Shocking: Children Feared Dead After No One Reports Them Missing for 6 Months
- Posted on December 6, 2010 at 12:00pm by
Jonathon M. Seidl
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An Alabama father has admitted that his two children are dead and that he buried their bodies near Mobile. But the most shocking part of the story? The children have been apparently dead for six months and not one person has reported them missing.
Jonathan and Natalie DeBlase, age three and four, have been missing from their home in Mobile, Alabama, since the end of June. But police say neither friends, family, or neighbors ever came forward to say the children were gone.
“No family members, no friends, no neighbors, none of them reported them missing,” Mobile police spokesman Christopher Levy said, “and that’s probably one of the most disturbing parts of the whole thing, that we‘re finding out six months later that they’ve been gone.”
Police say they only first found out about the children after their step-mother came forward and alleged the father, John DeBlase, killed the children because they were “non-responsive.”
John was arrested in Florida on Friday and has been charged with two counts of aggravated child abuse and two counts of abuse of a corpse but has yet to be charged with murder. He is reportedly cooperating with police as they search for the bodies but says the step-mother, Heather Leavell-Keaton, is the murderer. She claims he is violent:
“We have been able to determine that both of them are responsible for the death of these two children,” Mobile Police spokesman Christopher Levy told WALA-TV.
Keaton is currently being charged with two counts of willful abuse of a child.
Corrine Heathcock, the children’s birth mother, said John was granted custody of the children after the couple divorced. According to the Daily Mail, she said she did not know the children were missing, and that John had stopped answering her calls and ignored her attempts to see the children.
Despite the father’s admission that the children are dead, Corrine is sill wishing for the best: “Our hope is that they are found alive and well.”
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Comments (72)
Joseph
Posted on December 6, 2010 at 4:27pmdoes any one know who reported the kids finnally missing after 6 months
Report Post »Respectable Lady
Posted on December 6, 2010 at 10:10pmthe step mother who helped kill them
Report Post »Moment of Clarity
Posted on December 6, 2010 at 3:50pmin a word … “Dexter”
Report Post »Elrik68
Posted on December 6, 2010 at 3:39pmSister Gretel,
Report Post »You pray, I’ll get my gun…
VoiceofReason
Posted on December 6, 2010 at 3:18pmWe need to bring back public hangings for crimes such as this.
Report Post »bigdaddybernie
Posted on December 6, 2010 at 3:17pmCan you spell BAMMY trash.
Report Post »Midwest Belle
Posted on December 6, 2010 at 3:16pmThis IS a sad story however, what was the mom thinking? If I couldn’t talk to my children by phone when they were just spending the weekend with their dad, I would call the police and have them verify if they were indeed at their dad’s. He often refused to answer the phone on weekends even though they were home but after a few police visits, he stopped being such a jerk.
That mom should have investigated after the first time she was refused visitation or a phone call (or an email)
Report Post »MissCherryJones
Posted on December 6, 2010 at 2:16pmWTF!!!!
I get so upset when I hear about people harming children.
I can‘t believe that the no response from the dad didn’t raise any red flags for the mom. Or from anyone else for that matter. How selfish/ busy whatever have people become that they cannot notice 2 kids being gone for 6 mos?
Report Post »EyebrowsLaMana
Posted on December 6, 2010 at 1:59pmVery sad that not one person cared enough for these kids to even notice they were gone….and tell me why again I will have to pay to feed, house, & cloth them while in jail?? They should be made to quit breathing..that‘s what I’d like to pay for.
Report Post »uncivilized
Posted on December 6, 2010 at 4:45pmThis story breaks my heart for exactly this reason – where the he!! was the rest of the community while these precious babies were missing for six freakin’ months??? I’ve got something for this evil bastard – I could save the government a whole lot of money and time…
Report Post »Camo Pants
Posted on December 6, 2010 at 1:57pmNo one is excused from this crime, no one.
Report Post »dataway
Posted on December 6, 2010 at 1:57pmIt doesn’t matter that the mother lost custody. She DID NOT kill these innocent little ones. Oh God, forgive us! Let’s get back to believing in You and not believing there is no Hell!
Report Post »sbenard
Posted on December 6, 2010 at 1:41pmStop the “next story” pop-up, Blaze editors. It is really annoying and gets in the way!
Report Post »TTRR
Posted on December 6, 2010 at 1:34pmThe look of wonder and awe in the faces of these two children, and knowing that they were extinguished by the people they should have trusted the most in this world will haunt me for a long time.
Report Post »ACCOUNTABLE
Posted on December 6, 2010 at 6:07pmIt makes me sick to think that the trust between parent and child could be so horribly and utterly abused. Some people should just be sterilized.
Report Post »aicardi
Posted on December 6, 2010 at 1:31pmWere the bodies found? The article said there may be a chance that they are still alive. Poor children , God please bless them either here or in heaven. Makes me so angry that these animals are breeding and hurting children when there are so many families who long for a family and can’t have one. Have these animals ever heard of adoption? Bless those little angels and damn those demons!
Report Post »RugDog
Posted on December 6, 2010 at 1:27pm“An Alabama father has admitted that his two children are dad and that ”
Can’t Becks $30mil/yr hire a decent proof reader for The Blaze?!
Report Post »beckwill
Posted on December 6, 2010 at 4:19pmMiss the point much?
Report Post »dontbotherme
Posted on December 6, 2010 at 9:26pmMaybe you should get a job as a proof reader. Is this all you got out of this report?
Report Post »ElleSi
Posted on December 6, 2010 at 1:15pmThis gave me chills. There are some sick people in this world. Poor little Natalie and Jonathan. May you two always be together in heaven.
Report Post »kenny
Posted on December 9, 2010 at 11:06amthe parents need been shot
Report Post »whototrust
Posted on December 6, 2010 at 12:46pmI just can’t emagine the “life” those kids were subjected to while hear with us for their short time.
Report Post »Ladyliberty I agree.
Jim in Houston
Posted on December 6, 2010 at 12:39pmHere is a perfect reason for the death penalty! These are very sick people. What mother would go six months with no word about her children?
Report Post »FedUP
Posted on December 7, 2010 at 10:58amIf politicians can buy elections, the richer parent can most certainly buy a custody suit!
Report Post »LadyLiberty
Posted on December 6, 2010 at 12:34pmThere is a special Heaven for children…just as there is a nuclear strength Hell for those who harm them.
Report Post »alienguns
Posted on December 6, 2010 at 12:54pmI so hope you are right–I could end this creep with my bare hands–there is NO place on earth for animals like this–they should be eliminated from the living as soon as they are caught
Report Post »Hoosier Daddy
Posted on December 6, 2010 at 12:58pmAs a Christian, I believe in God’s eternal justice…but I don’t want to wait for that. I want the harshest form of human justice available and if that’s the death penalty so much the better.
Report Post »mtnclimberjim
Posted on December 6, 2010 at 12:32pmAny questions about satan being alive and well in our midst?
Report Post »ACCOUNTABLE
Posted on December 6, 2010 at 6:02pmNot one. Sometimes people miss his presence though cause they are looking for horns and a tail and a red suit.
Report Post »NoSocialism.com
Posted on December 6, 2010 at 12:30pmMy ex-wife ended up with custody of my kids and if I didn’t see or talk to them for ONE WEEK, I would threaten their Mom with Court Action. SIX MONTHS!!!!! Are you kidding me “Corrine”???
Report Post »Camo Pants
Posted on December 6, 2010 at 1:55pmMy mom lives 45 minutes away from my dads house, dad has custody, so she has to drive up friday, not every friday because she is going deaf and can’t work because of it, and pick me and my sister up for the weekend. The only reason why she has custody of my little sister is because my dad didn’t sign her birth certficate. :l
It really is who can afford to take care of them, not the one who loves them.
The threatening thing is a very nice idea though…
Report Post »Lantern
Posted on December 6, 2010 at 12:28pmChildren are dad? Kenton or Keaton? Come on news staff, please use your spell-check and get names correct.
Report Post »I wondered the same thing? Usually, the mother is given custody. I wonder why she didn’t use the court system to see her children? I wonder what she did to lose custody? Not caring enough?
He said, she said. They should both be charged with the same thing.
Sadly, it seems the police didn’t get involved until it was too late.
Hoosier Daddy
Posted on December 6, 2010 at 12:41pmI’m sure the police acted as soon as they had information on which to act. They cannot investigate a crime until they know or suspect there has been one committed. They are not to blame; the “parents” are. At this point all we are left with is pain at the thought of those tiny lives snuffed out so cruelly and hope that the perpetrators suffer the harshest punishment Alabama can dish out.
Report Post »Rice Water
Posted on December 6, 2010 at 6:45pmUnfortunately, Spell-Check won’t prevent children from being “dad”, Lantern. The quality of writing on this website leads me to believe that the editors earned honorary degrees at BeckU. The posters may as well communicate via crude paintings on cave walls.
Report Post »Taquoshi
Posted on December 7, 2010 at 12:26amNon-custodial parents often appeal to the court systems for visitation rights and judges will frequently grant them, however, the custodial parent will often blithely ignore the court order. Lawyers cost money. She may not have had it.
The mother could have been in the service, or in rehab program, ill, or possibly without a job. Any of those situations could be the reason he was given custody and none of them make her a “bad” parent. The article simply didn’t say.
Report Post »ApplePiePatriot
Posted on December 6, 2010 at 12:23pmDems, no doubt
Report Post »beckwill
Posted on December 6, 2010 at 4:17pmEven if they aren‘t dems they’ll probably get liberal judge that will social justify this insanity so it may continue and spread.
Report Post »FarSideGuy
Posted on December 6, 2010 at 12:14pmMakes me sick when two so-called adults bring two precious souls into this world only to have something like this happen to them. Poor little ones! There must be more to this story than what these two are letting on.
Report Post »FromtheBasement
Posted on December 7, 2010 at 2:01pmAnd this is where the focus should be. The most shocking thing is that it wasn’t discovered for 6 months? Are you insane? The most shocking thing is that a father killed his children. The discovery time is a side note.
Report Post »angelcat
Posted on December 9, 2010 at 9:47amOne of the problems is that a segment of our society refuses to recognize children, even before they are born, as “precious souls”. They are seen as just groups of cells and/or inconveniences. I am convinced that this disrespect for life before birth carries through to disrespect for life after birth – especially the lives of children. After all, to those who approve of abortion and have any kind of mental problems or substance abuse problems, it is not a far stretch to feel that passing through the birth canal does not make a big difference in the value of a child’s life.
Report Post »Oh, God!
Posted on December 6, 2010 at 12:12pmHe had custody of the two kids because????? What did the biological mother do where she lost custody? Why did she not contact police when he would not answer or return her calls? Lots of questions left unanswered.
Report Post »Dale
Posted on December 6, 2010 at 12:41pmI can only suppose that there was a reason the mother lost custody
Report Post »Camo Pants
Posted on December 6, 2010 at 1:51pmMy guess, as to why she didn’t get custody, was because she couldn’t afford to take care of them.
Report Post »Anyone else?
Taquoshi
Posted on December 6, 2010 at 5:23pmSadly, custodial parents often can withhold visitation rights of the non-custodial parent with impunity. There are thousands of fathers in our country today who have are non-custodial parents and don‘t see their children because their former partners have decided that they won’t. And just because a parent has custody doesn’t mean that the custodial parent is “right” all the time. Sometimes, the kids are just pawns to be used against the ex. Tragic, but unfortunately, all too true.
Report Post »Taquoshi
Posted on December 6, 2010 at 5:26pmSorry, I forgot to check my post.
“have are non-custodial parents and don‘t see their children because their former partners have decided that they won’t.”
I was intending to say
“who have not seen their children in years and are non-custodial parents who won’t see them because their former partners have decided that they won’t.”
Report Post »chaoticupheaval
Posted on December 6, 2010 at 6:23pmi have a friend, her ex husband was abusive and basically threatened to “do her in” if she didn’t give him custody of their kids! who knows the circumstances?
Report Post »mcccmar
Posted on December 6, 2010 at 12:04pmthese sobs need to keep casey anthony company on death row-=
Report Post »Jake Wilde
Posted on December 6, 2010 at 12:15pmWhat? How about keeping some worms company and being done with it?
Report Post »HillBillySam1
Posted on December 6, 2010 at 12:44pmWe can determine the state of our society by how we treat “the least of these”. Six months of not knowing the welfare of these two little children is an abomination. The “adults” involved seem to be nothing more than animals. There is only one way to treat a mad dog……
Report Post »@leftfighter
Posted on December 6, 2010 at 1:19pmThis is what happens when the “don’t snitch” mentality meets the worst case scenario.
Report Post »Sister Gretel
Posted on December 6, 2010 at 2:29pmI understand the difficulty in dealing with the kind of anger stories like these evoke. It is hard to always respect vengeance is the Lord’s, but respect it we must. Capital punishment should never be an option. Death should not be an industry. We can not overcome evil with evil, only with love. We should pray for those who walk in darkness, that all eyes will soon be opened. The rain falls/ sun shines on us all.
Report Post »Russman
Posted on December 6, 2010 at 4:14pmNo,
Report Post »God set the standard…. Human life is precious, if take a life unjustly (Murder), your life is forfeit, he has been clear about that all along.
akim
Posted on December 6, 2010 at 9:12pmThe bastards on the state and federal supreme courts protect the killers who cause so much sorrow in our communities. These judges even protect the 911 bombers who kill innocent people. Judges must all be elected. The Supreme Court must be elected. If Senators are now elected, then we have the right to elect judges.
Report Post »PaganGlenFan
Posted on December 7, 2010 at 4:00pmI don’t think any ones tax dollars should be used to keep these people alive. Especially when 39 cents will take care of it forever.
Report Post »