A 35-year-old woman from Alabama has been taken into custody for reportedly abducting her three biological children, with whom she had been estranged, from a bus stop in Virginia. Authorities announced that Shanice Davison was arrested in Alabama on Thursday evening and faces three charges of child abduction.
On Thursday, Dec. 5, at approximately 8:27 a.m., deputies from the Augusta County Sheriff’s Office in Virginia responded to an emergency call regarding a recent kidnapping incident that occurred outside the Bobby’s Way Apartments complex in Fishersville, located roughly 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.
The identities of the children will remain undisclosed because of their young ages.
As soon as the children disappeared, officials issued a Reverse 911 call that spanned a 5-mile area from the bus stop where the alleged abduction took place. An urgent alert has been released indicating that the three children are thought to be in significant peril.
In a swift development, just under six hours after the children were reported missing, officials provided an update on the situation, highlighting for the first time the potential connection to Davison.
“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.”
Officials are asking for the public’s assistance in finding Davison, indicating that she is thought to have crossed state lines. They urge anyone who sees her or the children to dial 911 and refrain from approaching them.
On Thursday at 7:15 p.m., it was revealed that the Alabama Highway Patrol, along with deputies from the U.S. Marshals Service, successfully found Davison in Birmingham, Alabama. After a short chase on Interstate 495, Davison was apprehended peacefully.
Officials confirmed that all three children were found “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 has been taken into custody at the Jefferson County Jail in Alabama as a wanted individual.