Venus Rose Stewart 32, msg 5/3/10 - Colon Township, MI (Hubby Convicted)

[seahorse]

I believe everything the husband did was calculated.  When V.S. punched him in the nose "five times" to when the second
time she was arrested, I feel he orchestrated both times, to have it on public court records.


When I found out he was in the service, everything started making sense to me, he had to have self-discipline to succeed in
the four years in the service.  I was in the military for three years, I understand how cunning some military members are
and that is good, sometimes. In the service everything is "CYA" "which means cover your butt" 


So my little opinion is he was covering his butt by orchestrating little by little her court records, so she would look like
she lacked competence, I didn't mean she was!  I just believe he was inch by inch setting her up to CYA.  She mostly
likely was a happy go lucky person until she married. JMO


Yes, I feel he may have tried to "get rid of her in another way" and that didn't work and then he resorted to plan B. 
When he stated that "he was afraid of her" he may have been implying other things, all calculated.


Oh, the mollestation charges puzzled me, (if the reports have been correct) I was curious why she moved with him to VA
after she filled charges even though the results were proven inconclusive.  That is what is most puzzling to me.

Seahorse...Good Monkey morning to you and all!  IMO Venus was probably CYA herself.  Even with molestation charges made by her (found inconclusive)I agree with Muffy, she was planning a way out.  Her thinking may have been, I'll move with him there, let him think things are okay and while he's at work I'll pack up and move without threats, violence, a big scene, or whatever she may have been afraid of.  If I was afraid of my husband this is the way I would do it.  That puts him a little further away from her parents home where she planned to go to for safety.  If you have a trully evil person somethimes they find you no matter what you do.  Poor children, having to lose both parents this way.  I hope they have a good happy life here on out with their granparents.  Finding their Mother would be better sooner than later so that they may begin to pick up the pieces and move on.  I'm so glad the community is supporting the family.  God Bless.

Melisb- I don't recall posting anything personally relating specifically to Venus planning a way out.  But I do think she was trying to get out.  She had moved with her children into her parents home. 

Melisb,

Thank-you for your comment because it keeps my mind open.  My mind was not opened in the beginning, I see things more clearly.

Your are diplomatic and tactful, I need to remember that next time when I respond to a comment.  Yes, Venus may have "played

the game" (so to speak) until she was able to leave, he may have been good at intimidation and bullying her.  God Bless her soul.

[Nut44x4]

Yeah.....what Klaas said. Oh, and the No Body No Crime/Case only works in Aruba 

Chew on this Doug  62 pages 

“No body” murder trials in the United States
http://nobodycases.com/no_body2.pdf

[melisb]

I believe everything the husband did was calculated.  When V.S. punched him in the nose "five times" to when the second
time she was arrested, I feel he orchestrated both times, to have it on public court records.


When I found out he was in the service, everything started making sense to me, he had to have self-discipline to succeed in
the four years in the service.  I was in the military for three years, I understand how cunning some military members are
and that is good, sometimes. In the service everything is "CYA" "which means cover your butt" 


So my little opinion is he was covering his butt by orchestrating little by little her court records, so she would look like
she lacked competence, I didn't mean she was!  I just believe he was inch by inch setting her up to CYA.  She mostly
likely was a happy go lucky person until she married. JMO


Yes, I feel he may have tried to "get rid of her in another way" and that didn't work and then he resorted to plan B. 
When he stated that "he was afraid of her" he may have been implying other things, all calculated.


Oh, the mollestation charges puzzled me, (if the reports have been correct) I was curious why she moved with him to VA
after she filled charges even though the results were proven inconclusive.  That is what is most puzzling to me.

Seahorse...Good Monkey morning to you and all!  IMO Venus was probably CYA herself.  Even with molestation charges made by her (found inconclusive)I agree with Muffy, she was planning a way out.  Her thinking may have been, I'll move with him there, let him think things are okay and while he's at work I'll pack up and move without threats, violence, a big scene, or whatever she may have been afraid of.  If I was afraid of my husband this is the way I would do it.  That puts him a little further away from her parents home where she planned to go to for safety.  If you have a trully evil person somethimes they find you no matter what you do.  Poor children, having to lose both parents this way.  I hope they have a good happy life here on out with their granparents.  Finding their Mother would be better sooner than later so that they may begin to pick up the pieces and move on.  I'm so glad the community is supporting the family.  God Bless.

Melisb- I don't recall posting anything personally relating specifically to Venus planning a way out.  But I do think she was trying to get out.  She had moved with her children into her parents home. 

Melisb,

Thank-you for your comment because it keeps my mind open.  My mind was not opened in the beginning, I see things more clearly.

Your are diplomatic and tactful, I need to remember that next time when I respond to a comment.  Yes, Venus may have "played

the game" (so to speak) until she was able to leave, he may have been good at intimidation and bullying her.  God Bless her soul.

Thanks Seahorse!  I guess we won't ever really know what happened but what I do believe is that ol hubby's hands are very dirty.  We know from her parents she said she was very scared of him.

Muffy is that you in blue?  If so that was my opinion and didn't word it correctly but was trying to refer to you saying (I think) that she may have been searching for a way out and I just went further and gave a scenario.  Sorry, I'll try to word things or seperate better next time.  Ya'll have a wonderful day from the steamy south.

[darla]

Hi Monkeys,

Just found this case on the forum.....Like most of you guys I was dumbfounded by some of the post blaming Venus for what has happened to her. Unless you have lived in an abusive situation, you have no idea what she lived thru. I have been there, done that , and bought the t-shirt. It doesn't matter that she was arrested for DV. After you have been beaten and knocked around a few times you start fighting back. He was bigger and he was stronger than her and it does not give him the right to knock her around. I was told for years that if I left he would kill me and my children. But it got to the point that if I didn't leave he was going to kill me anyway. I sneaked me and my children out at 3 am with just the clothes on our backs . I left everything that I    had worked 10 hrs a day to pay for while he laid up drunk. I stayed in hiding til I could get a restraining order and emergency custody of my kids. And a restraining order is worth about as much as the paper it is written on. Most women that are killed by their husbands have restraining orders.
And just because he is military does not give him a pass in my book. My ex was military AND the Chief of Police in our town. He arrested people for DUI and he was drunker than they were. So think before you type. No one deserves to be murder. PERIOD

[seahorse]

I believe everything the husband did was calculated.  When V.S. punched him in the nose "five times" to when the second
time she was arrested, I feel he orchestrated both times, to have it on public court records.


When I found out he was in the service, everything started making sense to me, he had to have self-discipline to succeed in
the four years in the service.  I was in the military for three years, I understand how cunning some military members are
and that is good, sometimes. In the service everything is "CYA" "which means cover your butt" 


So my little opinion is he was covering his butt by orchestrating little by little her court records, so she would look like
she lacked competence, I didn't mean she was!  I just believe he was inch by inch setting her up to CYA.  She mostly
likely was a happy go lucky person until she married. JMO


Yes, I feel he may have tried to "get rid of her in another way" and that didn't work and then he resorted to plan B. 
When he stated that "he was afraid of her" he may have been implying other things, all calculated.


Oh, the mollestation charges puzzled me, (if the reports have been correct) I was curious why she moved with him to VA
after she filled charges even though the results were proven inconclusive.  That is what is most puzzling to me.

Seahorse...Good Monkey morning to you and all!  IMO Venus was probably CYA herself.  Even with molestation charges made by her (found inconclusive)I agree with Muffy, she was planning a way out.  Her thinking may have been, I'll move with him there, let him think things are okay and while he's at work I'll pack up and move without threats, violence, a big scene, or whatever she may have been afraid of.  If I was afraid of my husband this is the way I would do it.  That puts him a little further away from her parents home where she planned to go to for safety.  If you have a trully evil person somethimes they find you no matter what you do.  Poor children, having to lose both parents this way.  I hope they have a good happy life here on out with their granparents.  Finding their Mother would be better sooner than later so that they may begin to pick up the pieces and move on.  I'm so glad the community is supporting the family.  God Bless.

Melisb- I don't recall posting anything personally relating specifically to Venus planning a way out.  But I do think she was trying to get out.  She had moved with her children into her parents home. 

Melisb,

Thank-you for your comment because it keeps my mind open.  My mind was not opened in the beginning, I see things more clearly.

Your are diplomatic and tactful, I need to remember that next time when I respond to a comment.  Yes, Venus may have "played

the game" (so to speak) until she was able to leave, he may have been good at intimidation and bullying her.  God Bless her soul.

Thanks Seahorse!  I guess we won't ever really know what happened but what I do believe is that ol hubby's hands are very dirty.  We know from her parents she said she was very scared of him.

Muffy is that you in blue?  If so that was my opinion and didn't word it correctly but was trying to refer to you saying (I think) that she may have been searching for a way out and I just went further and gave a scenario.  Sorry, I'll try to word things or seperate better next time.  Ya'll have a wonderful day from the steamy south.

Hi Monkey's,


If I understood correctly a hearing is scheculed (next week) for the custody battle, DS wants custody.

 

http://www.examiner.com/x-1168-Crime-Examiner~y2010m5d21-Venus-Stewart-Estranged-husband-of-missing-woman-wants-custody-of-children-video

[Sister]

 o/t Klaas, when I clicked on the examiner site above, there were some photos of Ethan I had not seen.  Would you do your magic and put them on his thread please.

[Sister]

Hi Monkeys,

Just found this case on the forum.....Like most of you guys I was dumbfounded by some of the post blaming Venus for what has happened to her. Unless you have lived in an abusive situation, you have no idea what she lived thru. I have been there, done that , and bought the t-shirt. It doesn't matter that she was arrested for DV. After you have been beaten and knocked around a few times you start fighting back. He was bigger and he was stronger than her and it does not give him the right to knock her around. I was told for years that if I left he would kill me and my children. But it got to the point that if I didn't leave he was going to kill me anyway. I sneaked me and my children out at 3 am with just the clothes on our backs . I left everything that I    had worked 10 hrs a day to pay for while he laid up drunk. I stayed in hiding til I could get a restraining order and emergency custody of my kids. And a restraining order is worth about as much as the paper it is written on. Most women that are killed by their husbands have restraining orders.
And just because he is military does not give him a pass in my book. My ex was military AND the Chief of Police in our town. He arrested people for DUI and he was drunker than they were. So think before you type. No one deserves to be murder. PERIOD

Darla, thank you for sharing your heartbreaking story.  I am so glad you had the courage to get out.  It's not easy . . . fear is an awful, crippling feeling . . . I know.

[darla]

Hi Monkeys,

Just found this case on the forum.....Like most of you guys I was dumbfounded by some of the post blaming Venus for what has happened to her. Unless you have lived in an abusive situation, you have no idea what she lived thru. I have been there, done that , and bought the t-shirt. It doesn't matter that she was arrested for DV. After you have been beaten and knocked around a few times you start fighting back. He was bigger and he was stronger than her and it does not give him the right to knock her around. I was told for years that if I left he would kill me and my children. But it got to the point that if I didn't leave he was going to kill me anyway. I sneaked me and my children out at 3 am with just the clothes on our backs . I left everything that I    had worked 10 hrs a day to pay for while he laid up drunk. I stayed in hiding til I could get a restraining order and emergency custody of my kids. And a restraining order is worth about as much as the paper it is written on. Most women that are killed by their husbands have restraining orders.



































And just because he is military does not give him a pass in my book. My ex was military AND the Chief of Police in our town. He arrested people for DUI and he was drunker than they were. So think before you type. No one deserves to be murder. PERIOD

Darla, thank you for sharing your heartbreaking story.  I am so glad you had the courage to get out.  It's not easy . . . fear is an awful, crippling feeling . . . I know.

Sister, you are welcome, If my story helps just one woman to have the courage to get out, then I am happy. It has been 30 yrs since that fateful night that I was beaten almost beyond recognition and I still carry the emotional scars as well as the physical scars. Back then it did no good to call the cops. He was their boss and they didn't get involved in DV cases.

I hope Venus is found and brought back to her family and he gets his just dues. I would hide his little girls forever before he would get custody. I have a feeling they need to look further down the road to Virginia to look for her body. I doubt he disposed of it that close to where she lived.

[seahorse]

http://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2010/05/missing_woman_venus_stewarts_e.html

Good Morning,

Holy Moly!!!

May 24, 2010, 10:32PM


CENTREVILLE — The St. Joseph County Department of Human Services has initiated action to take control of custody of the two young daughters of Venus Stewart, the Colon woman who has been missing since April 26.
Courtesy photosVenus Stewart and estranged husband Douglas Stewart

Larry McComb, Stewart’s father, said Monday that he expects the court will appoint he and his wife, Therese, to continue caring for the girls, ages 5 and 3.


But McComb said they won’t return to the couple’s rural Colon Township home until after high fencing, security cameras and guard dogs are in place.


In addition, McComb said the couple also plans to secure permits to carry concealed weapons, all in response to what McComb said are their fears that Stewart’s estranged husband, Douglas Stewart, could attempt to take the girls

snip...

WOW!!

[MuffyBee]

http://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2010/05/missing_woman_venus_stewarts_e.html
Missing woman Venus Stewart's estranged husband seeks custody of daughters
May 24, 2010

CENTREVILLE — The St. Joseph County Department of Human Services has initiated action to take control of custody of the two young daughters of Venus Stewart, the Colon woman who has been missing since April 26.

Larry McComb, Stewart’s father, said Monday that he expects the court will appoint he and his wife, Therese, to continue caring for the girls, ages 5 and 3.

But McComb said they won’t return to the couple’s rural Colon Township home until after high fencing, security cameras and guard dogs are in place.

In addition, McComb said the couple also plans to secure permits to carry concealed weapons, all in response to what McComb said are their fears that Stewart’s estranged husband, Douglas Stewart, could attempt to take the girls.

Douglas Stewart has been named by law enforcement authorities as the “only person of interest” in the disappearance of Venus Stewart.

He has not been arrested or charged or charged with a crime. Douglas Stewart declined to comment when contacted Monday.

Terry Evans, St. Joseph County Juvenile Court director, said a hearing has been scheduled for Friday on a child neglect petition filed by St. Joseph County Child Protective Services.

Venus Stewart had been awarded custody of the children on March 26 after she returned to Michigan from the family’s Virginia home with the girls earlier this year.

On May 14, Douglas Stewart filed a response to that custody order, seeking custody of the girls. He notes that the their mother is missing and he is the other biological parent.

St. Joseph County Prosecutor John McDonough said he will represent DHS Child Protective Services at the hearing on Friday.

A juvenile court referee is scheduled to determine if a child neglect petition should be authorized.

If the petition is approved, it begins the process for DHS, under the court’s jurisdiction, to assume legal responsibility for the children and decide who will have at least temporary custody.

McDonough said Monday that he will recommend Douglas Stewart not be granted custody of the two girls “for pretty obvious reasons.”

“We don’t have any idea where Venus Stewart is and he’s the only person of interest in the case,” McDonough said.

McComb said Monday that he is holding out hope that his daughter is still alive, held somewhere against her will.

Meanwhile, McComb said his two granddaughters have not been told that their mother is missing and they’re being sheltered at different, undisclosed locations “to protect them.”

“Right now the 3-year-old doesn’t know much but she  misses her mom,” McComb said. “And the 5-year-old thinks mom is with dad in Virginia. At one point she saw their pictures together on the TV. They’re both so sad.”

As they agonize over the whereabouts of their daughter, the McCombs have accepted even unconventional offers of help.

“We’ve had calls from psychics and they’ve come to the house saying they can help find her,” Larry McComb said. “I gave one of them one of her shirts and another one took a Walmart card she had.”

But still there’s been no resolution.

“One of them told us they saw her under the ground within sight of a small town water tower,” McComb said. “It’s all I can do to keep my composure.”

[seahorse]

http://www.wkzo.com/news/articles/2010/may/26/custody-hearing-venus-stewart-case/

A hearing is scheculed for Friday to begin....

Good Morning to all and a very happy Spring!   

[MuffyBee]

http://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2010/05/police_search_leonidas_townshi.html
Police search Leonidas Township home of Douglas Stewart's parents in missing-person investigation of Venus Stewart
May 26, 2010

LEONIDAS TOWNSHIP — Police served a search warrant last week at the St. Joseph County home and farm of Douglas Stewart’s parents, authorities said.

Michigan State Police investigators seized “some items” during the search Friday but did not find Stewart’s wife, 32-year-old Venus Stewart who has been missing since April 26, Lt. Mike Risko said Wednesday.

Risko declined to say what, or how many, items police seized from Douglas Stewart’s parents home, which is located in the 50100 block of Fulton Road in Leonidas Township.

Risko said Wednesday that Stewart, who recently resided in Newport News, Va., is currently staying at his parents’ residence.

Police have said they believe Venus Stewart, who was last seen wearing pajamas, was abducted some time between 7:10 and 8:30 a.m. on April 26 from the front yard of her parents’ home in the 55000 block of Driftwood Drive in Colon Township.

Risko said Wednesday that Douglas Stewart, 29, remains the sole person of interest in his wife’s apparent abduction and police are still awaiting the results of lab analysis that is being conducted on suspected blood that was found in a Dodge pickup truck and a Mercury Sable that belong to Douglas Stewart.

Police disclosed earlier this month that besides the suspected blood, investigators also found in the pickup truck a receipt for a tarp, gloves, shovel and a hat purchased April 25 from a Walmart in Ohio.

In addition to waiting on results from the state police crime lab, Risko said police also are still trying to transport the pickup truck back to Michigan to get a closer look at the vehicle’s tires. The move is part of an attempt to confirm whether the tires on the truck match tire treads that were found at the scene of Venus Stewart’s disappearance.

A MSP crime lab technician who compared photos of tire impressions found near Venus Stewart’s parents’ home and photos of Douglas Stewart’s truck tires said the photos “showed general tread pattern agreement” but “indicated she would need the actual tires from the Stewart pickup for more thorough, further analysis,” according to a search warrant affidavit filed in Newport News Circuit Court.

Police ask anyone who may have information about Venus Stewart to call the MSP post in White Pigeon at 269-483-7611 or its regional dispatch center in Rockford at 616-866-6666.

[MuffyBee]

http://www.wwmt.com/articles/margin-1377042-bottom-mother.html
(video)
Updated: Police continue search for missing mother
May 26, 2010

ST. JOSEPH, Mich. (NEWSCHANNEL 3) – The case of missing mother Venus Stewart has taken another turn.

 

On Wednesday Newschannel 3 learned that the Michigan State Police have searched the home of Douglas Stewart's parents. That search happened on May 21st.

 

Douglas is Venus' estranged husband and is the only person of interest in the case.

 

Police believe Venus was kidnapped at the end of April from her parents' home near Colon.

 

On Wednesday Newschannel 3 again spoke with Venus' father, who believes his daughter is still alive.

 

Since Venus went missing, her father, Larry McComb, has believed that Doug Stewart is holding her captive.

 

“I suspected either his parents' house or his sister's house,” said McComb.

 

Recently Michigan State Police found that Doug had moved back in with his parents in Leonidas Township.

 

“We thought that it was necessary to check that out,” said Lt. Mike Risko, Michigan State Police.

 

Lt. Risko says Doug's presence in his parents home is what led to a search of that property.

 

“We had a couple of cadaver dogs that checked the area and it took a couple hours,” said Lt. Risko. “We did find some evidence that we believe related to the disappearance of Venus.”

 

Lt. Risko wouldn't say exactly what investigators founds, but Doug Stewart was there to see the discovery.

 

“He wasn't there at the time we arrived,” said Lt. Risko. “he showed up a little while later and watched from across the street.”

 

Despite investigators finding evidence they say links Stewart to his wife's disappearance in Michigan, Ohio, and his home in Virginia, they still aren't ready to call him a suspect.

 

“We're not going to call him a suspect until we have an arrest warrant in our hands and we do not have that at this point,” said Lt. Risko.

 

And as long as Douglas Stewart is around, McComb says his grandchildren won't be.

 

“The police and Child Protection Services requested that we not have the kids here cause they're afraid Doug might kidnap them,” said McComb.

 

Police are still waiting for DNA results on blood samples taken from Doug's truck in Virginia. They are also trying to get that truck back to Michigan to compare the treads to tracks found outside Venus' parents' home.

[MuffyBee]

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/EpGGnyXsKbk&amp;hl=en_US&amp;fs=1&amp;" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/EpGGnyXsKbk&amp;hl=en_US&amp;fs=1&amp;</a>

[AmandaReckonwith]

Case archive album for Venus Stewart:

http://s296.photobucket.com/albums/mm166/crankycrankerson/Venus%20Stewart/

[MuffyBee]

Case archive album for Venus Stewart:

http://s296.photobucket.com/albums/mm166/crankycrankerson/Venus%20Stewart/

Thank you, AmandaReckonwith. 

[seahorse]

Doug Stewart denied visitation rights

Custody hearing held Friday afternoon
Updated: Friday, 28 May 2010, 5:17 PM EDT
Published : Friday, 28 May 2010, 1:41 PM EDT

By Jessica Leffler




CENTREVILLE, Mich. (WOOD) - A custody hearing over where the children of Venus and Doug Stewart was held Friday afternoon in St. Joseph County.

During the custody hearing, a child protective services worker took the stand. She cited concerns with placing the children in Doug's care following allegations from one of the girls of innappropriate sexual contact. Charges were never filed in connection with those allegations.

Outside the courthouse, protesters plastered signs along the lawn. "We want our daughters to be safe," protestor Sue Billings said. "We're here in support of the daugthers, Venus and her parents."

The signs were in backlash against the possibility of Doug Stewart gaining custody of his kids, despite being named the only "person of interest" in the case of his wife's disappearance. Venus vanished April 26 from her parents' Colon Township home when she went outside around 7:30 a.m. in her pajamas.

A judge denied Doug visitation rights during the Friday hearing. And a petition was granted for a future hearing, which will be held June 17.

The Stewart's two girls are currently staying with Therese and Larry McComb, Venus' parents.

http://www.woodtv.com/dpp/news/local/sw_mich/Where-will-Venus-children-live

[Nut44x4]

Daughters of missing woman Venus Stewart in court-ordered hiding
By Kathy Jessup | Kalamazoo Gazette
May 28, 2010, 6:35PM

CENTREVILLE — The two young daughters of a missing Colon woman and her estranged husband, who has been named a “person of interest” in her disappearance, are in court-ordered hiding.

A spokeswoman for the St. Joseph County Prosecutor’s Office said Friday that the girls, ages 5 and 3, have been ordered to “a place the court feels is safe” and no specific information is being released on their whereabouts.

Douglas Stewart, the girls’ father and estranged husband of missing Venus Stewart, was in St. Joseph County Family Court Friday with his lawyers to request he be given custody of his daughters while his wife is missing.

Although state police have identified Douglas Stewart as a “person of interest” in the case of his missing wife, he has not been charged with any crime.

A prosecutor’s spokeswoman said the court ordered that Douglas Stewart will have no visitation with the two girls, at least until after a June 17 hearing to review developments in the case.
 
That’s scheduled for 1 p.m. at the St. Joseph County Courthouse in Centreville.
The two children and their mother were living at the Colon Township home of Venus Stewart’s parents on April 26 when the young mother was reported to have disappeared, wearing her pajamas.

Venus Stewart vanished one month after she was awarded custody of the couple’s children.
Despite a Michigan State Police investigation that reached to Newport News, Va., where Douglas Stewart was living at the time, no trace of the woman has been found.
Authorities have conducted searches of Douglas Stewart’s vehicles and his parents’ home in St. Joseph County’s Leonidas Township.

The results of forensic evidence testing have not yet been completed.
The girls had remained in the care of their maternal grandparents , Larry and Therese McComb, after their mother went missing. The McCombs said they had put the girls “in hiding” after their mother’s disappearance, saying they believed Douglas Stewart would try to take them.

Douglas Stewart had filed a petition May 14 seeking custody of the girls, citing their mother’s unknown whereabouts.

But the minors subsequently became wards of the court when the St. Joseph County Department of Human Services filed a child protective services petition, asking the court to make DHS responsible for the girls.
http://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2010/05/stewart_daughters_in_court-ord.html

[MuffyBee]

http://www.examiner.com/x-1168-Crime-Examiner~y2010m5d29-Venus-Stewart-Slain-womans-husband-loses-visitation-with-kids-after-allegation-of-sexual-abuse
Venus Stewart: Missing woman’s husband loses visitation with kids after allegation of sexual abuse
May 29, 2010

Only a week before Venus Stewart vanished, a judge granted her temporary legal and physical custody of her two children, allowing daily calls to their father. Her estranged husband, Douglas Stewart, argued he was not receiving those calls and last week attempted to gain custody of the kids.

Venus is believed to have been kidnapped on the morning of April 26 from her parents’ home in Colon Township, Michigan after heading outside to check the mail. Stewart has been named the sole person of interest in his wife’s disappearance

On Friday, a family court judge in St. Joseph County stripped Stewart of his visitation rights and he is now facing a possible civil action for neglect, according to WTVB. According to the report, the judge took the action after a social worker testified that one of the children claims her father sexually abused her.

WTVB notes that Stewart has never been charged with sexually abusing his children.

Nonetheless, he was greeted by protestors outside the courtroom and refused to make any comments to media upon exiting the hearing.

Venus is described as a white female about 5-foot-4 and 130 lbs., with brown eyes and dark hair.

Anyone with information regarding Venus is urged to call the State Police Regional Dispatch Center in Rockford at 616-866-6666, or the White Pigeon post at 269-483-7611.

[MuffyBee]

http://www.wwmt.com/articles/newschannel-1377134-husband-0in.html
(video)
Estranged husband of missing mother in court
May 28, 2010





CENTREVILLE, Mich. (NEWSCHANNEL 3) – The only person of interest in the disappearance of a West Michigan woman was in court in Centreville Friday.

 

Venus Stewart has been missing since the end of April. Her estranged husband, Doug Stewart, has not been charged, but police say he's the only person they are currently investigating.

 

On Friday a referee considered whether Doug should get to see his two children.

 

It was the first time we've seen Doug Stewart since the search for Venus started, and there were many eyes on him as he walked into court.

 

Flanked by his attorneys, Doug walked quickly into the juvenile courtroom. That courtroom is closed to cameras, but not to spectators. Venus' father was there, along with about a dozen other family members and friends.

 

Outside the court, some of those same folks were waving signs calling for Doug to be cut off from contact with his kids.

 

“I want him to know his child should be left with grandparents,” said family friend Connie O'Rourke. “We want Venus back.”

 

Friday's hearing was to determine if there is evidence to authorize a neglect or abuse petition against Doug, it stems from allegations made by Venus in February involving one of the couple's children.

 

A Human Services case worker refused to tell Newschannel 3 where the two children are currently living, only that their permanent address is the Colon Township home of Venus' parents. The home Venus disappeared from.

 

Attorney John Bush represented the two children in Friday's hearing. He says he saw the kids on Thursday and believes allowing Doug to have visitation would be harmful. He said the children are okay, but are confused about where their parents are.

 

The referee agreed that Doug's visitation should be suspended, saying that it was not in the best interest of the children to have contact with their father with the potential that he could disappear.

 

Outside of the court Doug refused to answer any questions from the media or onlookers. His attorneys would not speak with Newschannel 3 either.