Can you imagine what it would be like to go into your child’s bedroom to wake them only to find them gone and you can’t find them anywhere? Well this is what happened Saturday morning to Lena Lunsford according to reports.
CNN reports that apparently Aliayah had been sick the night before and her mother entered her room around 9 or 9:30 that morning to check her temperature and found the little 3 year old gone. Lena told police that she and her 9 year old daughter saw Aliayah in her bed around 6:00 that morning.
Lena’s husband, Aliayah’s stepfather, had already left for work at that time. Lena jumped into her car and drove around looking for her daughter, and reports are that she even ran out of gas while looking. She called the police and reported her daughter missing around 11:30. By the end of the day there were about 100 volunteers along with the police out searching for the little girl and they still haven’t found her.
Aliayah was last seen wearing her pajama bottoms with the cartoon character Dora on it and a pink princess sweatshirt. She is about 3 feet tall and she weighs about 35 pounds. She has brown eyes and brown hair. Her ears are pierced and four front teeth are missing.
Aliayah lived in the family home in Weston, West Virginia along with her parents and 4 other children. Her mother is pregnant now with twins. Police say there are no signs of forced entry of the home. They say there is a screen door which doesn’t have a handle and there is a regular door that doesn’t shut very well. State Police Sgt. C.N. Alton said that the other siblings were all home at the time and the whole family is being very cooperative with the investigators.
Aliayah’s relatives say she is a shy little girl and she doesn’t speak to strangers. “She never leaves the house unless an adult is with her,” said grandmother Joann Evans. “She wouldn’t have come out in the yard, or the road for that matter, without her mother.”
The Lewis County Sheriff’s Department is asking that anyone with any information about what has happened to this little girl to please call 304-269-8245.
My prayers are with this family. I pray that God will lead them to their daughter and that she will be alive and well.
Jan Barrett
40 users commented in " 3 Year Old West Virginia Girl, Aliayah Lunsford, Missing Since Saturday "
Follow-up comment rss or Leave a TrackbackPraying this child is found soon, and returned to her family.
It’s heartbreaking to know, children aren’t safe anywhere, not even in their own homes. It really makes me angry.
Thank you Jan,
I pray that find this sweet little girl safe and sound.
Hope she found soon.
They have a press release coming out at 4:00 I wonder if they found her? Hope so. jmo
I am wondering if the father of the little girl somehow found out about her and cam e and took her. How very sad. I truly hope that she is found safe and unharmed. I can’t imagine how scared she must be or what her family is going through. I will be praying for them all
WOW!!!!! another “odd” missing case. 90% the parents had something to do with this….
why does she have 4 teeth missing at 3 years old????
I will be praying for this child’s safe return.
We join in praying. Thanks, Jan. Peter and Heather
A couple of questions
Why does a 3 year old have four front teeth missing? Kids do not loose their baby teeth until 5 or 6 years old.
What 3 year old sleeps until 9 or 9:30 AM
If you child is sick when you put them to bed in the evening, do you wait until 9 or 9:30 in the AM to check on them?
And finally an observation….
This little girl looks very unhappy in this picture. Her eyes look very sad. Why use that picture? Did they have any with her happy and smiling?
I think there is something missing in this child’s story. I hope I am wrong and she is found safe and healthy. I am adding my prayers for her along with everyone else.
It’s odd to me too that she has four front teeth missing. Our granddaughter is 3 and in preschool with 3 year olds and none of them are missing their front teeth. WORRIED…
I, have to agree with barbinOhio–I, was thinking the same thing, when I looked at her picture-she looks so sad and truthfully i, thought abused–And I, also wonder why her front teeth were missing at age 3–Well I can only hope and pray, that she will be found safe-May God watch over her and all the little children everywhere–
It doesn’t say they didn’t check on her all night…it says they checked on her at 6am and she was missing three hours later, but it still seems very weird. How can anyone be certain that a 3YO would NEVER go outside alone? If 3YO were dependable to make their own decisions like that (especially while sick!), they wouldn’t need parenting! But whatever the outcome, it is very sad…I hope they find her!
She more than likely had to have her front teeth pulled by the dentist due to them being rotten…I’ve seen it plenty of times…most often baby bottle tooth decay 🙁 hope this little girl is found soon!
Hopefully this little girl is found soon, safe! I have a 2 yr old and she can be quite curious my doors to my house are also the same dont clise very well and screen doors with no handles my landlord wont fix them, so I know how easy it is for the little ones to get curious and wander. Even though the grandmother says she is shy and wont go out by herself…all little ones get curious, we can never second guess the thoughts of a toddler! Instead of people jumping to conclusions I really hope they will start praying for a safe return! As for her teeth… Who knows maybe from dental problems (i hope) but please instead of being so negative try to be positive, if we have no faith what hope do we give this little girl? I doubt child abuse is a reason the other children would have been taken away by now.
http://search.yahoo.com/r/_ylt=A0oG7nGFdYNOURkAY1dXNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTE1YjlxMXYwBHNlYwNzcgRwb3MDMQRjb2xvA2FjMgR2dGlkA01TWTAxM18xNzg-/SIG=127ndp4a5/EXP=1317266949/**http%3a//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_childhood_caries
Answer to baby missing teeth. It can be from this.jmo
Sorry link isnt working Just look up bottle rot and it will explain how alot of little ones end up losing front teeth. Too bad because it was preventable. jmo
I’m praying for this baby,
anyone hear anything yet?
We really may not know how accurate the details being reported of the events are. We do not really know the facts in that home that AM, but it is reported that the mother said.. “Lena told police that she and her 9 year old daughter SAW Aliayah in her bed around 6:00 that morning” This says they saw he in bed, not that anyone checked on her. Sick babies or very young children with a temp always kept me awake all night, checking at least every hour or 2. Temps get higher at night and can become dangerous pretty quick. Also temps can dehydrate a child very quickly and that is very dangerous.
I also would ask who in their right mind would notice a sick 3 year old (or any small child for that matter , sick or not)missing from their bed at “9:00 or 9:30” and not call LE until 11:30 ? I am sorry but sometimes the best way to save a child is to act fast. If she would not wander outside alone and would not go with a stranger (as family members state)then why look for 1.5 to 2 hours for her before calling LE? Right now it appears that the family is believing she was taken. A person can get a long way away in 1 or 2 hours and a lot of things can happen in even a few minutes, to a 3 year old who wanders off. Why would anyone wait, why not call in the first 30 minutes or less even?
It is not that I am negative, I am praying for her as well. Sometimes a life can be saved by looking at all possibilities and acting fast. IMO
Some of the things reported in this case do not make sense. Just saying.
This little girl’s picture makes me worry.
As far as her teeth being missing one possible answer is the condition mentioned in the previous posts. The following was snipped from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_childhood_caries
“The disease process begins with the transmission of the bacteria to the child, usually from the primary caretaker, the mother. Mothers with untreated dental disease present a very high risk to their children.”
“Poor feeding practices without appropriate preventive measures can lead to a distinctive pattern of caries in susceptible infants and toddlers commonly known as baby bottle tooth decay (BBTD), a form of severe early childhood caries (ECC).”
“In some unfortunate cases, infants and toddlers have experienced severe tooth decay that has resulted in dental restorations or extractions. The good news is that decay is preventable.”
So this child had to have a bad case, if this was the reason for her teeth being missing. At 3 years old her teeth needed to be pulled due to severe decay? That is really sad. There are 5 children with 2 more on the way. I sure hope someone can help them, cause it seems they may need some help JMO
I was courious about the teeth i called a doctor just to ask question he said,” that it is possible for a three year old to lose teeth but isn’t common, but it could happen”. I don’t know if thats the case here i know the mother and i now she would never do anything to her baby this is a scary thing to happen to someone i hope little aliyah comes home safe. I’m praying for Aliyah and Lena that she gets her baby back safe.
plus the baby in all her pictures doesn’t look like she has “missed a meal”.
I’m praying this baby is found safe and unharmed.
My daughter had dental work done at 3 because the medication she was on ruined her teeth.(she was breast fed) so it was from a bottle. she never lost any teeth because I was able to pay to have them fixed. maybe this angel’s mom was on state aid and couldn’t afford to have them fixed so they were removed.
I hope they find the little girl, and at this point, I hope they found she was taken by her father or another paternal relative and is safe in someone else’s home.
But there are legitimate reasons for a child to lose their baby teeth before 5 or 6. My nephew lost two front teeth at age 2-and-a-half — he was playing and running in the yard when he fell and hit his face on the toy he was carrying. (Then, again, when he was nine, he took a fall while bike riding and lost one of his permanent teeth, poor kid!)
Marty ITA,
I don’t care about her teeth, I just want her found alive and safe. there’s to many missing children and I’m so afraid these egg donors/ sperm donors now think they can kill their children and get by withit. Casey Anthoney did. everyday another child just vanishes while at home and in bed. it’s unreal. it makes you want to keep your children tied to you so you don’t lose them.
I hope she come home…my family will pray for her,,,
Per an article on WBOY, the remaining Lunsford children have been removed by the W.Va. Dept. of Health and Human Resources at 9 p.m. Friday. They did not give a reason.
On Friday, Lena Lunsford, Aliayah’s mother, hired an attorney, Tom Smith, of Charleston, WV.
~~~~~~
http://wboy.com/story.cfm?func=viewstory&storyid=109093
WBOY Clarksburg, WV Updated: 10-1-11
“Aliayah Lunsford Still Missing on Day 7”
As of this time, Aliayah Lunsford still has not been found.
Special prayers for Aliayah. ♥
Has anyone seen the video of the neighbor who was outside that morning? He said he heard no yelling or anything that would make ya think the little girl was missing. I believe him. Something is really wrong with this case and its not good for the little girl. jmo
The mother and step father both have records and both have served time. The step father threatned his own neice with an Axe. The Mother had her last child in Jan of this year and now twins due any minute.The middle child has a different last name than the rest of her children. The neighbor states no one was out side calling for this little girl that AM and the survaliance cameras show the mom stoping for cigeretts that AM. The store clerk did not notice anything about the mom and the mom did not mention her missing child. It is reported she never spoke to any of the neighbors telling them her child was missing. I still wonder why, if they know she would not go with a stranger and know she would not go out side by herself then where was the mother searching and why wait 2 hours to call LE? Did the mom feel she had to drive out side of the neighborhood to find the child and if so why? If the door did not close properly why not fix it? With little children who are able to open the door and get out alone why would you leave the door like that?
I would love to see this child found safe and I pray she is. IMO these children were not properly cared for. From 5 babies with multiple fathers and 2 more on the way (3 babies all under 1 year old), in a home with a violent stepfather, missing teeth and doors not child safe I think someone needed to step in much earlier JMO. I hope she is found safe.
For all who missed it the father has a record for violent behavior and all of there children after talking to health and human resources we taken away this morning. The truth hurts but I see major abuse in her eyes!!
After all I have read and heard on the news over the weekend I believe this little Angel is in heaven where she is now safe.
I am not in anyway blaming anyone. but it is beyond difficult for me to embrace the idea of someone coming into your home during daylight and taking a child and the parent not knowing. I am very sceptical because parents or faniky members do some crazy stuff to their children and then deny it to the end!
sparkles ~ ita,
it make take years as we still have missing children out there, but the truth will come out. why oh why wont these egg donors/sperm donors give these baby/children to someone instead of killing them. it would save the childs life and the killers life.
If the child was reported missing at 11:30 and the mother admited to driving around for 2 hours, I think LE should do a radius from the home on a map of 1 hour driving distance and search at that radius area. 1 hour away from home and 1 hour to get back could be a very important clue to help find this child IMO.
No one drives around for 2 hours searching for a child who they believed was abducted fromher bed as these family members indcated from the begining. “she would not go out side and would not go with a stranger”. The 2 hours of driving was for a purpose other than looking for a 3 year old, IMO. I am praying for this chid to be found, a miracle would be nice… finding her alive.
Jan can you do an update on this child for us? Anything would be appreciated.TYIA
Where is this Angel? this is so sad.
Jan is a little under the weather right now. She will be following up on this story as soon as she is able.
Thank you Simon, tell Jan she is wished a speedy return to good health.
Thank you Simon,
I read this morning that the FBI said they had a crediable tip that this baby is still alive, how I hope this is true.
Jan hope you feel better soon.
I belive where the mother is about have twins,she could no longer have her 3 year old,and the twins to take care of. In the case of her 4 missing front teeth…were they knocked out?
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