Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, March 14, 1992 TAG: 9203140364
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: RON BROWN, SANDRA BROWN KELLY, and STEPHEN FOSTER STAFF WRITERS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Scottie, who was last seen Thursday afternoon after leaving Virginia Heights Elementary School, was found by a Southwest Roanoke resident who went outside calling for a cat in an alley and heard the boy whimpering, police said.
Scottie was suffering from exposure, but was apparently all right, an officer said. The boy was taken to a hospital for treatment.
All day Friday, the search for Scottie touched Roanoke. Throughout the day, police, firefighters, teachers, school security officers, relatives, friends and even strangers searched Scottie's neighborhood in hopes of finding him.
His mother, Annette Gibson, was convinced that Scottie was alive and wanted to come home.
"I don't know where to look," she said during the day, breaking into tears. "I'm tired of sitting by the phone. If he heard my voice, I know he'd come.
"Scottie knows the phone number," she said, seeking reassurance. "He's never wandered off like this or nothing.
"All I want is for him to return home safely. He is very much missed."
Witnesses told different stories on whether Scottie boarded a school bus bound for home, police said. Some children said he was dropped off at Wasena Avenue and Maiden Lane, near the Ghent Grace Brethren Church. Others said he was never on the bus.
The regular bus driver was not on duty Thursday, and the substitute driver was unable to remember if Scottie was on the bus, police said.
A child matching Scottie's description was seen playing at a wall near the bus stop shortly after the school bus unloaded its passengers. Police say they weren't sure that youngster was Scottie.
But his mother said she was sure that she sent his teacher a note instructing her to let him walk with other children to a baby sitter's house about a block from the school.
That was a new routine for Scottie, who until last week would meet his stepbrother, Shannon Whitaker, at the bus stop, several blocks from his Winona Avenue home. Shannon left to live with his father out of town.
"He never left the house," his mother said. "He never went to the park without the other children with him. He was a mama's boy."
Scottie would often ride his bicycle on the sidewalk near his house. His parents had taken away his skateboard because they didn't want him to get hurt in the street.
"He was just like my own," said Joe Gibson, who married Scottie's mother a month ago. "It tears your nerves to pieces. You see this in the newspapers. When it happens to you, it's hard to deal with."
Daniel Wimmer, Scottie's father, was at Dee and Doug's Rendezvous, a Roanoke bar and restaurant, Thursday night when he got the word from police his son was missing.
He immediately called Annette Gibson.
Their relationship had become increasingly bitter in the past several months as they wrangled in court over child-support payments. "I talked to her on the phone, but we just couldn't talk, so I hung up," Wimmer said.
His girlfriend, Sherry Harless, kept in touch with Gibson Friday.
Wimmer, 32, said police found him early in the evening and told him about Scottie. "They made me feel like I didn't give a damn about my son. I didn't know my son was going to come up missing," he said.
Wimmer said he stayed at the bar and drank until police came back to talk to him a second time. They ended up charging him with being drunk in public and taking him to jail for the night.
Friday morning, youth bureau detectives and school staff were going door to door in the neighborhood, hoping to turn up a lead. Up until the time he was found, police had not developed a theory in the case.
About mid-morning, they thought they had one when a small pair of shorts and a small shirt were found along the banks of the Roanoke River at Wasena Park. Joe Gibson assured the officers that the clothes were not Scottie's.
Before sunrise, dozens of other police officers were scouring the woods, railroad tracks, and river banks near the bus stop where some witnesses said Scottie was last seen.
Some police officers worked overtime, driving their own cars, and trying to figure where they may have fallen short.
"If anybody else has any new ideas on what we can do, let me know," Lt. Doug Allen asked.
Concerned people, some who don't even know the boy, continued searching as the blustery wind cut into them and the sky started spitting snow about 2 a.m.
Mike and Jeannie Kane, who live nearby, were there. "We heard a little boy was missing and we decided to come out and help," Mike Kane said.
"We just couldn't sit home and watch TV," Jeannie Kane added. "It touches your heart. How could you just stay home?"
A man and woman stopped their car to talk to a relative of Scottie's. The man said he'd been driving around for about eight hours, hoping to spot the boy, whose birthday is in six days.
Later, a surly driver in a red car pulled up to where some of Scottie's relatives are standing. "What's happening?" he asked, gunning the motor before they could answer.
"He must not really want to know," said Alice Holdren, Scottie's aunt.
But as others learned of the boy's disappearance, they called the Police Department asking how they could help.
Holdren and Scottie's 12-year-old stepsister, Chasity Whitaker, walked along the streets with a flashlight well past midnight. "A 5-year-old can't play hide and seek at 1:30 in the morning," Holdren said.
And as she stood beneath the red neon "Jesus Saves" sign at the Ghent church, she reaffirmed her faith.
"Pray to the good Lord to bring Scottie back," Holdren said. "Pray he is safe."
by CNB