Left: The bus stop where three children in Virginia were allegedly abducted by their biological mother, Shanice Davison (WVTM). Right: Davison and the three minor children she allegedly abducted (ACSO).
A 35-year-old woman from Alabama has been arrested for allegedly kidnapping her three biological children — from whom she had been estranged — from a bus stop in Virginia. Shanice Davison was taken into custody in Alabama Thursday evening and charged with three counts of child abduction, authorities announced.
According to a news release from the Augusta County Sheriff’s Office in Virginia, deputies at about 8:27 a.m. on Thursday, Dec. 5, responded to an emergency call about a kidnapping that had just happened outside of the Bobby’s Way Apartments complex in Fishersville, which is about 100 miles northwest of Richmond, Virginia.
“The caller’s three children were waiting for the bus, when a black four-door vehicle pulled up to the bus stop, and took the children,” authorities wrote in the release at about 11 a.m. on Thursday. The sheriff’s office identified the children as being a 10-year-old Black male, an 8-year-old Black female, and a 6-year-old Black female. They were last spotted at about 7:40 a.m. that morning when they left their home and headed to the bus stop.
Law&Crime will not identify the children by name due to their ages.
Immediately after the children went missing, authorities put out a Reverse 911 call that covered a 5-mile radius from the bus stop where they kids were allegedly abducted. An Amber Alert was also issued stating that the three children were believed to be in “extreme danger”
Less than six hours after the children were reported missing, authorities released an update on the case and mentioned Davison’s possible involvement for the first time.
“After an extensive investigation, we have determined that the estranged biological mother, Shanice Chante Davison, 35, of Evergreen, Alabama, is responsible for their disappearance,” the sheriff’s office said in the release on Thursday at 4:39 p.m. “Based on evidence gathered, it is believed that Ms. Davison is traveling with the children and is likely on the way back to Alabama. The safety and well-being of the children remain our highest priority, and we are working diligently with law enforcement agencies across state lines to locate them.”
Authorities sought the community’s help in locating Davison, saying it was believed that she had crossed state lines and emphasizing that anyone who encountered her or the children should call 911 and avoid approaching them.
At 7:15 p.m. on Thursday, authorities announced that the Alabama Highway Patrol and deputies with the U.S. Marshals Service had located Davison in Birmingham, Alabama. Following a brief pursuit on Interstate 495, Davison was taken into custody without incident.
Authorities said that all three of the children were recovered “safe and unharmed.”
“In a world where time is of the essence, the swift action of law enforcement and the vital intelligence from the Alabama Fusion Center, along with our fellow counterparts across state lines, remind us that every second counts in the mission to safeguard our children, Alabama Law Enforcement Agency Secretary Hal Taylor said in a statement after the children were found. “I commend all of our personnel, as well as all of our fellow counterparts in Virgina and Tennessee, and federal partners that worked tirelessly to ensure these three children were found safe.”
Davidson was booked into the Jefferson County, Alabama Jail as a fugitive from justice.
