Renesha Griner 17 & Saniya Purcell 9 mths, Msg 05/23/09, Raeford NC [FOUND SAFE]

[sarahhod]

Published on Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Hoke lawmen looking for missing teen, baby

By Nancy McCleary
Staff writer
RAEFORD — A 17-year-old Raeford girl has run away from home with the 9-month-old child she was babysitting, according to Hoke County investigators.
The sitter, Renesha Shante Griner, left Saturday morning with Saniya Purcell, said Capt. John Kivett.
http://www.fayobserver.com/photos/2009/05/x26griner.jpg Griner
http://www.fayobserver.com/photos/2009/05/x26purcell.jpg Saniya
The two are believed to be in Georgia or Alabama, he said. They traveled there by Greyhound bus.
Griner, who lives with her sister, called the baby’s mother, Victoria Purcell, last week and said she wanted to keep the child for awhile, Kivett said.
Griner picked the child up on Friday and Purcell went out of town for the weekend, Kivett said.
“She comes back and can’t get in touch with the sitter. Then she found out the sitter ran away from home with the baby,” Kivett said.
Investigators don’t know what prompted Griner, a high school student, to leave with the baby.
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children is distributing posters.
The incident doesn’t qualify as a Amber Alert, Kivett said, because the baby is not believed to be endangered.
“If the mother felt the sitter was endangering the child, she would never have let (Griner) take the child,” Kivett said.
There have been no sightings of the two, he said.
Saniya Purcell is 2 feet 3 inches tall and weighs 22 pounds. She has black hair and brown eyes.
Griner is 5 feet 4 inches and weighs 150 pounds. She has black hair and brown eyes.
Anyone who has any information is asked to call the Hoke County Sheriff’s Office at 875-5111

http://www.fayobserver.com/article?id=327545

[texanne]

I can only guess at her motive for running away with the child. This same thing has happened before. The motive then was that the babysitter thought the mother did not adequately care for the child. How in the world does she think she is going to care for this baby while on the run?

[sarahhod]

Babysitter missing with infant


HOKE COUNTY (WTVD) -- Hoke County deputies say a 17-year-old babysitter is missing with a 9-month-old infant.
The teen, Renesha Shante Griner, disappeared Saturday after picking up 9-month-old Saniya Purcell from her mother's house on Friday.
The mother, Victoria Purcell, went out of town for the weekend, and when she got back, the teen and the child were gone.
"I cry every night," Purcell said. "I'm trying to deal with it."
Purcell says she suspects her daughter's babysitter is using the infant for bait.
"Her niece says she got some boy in Alabama, that she got him thinking that she was pregnant for him. And, she wants him back so [she] got him thinking it's their baby," Purcell said.
Authorities have posted Saniya Purcell's and Griner's pictures nationwide. Hoke County deputies tracked the two to Columbus, Georgia.
"We found out that the 17-year-old was actually taken to the bus station in Fayetteville. She got on a bus headed to Georgia with the baby," Hoke County Sheriff's Department Capt. John Kivette said.
Purcell says last Wednesday, Griner asked if she could keep the baby girl for two weeks. Purcell refused, but later accepted the teen's offer to babysit for the weekend.
"I was like, 'Did you tell me you was taking my baby to Georgia?' She said 'Yeah.' I was like 'No you didn't','" Purcell said. "I was telling her 'You need to bring my baby back to North Carolina ASAP' and she hung up on me."
Whatever the reason, authorities are now treating it as a criminal case. Late Tuesday, Hoke County Sheriff Hubert Peterkin ordered his investigators to take out arrest warrants charging the teenage babysitter with first-degree kidnapping.
Hoke County officials have not put out an Amber Alert for the pair because they don't believe Griner intends to hurt the infant. Amber Alert guidelines say a child must be believed to be in danger in order to put out an alert.
"At this point there is no reason to believe that the baby has been harmed. However, this is a serious case - and we are treating it as such - and doing everything we possibly can to get the baby back home safe," Kivette said.
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children has the case up on its Web site and is asking people to be on the lookout for the pair.
Anyone who has any information is asked to call the Hoke County Sheriff's Office at (910) 875-5111.

Video at Link:-

http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?section=news/local&id=6833723

[Lilly]

Babysitter missing with infant


HOKE COUNTY (WTVD) -- Hoke County deputies say a 17-year-old babysitter is missing with a 9-month-old infant.
The teen, Renesha Shante Griner, disappeared Saturday after picking up 9-month-old Saniya Purcell from her mother's house on Friday.
The mother, Victoria Purcell, went out of town for the weekend, and when she got back, the teen and the child were gone.
"I cry every night," Purcell said. "I'm trying to deal with it."
Purcell says she suspects her daughter's babysitter is using the infant for bait.
"Her niece says she got some boy in Alabama, that she got him thinking that she was pregnant for him. And, she wants him back so [she] got him thinking it's their baby," Purcell said.
Authorities have posted Saniya Purcell's and Griner's pictures nationwide. Hoke County deputies tracked the two to Columbus, Georgia.
"We found out that the 17-year-old was actually taken to the bus station in Fayetteville. She got on a bus headed to Georgia with the baby," Hoke County Sheriff's Department Capt. John Kivette said.
Purcell says last Wednesday, Griner asked if she could keep the baby girl for two weeks. Purcell refused, but later accepted the teen's offer to babysit for the weekend.
"I was like, 'Did you tell me you was taking my baby to Georgia?' She said 'Yeah.' I was like 'No you didn't','" Purcell said. "I was telling her 'You need to bring my baby back to North Carolina ASAP' and she hung up on me."
Whatever the reason, authorities are now treating it as a criminal case. Late Tuesday, Hoke County Sheriff Hubert Peterkin ordered his investigators to take out arrest warrants charging the teenage babysitter with first-degree kidnapping.
Hoke County officials have not put out an Amber Alert for the pair because they don't believe Griner intends to hurt the infant. Amber Alert guidelines say a child must be believed to be in danger in order to put out an alert.
"At this point there is no reason to believe that the baby has been harmed. However, this is a serious case - and we are treating it as such - and doing everything we possibly can to get the baby back home safe," Kivette said.
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children has the case up on its Web site and is asking people to be on the lookout for the pair.
Anyone who has any information is asked to call the Hoke County Sheriff's Office at (910) 875-5111.

Video at Link:-

http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?section=news/local&id=6833723


I don't understand why they didn't issue an Amber Alert for this. Whether a child is in danger or not is a matter of opinion. A 17 year old girl can care for the child and claim to love him, but IMO it's a dangerous situation for both of them. Too many things could go wrong. The minute they found out the baby was taken without permission it becomes an abduction IMO. How can they classify an abduction as not in danger? :mad:

[Faith]

NC investigators seek sitter who left with child

1 hour ago

RAEFORD, N.C. (AP) — Investigators in North Carolina are looking for a 17-year-old girl who ran away from home last week with a 9-month-old she was baby-sitting. Hoke County Sheriff's officials said they think the pair went to Georgia or Alabama on a bus Saturday.

Investigators don't know what prompted the sitter, Renesha Shante Griner, to leave with the baby, Saniya Purcell, said sheriff's Capt. John Kivett. The captain said Griner was keeping while the infant's mother went away for the weekend.

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children has listed the pair on its web site. Kivett said no Amber Alert was issued because the baby isn't thought to be endangered.

Griner called the baby's mother last week and asked if she could baby-sit the child, Kivett said. Griner picked the child up Friday while the mother, Victoria Purcell, left the for the weekend.

"She comes back and can't get in touch with the sitter. Then she found out the sitter ran away from home with the baby," Kivett said.

"If the mother felt the sitter was endangering the child, she would never have let (Griner) take the child."

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jWk-z73Rox5YNN7Czbp2dRsHpInQD98EP2SO0

[Amusedtdth]

Please let them both be safe and this young woman smartens up and returns the child to Mom.

[MrzEzell]

I pray for the safe return of both children

[annalyzer]

From above link, "If the mother felt the sitter was endangering the child, she would never have let (Griner) take the child."

Well up to that point she hadn't endangered the child! But I'd say she is endangering the child now!

[sarahhod]

Missing babysitter, infant found

Thursday, May 28, 2009 | 8:11 PM

http://cdn.abclocal.go.com/images/wtvd/cms_exf_2007/news/local/6832516_600x338.jpg Saniya Purcell is missing with Renesha Shante Griner
http://cdn.abclocal.go.com/static/art/global/icon_wtvd_byline.gif
HOKE COUNTY (WTVD) -- Hoke County deputies say a 17-year-old babysitter and a 9-month-old infant are in Alabama.
Hoke County Sheriff Hubert Peterkin said Thursday both are currently in custody in Alabama.
The teen, Renesha Shante Griner, disappeared Saturday after picking up 9-month-old Saniya Purcell from the child's house Friday.
The child's mother, Victoria Purcell, went out of town for the weekend, and when she got back, the teen and the child were gone.
"I cry every night," Purcell said. "I'm trying to deal with it."
Purcell said she suspects the babysitter is using the infant for bait.
"Her niece says she got some boy in Alabama, that she got him thinking that she was pregnant from him," Purcell explained. "And she wants him back, so [she] got him thinking it's their baby."
Authorities have posted Saniya Purcell's and Griner's pictures nationwide, and Hoke County deputies tracked the two to Columbus, Georgia.
"We found out that the 17-year-old was actually taken to the bus station in Fayetteville," Hoke County Sheriff's Office Capt. John Kivette said. "She got on a bus headed to Georgia with the baby."
Purcell told Eyewitness News that last Wednesday, Griner asked if she could keep the baby for two weeks. Purcell refused but later accepted the teen's offer to babysit this past weekend.
"I was like, 'Did you tell me you was taking my baby to Georgia?'" Purcell recalled. "She [Griner] said 'Yeah.'"
Purcell said she did not tell Griner she could take the child. "I was telling her, 'You need to bring my baby back to North Carolina ASAP,' and she hung up on me."
Whatever the reason, authorities are now treating it as a criminal case. Late Tuesday Hoke County Sheriff Hubert Peterkin ordered his investigators to take out arrest warrants charging the teenage babysitter with first-degree kidnapping.
Hoke County officials have not issued an Amber Alert for the pair because they don't believe Griner intends to hurt the infant. Amber Alert guidelines say a child must be believed to be in danger in order to issue an alert.
"At this point, there is no reason to believe that the baby has been harmed." Capt. Kivette said. "However, this is a serious case -- and we are treating it as such -- and doing everything we possibly can to get the baby back home safe."
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children posted the case on its Web site and is asking people to be on the lookout for the pair.
Anyone who has any information is asked to call the Hoke County Sheriff's Office at (910) 875-5111.

http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?section=news/local&id=6837469

[Faith]

Thank God!!!!!

[AmyE]

Runaway sitter arrested in Ala. now in NC jail

June 01, 2009 07:47 EDT


RAEFORD, N.C. (AP) -- A 17-year-old baby sitter accused of kidnapping a 9-month-old child and heading to Alabama is due in a North Carolina court.

The Fayetteville Observer reported Monday that officials say Renesha Shante Griner was returned to Hoke County Sunday night. Sheriff Hubert Peterkin says she was held under $500,000 bond.

Griner is charged with first-degree kidnapping and has a hearing scheduled Monday.

Peterkin says investigators didn't learn much about what happened during questioning and he thought the young woman is going to seek a lawyer.

The sheriff says the rising high school senior convinced a former boyfriend in Opp, Ala., that the baby was his. Investigators say that the baby's real mother had left the child with the sitter last weekend.



http://www.wlos.com/template/inews_wire/wires.regional.nc/34b9a606-www.wlos.com.shtml

[Roamer]

I'm so glad the little guy was found safe!