02:39 AM CDT on Tuesday, June 17, 2008
PASADENA, Texas — Police, family members and several organizations are searching for a brother and sister who went missing Sunday afternoon.
Three-year-old Denim and a 7-year-old Randy Sylvester Jr. were last seen around 3 p.m. at an apartment complex at 4025 Burke Road. Police were alerted to the situation at 9:15 p.m.
The children’s mother said she last saw them on the tennis court and later believed they were playing at a friend’s apartment.
When they didn’t come home, she began knocking on doors and searching the complex.
Pasadena Police Department
These are the missing children.
“I don’t care who it is, what they’ve done, just bring my kids back,” said Jerilynn St. Cyr, the children’s mother. “I don’t want to cry because that means something bad has happened, I just want my kids back. I want them back and I want them back safe because no mother should have to go through this pain that we’re going through.”
Search dogs joined the effort early Monday, but found nothing.
Denim is about 2 feet 5 inches tall, and she was wearing a pink, v-neck, sleeveless shirt with brown trim with pink shorts and pink flip flops.
Randy was wearing a blue and orange Florida Gators T-shirt with blue jean shorts and blue and white tennis shoes.
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Gerilyn St. Cyr told police she last saw her children Sunday afternoon.
“I don’t know what my kids are going to do without me,” St. Cyr said. “My daughter and my son are looking for me. They never leave me and they’re looking for me and they know that I’m looking for them.”
Pasadena said they are trying to sort out “inconsistencies” between the children’s parents, St. Cyr and Randy Sylvester Sr.
“I can’t be specific, but the conflict does exist, and we are trying to sort it out at this moment,” Bud Corbett with the Pasadena Police Dept. said.
Records show Sylvester recently served 60 days in jail for assault.
Police searched the trunk of his car, but later allowed both parents to leave in the vehicle.
The children were under their mother’s care when they went missing. Both parents live in separate units at the apartment complex but are not married.
“I want it to be a dream. I want to wake up and my kids will be back – that’s what I want, but I know it’s not going to happen. This is not a real moment for me right now,” St. Cyr said.
While holding out hope her children will be found, St. Cyr was critical that an Amber Alert was not issued in the effort to find the kids.
Had an Amber Alert been issued, “they would be here,” St. Cyr insisted.
But in order to issue an Amber Alert the situation has to meet five criteria.
The missing person must be 17-years-old or younger. Law enforcement must believe the child has been abducted.
Investigators have to believe the child is in immediate danger and authorities have to see evidence of an abduction.
There must also be sufficient information to give out to the public.
“They really had no indication the children were abducted,” said Beth Alberts of the Texas Center for the Missing.
Many Amber Alerts, said Alberts, do not get as much attention as this case is getting.
“At this point, I think with all the coverage, it’s everything but called an Amber Alert at this point,” she said.
Still, the children’s mother believes too much attention is focused on her and the baby’s father.
“We gave the same exact stories over and over again we’ve been subject to lie detector tests, we submitted our personal belongings our homes our cars on our own will without an attorney present because we have nothing to hide,” said St. Cyr.
St. Cyr said they moved to Houston from New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. She said they settled at the complex because it has a family atmosphere and she felt her kids were safe there.
Police said they don’t have any information to believe foul play is involved.
Anyone with information on their location is asked to call police at (281) 998-3175.
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RELATED LINKS:
Texas Center For The Missing: http://www.texascenterforthemissing.org/
Amber Alert.com: http://amberalert.com/about/
Amber Alert.gov: http://www.amberalert.gov/
Code Amber.org: http://www.codeamber.org/
Ann
