trial has been moved from November to March 19, 2012, after a federal judge granted time for McGee to by psychologically examined. McGee’s attorneys have also asked a judge to suppress statements McGee made to investigators and evidence collected from her home because she may not have had the mental capacity to know what it meant to waive her Miranda rights.

The prison sentencing range for conspiracy to commit kidnapping and kidnapping is 25 years to life in prison on each count, as well as a fine of no more than $250,000. The carjacking charge allows for a prison sentence of up to 15 years and a maximum fine of $250,000.

Authorities said the children were taken into state custody for some time after they were recovered. It was not immediately available whether or not they had been returned to either parent.


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