Natalie Deblase 5, Jonathan Deblase 3-Mobile AL July 2010 (Bodies found)

[klaasend]

http://www.wkrg.com/alabama/article/two-children-missing-feared-dead/1202988/Dec-01-2010_5-17-pm/



Two Children Missing, Feared Dead

MOBILE, Alabama - Mobile police are looking for two children who were reported missing after a man in Louisville, Kentucky told police the kids were dead.

Natalie Deblase, 5, and Jonathan Deblase, 3, were last seen in Mobile more than four months ago, but police have not been able to account for their whereabouts since then.

The children were listed as residents at the Peach Place Extended Stay Inn on Jeff Hamilton Road in West Mobile along with John Deblase, 27, and Heather Leavell-Keaton, 22. The family moved out of the apartment on July 23 and left a forwarding address in Rome, Georgia. Management at the apartment complex remember seeing the little girl, but tell News Five they do not remember ever seeing the boy.

Officer Chris Levy, a spokesperson for the Mobile Police Department, says Mobile police were alerted about the children's disappearance after a man, who police have not identified, walked into a Louisville police station and told police the children were dead. Two investigators from Mobile are in Kentucky working with local police on this investigation.

Heather Leavell- Keaton, the children's step-mother, was arrested in Louisville last night. Mobile police are charging her with two counts of willful child abuse. Levy says the charges are the result of information learned during the investigation into the children's disappearance.
Edit to add both bodies have been found.  MB

[klaasend]

http://www.wkrg.com/alabama/article/holding-out-hope-for-missing-children/1203007/Dec-02-2010_12-18-am/

Video at the link as well:



Holding Out Hope For Missing Children

by Rose Ann Haven
Published: Wed, December 01, 2010 - 11:02 pm CST
Friends of the mother say they last saw the children in November of 2009.

MOBILE, Alabama - Jennifer Moffett of Mobile says she's friends with the mother of 5 year old Natalie Deblase and her little brother 3 Year old Jonathan Chase Deblase.
Moffett gave WKRG News 5 photos of the children she says were taken at a birthday party in November of 2009. Moffett says,"We loved, and we love them kids you know. Until said otherwise, I will believe they are still alive somewhere".

Moffett and her mother, Patricia Ward say the children attended the birthday party with their father who has custody of them, John Deblase. "Seemed like a great father you know. You know, struggling to take care of two children.....Pretty good dude you know from what we perceived of him, says Moffett.

Police say John Deblase lived in Mobile with his wife, Heather Leavell Keaton and the children. They stayed at Peach Place Extended Inn. "What we do know is they were here in Mobile. We're not able to find them", says Chris Levy, Mobile Police Spokesperson.

Mobile police started looking for them after a man notified police in Louisville, Kentucky that the children were dead. Louisville police haven't been able to substantiate that but, they arrested the stepmother and charged her with willful child abuse for incidents that happened in Mobile.

Moffett and Ward say when they saw the children they were well taken care of...and loved. "Our hope is that they're still alive and maybe he left them with somebody or we're still holding out that hope you know..that they're still alive", says Ward.

Two Mobile Police detectives are in Kentucky working with police there where the stepmother is scheduled to be arraigned Thursday morning. Meanwhile, the father is no where to be found.

[Nut44x4]

I'd say it was about time for  John Deblase's face to be plastered all over the news and AMW program, asap.

[klaasend]

I believe this is the dad's myspace.  The kids are younger in these pics:

http://www.myspace.com/jw1983

SINNER       Male
27 years old
HEARTBREAK, Alabama
United States

Last Login: 11/25/2010

[4 Donks]

Where was the mom and grandparents or other relatives that no one noticed the children were missing. Unbelievable.

[Nana29]

http://www.wkrg.com/alabama/article/holding-out-hope-for-missing-children/1203007/Dec-02-2010_12-18-am/

Video at the link as well:



Holding Out Hope For Missing Children

by Rose Ann Haven
Published: Wed, December 01, 2010 - 11:02 pm CST
Friends of the mother say they last saw the children in November of 2009.

MOBILE, Alabama - Jennifer Moffett of Mobile says she's friends with the mother of 5 year old Natalie Deblase and her little brother 3 Year old Jonathan Chase Deblase.
Moffett gave WKRG News 5 photos of the children she says were taken at a birthday party in November of 2009. Moffett says,"We loved, and we love them kids you know. Until said otherwise, I will believe they are still alive somewhere".

Moffett and her mother, Patricia Ward say the children attended the birthday party with their father who has custody of them, John Deblase. "Seemed like a great father you know. You know, struggling to take care of two children.....Pretty good dude you know from what we perceived of him, says Moffett.

Police say John Deblase lived in Mobile with his wife, Heather Leavell Keaton and the children. They stayed at Peach Place Extended Inn. "What we do know is they were here in Mobile. We're not able to find them", says Chris Levy, Mobile Police Spokesperson.

Mobile police started looking for them after a man notified police in Louisville, Kentucky that the children were dead. Louisville police haven't been able to substantiate that but, they arrested the stepmother and charged her with willful child abuse for incidents that happened in Mobile.

Moffett and Ward say when they saw the children they were well taken care of...and loved. "Our hope is that they're still alive and maybe he left them with somebody or we're still holding out that hope you know..that they're still alive", says Ward.

Two Mobile Police detectives are in Kentucky working with police there where the stepmother is scheduled to be arraigned Thursday morning. Meanwhile, the father is no where to be found.

[/b]


BBM
Interesting that the father is nowhere to be found also...this is just weird!

From 4Donks
"Where was the mom and grandparents or other relatives that no one noticed the children were missing. Unbelievable. "

I agree! Especially after 9 months? Lots of thing s wrong with this picture, IMO

[klaasend]

http://www.wkrg.com/alabama/article/mother-of-missing-children-makes-plea/1203036/Dec-02-2010_10-56-pm/

Video of the mom at the link above:

Mother of Missing Children Makes Plea

by Rose Ann Haven
Published: Thu, December 02, 2010 - 10:51 pm CST Last Updated: Thu, December 02, 2010 - 10:56 pm CST

MOBILE, Alabama - When Corrine Heathcock of Mobile talks about her children, Natalie and Chase Deblase, she lights up like any other mother.
"My daughter would talk to anybody. I mean, we would be in Wal-Mart store anywhere and she would talk to anybody. My son was a little womanizer. He loved women, any age.", says Heathcock.

Natalie turned five years old last month. Chase turns four this month. But, Heathcock hasn't seen them for more than a year.
She says when she and John Deblase divorced, he took the children. "I didn't have a steady place to live, I didn't have a job..I didn't have no way to take care of them..otherwise...I would have had them", she says.

Heathcock says when she tried to see the children, their father picked fights with her and stopped answering the phone. She didn't know he had moved to Louisville, Kentucky until police came to her home 2 weeks ago and told her they believe the kids may be dead. The children's stepmother told police she thinks John Deblase killed them. "Is he capable? Anybody's capable..but, would he do it..I don't know", says Heathcock who is preparing herself for the worst. In her heart, she says she believes her children are still alive, "that they were either given to a stranger or somebody and if you have my children or come forward..or any information...just. I want my children found".

As police desperately look for her ex-husband, she makes this plea to him, "Turn yourself in whether you did it or not..turn yourself in. Where's my children at? I want them home..if they're dead I want to bury them. They deserve that. They don't deserve to be out in the world..they need to come home".

Heathcock says when she was married to Deblase..he never hit her, but she feels like he hit the children inappropriately a couple of times.

[Nana29]

http://www.wlky.com/news/26001102/detail.html

Kids Missing, Stepmom Charged With Abuse

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- The search for two missing Alabama children continues as their stepmother was arrested in Louisville.

Heather Leavell-Keaton faces child abuse charges filed this week in Alabama.

The children -- ages 5 and 3 -- disappeared in Mobile in July. Their father had custody.

Leavell-Keaton appeared before a Jefferson District Court judge on Thursday. She's accused of the willful abuse of Natalie Deblase and Jonathan Deblase.

The charges are based on information developed during the investigation of the children's disappearance.

Leavell-Keaton, 22, lived in a Mobile motel with the kids and their father, John Deblase. Leavell-Keaton moved out in July.

"We love them kids, and until we hear otherwise, we'll believe they are still alive somewhere," said Jennifer Moffett, a friend of the children's biological mother.

Alabama detectives led Louisville Metro police to an office building on Breckenridge Lane, where Leavell-Keaton was arrested.

Leavell-Keaton took out an emergency protective order against John Deblase two weeks ago. She charged he held her against her will, chased and tackled her.

Leavell-Keaton said, "I feel he may have murdered his children."

The couple also has a 3-month-old child.

John Deblase didn't show up to a family court hearing regarding the protective order.

According to the Press Register newspaper in Alabama, a man showed up at a Louisville police station on Tuesday and told officers the children were dead, but offered no other details.

LMPD spokeswoman Officer Carey Klain said she didn't know from where that information came.

Leavell-Keaton has waived extradition to Alabama. A hearing has been scheduled for later this month.

As of Thursday, John Deblase had not been served with the protective order.

[klaasend]

http://www.whas11.com/news/Father-of-missing-Alabama-children-in-custody-111262434.html#


Father of missing children in custody; considered person of interest

by Amy Stallings

WHAS11.com

Posted on December 3, 2010 at 10:19 AM

Updated today at 12:27 PM


Louisville, Ky. (WHAS11) - Two children are missing and feared dead and now their father, who was living in Louisville, is in police custody.

It’s a case that spans from Louisville to Florida and Alabama.

WHAS11 received word Friday morning that the father of two missing children was taken into custody in Milton, Florida.

Police were alerted to his whereabouts after the local news media in Mobile, Alabama began running stories about the children's disappearance.

Twenty-seven-year-old John Deblase was allegedly staying with one of his friends in Santa Rosa County, Florida, which is about an hour east of Mobile.
WHAS11 News learned that friend was contacted by another person who saw a news account about the missing children and alerted authorities.

Natalie and Chase Deblase, John Deblase's young children, were last seen when they were living in Alabama.

The family moved from the extended stay hotel where they were living to a house in south Louisville in August, but neighbors there say they never saw the children.

Deblase's ex-wife, Heather Leavell-Keaton, alerted authorities on November 18 that she believes John Deblase murdered the two children.

She said that he told her the children were unresponsive and that she couldn't check on them.

Earlier this week, Leavell-Keaton appeared at a domestic violence order hearing.



Right now Heather Leavell-Keaton is being held at Louisville Metro Corrections on child abuse warrants from Alabama and is awaiting extradition.

Mobile police have confirmed that they are talking to Deblase but have not yet charged him with a crime.

He has not been described by law enforcement yet as a suspect but rather as a person of interest.

[klaasend]

[klaasend]

http://blog.al.com/live/2010/12/john_deblase_father_of_two_mis.html

John Deblase, father of two missing children, being questioned by Mobile police
Published: Friday, December 03, 2010, 9:59 AM     Updated: Friday, December 03, 2010, 10:14 AM
Jillian Kramer, Press-Register Jillian Kramer, Press-Register


MOBILE, Alabama -- Mobile police confirmed this morning that the father of two children missing since this summer is in custody and is being questioned by detectives.

According to local TV station WKRG, John DeBlase was taken into custody in Milton, Fla. However, Mobile police spokesman Officer Christopher Levy said he does not know where Deblase is being held or questioned.

Natalie Alexis Deblase, 5, and Jonathan Chase Deblase, 3, were reported missing in July by there stepmother in Kentucky. The stepmother, 22-year-old Heather Leavell-Keaton, has been arrested and charged with two counts of willful child abuse in connection with incidents when the children were living in Mobile with her and their father.

More details will be posted as they become available.

[Lenie]

Another horribly sad story. What the heck is wrong with these parents?

[klaasend]

Where is the 3 month old child?

[klaasend]

http://www.local15tv.com/news/custom/breaking%20news/story/Father-of-Missing-Children-Being-Questioned-By/1Js3ofGtZU-_a0MO4L7gYg.cspx

Father of Missing Children Being Questioned By Mobile Police in Fla.

Reported by: Local 15 News Staff
Published: 8:49 am
Updated: 10:53 am

(MOBILE, Ala.) - John Deblase, the father of two missing children who were last seen in Mobile, is being questioned by Mobile police at the Santa Rosa County Jail in Milton, Fla.

He has not been charged or arrested. He is being interviewed.

There is still no sign of his two missing children. Police say he is not under arrest.

Natalie and Jonathan Chase Deblase were last seen in Mobile in July. Court documents reveal their stepmother Heather Leavell-Keaton fears their father killed them.

She is in jail in Kentucky charged with two counts of willful abuse of a child. Their biological mother says she does not know what to think.

"I don't want to think my children are dead. I don't even want to contemplate it. I'm just tying to keep hope," Corrine Heathcock said.

Staying hopeful in a seemingly hopeless situation, Heathcock says she is waiting for word on the fate her children.

"The waiting is the killing me. That's the worst part," Heathcock said.

As Heathcock waits, more information about her ex-husband John Deblase is coming out in court documents. Leavell-Keaton, who has an infant child with Deblase, told investigators in Kentucky she feared for her daughter's safety.

She wrote in a statement, "I am afraid that he is going to do something to harm our daughter" because "he may have murdered his children." She went on to write that Deblase found the children unresponsive and he "had to do what he had to do."

"Could I expect John Joseph Deblase of this? No. Do I know he's got a bad temper, yes. I don't want to believe it, not somebody that I trusted with my children," Heathcock said.

Heathcock shared a home video taken of her kids with John and Heather. In it, the kids are waving and smiling.

Dana Mullins says it was taken from a much happier time. She says she witnessed both verbal and physical abuse of the children when Deblase, his children and Leavell-Keaton stayed with her earlier this year.

"She had taken her by the hair of the head and was beating her with a studded belt. She let out a blood curling scream. So I stepped in," Mullins said.

"The police told me they don't think they're going to find the kids alive. If they don't, I want them so I can bury them. So, I don't go through the rest of my life wondering "what if," Heathcock said.

Mobile police say they are investigating the disappearance of the children as a missing persons case and are actively looking for Deblase; they also say he is not a suspect in any crime as of now.

Court documents show Heathcock and Deblase divorced June last year. Heathcock says Deblase had custody and that she has not seen them for more than a year.

[4 Donks]

Copied from previous post

Dana Mullins says it was taken from a much happier time. She says she witnessed both verbal and physical abuse of the children when Deblase, his children and Leavell-Keaton stayed with her earlier this year.

"She had taken her by the hair of the head and was beating her with a studded belt. She let out a blood curling scream. So I stepped in," Mullins said.


WTH does stepped in mean ? That is child abuse did she think to call LE . Shame on her.

[klaasend]

http://blog.al.com/live/2010/12/john_deblase_arrested_charged.html

John Deblase, father of missing children, arrested by Mobile police
Published: Friday, December 03, 2010, 6:21 PM     Updated: Friday, December 03, 2010, 6:38 PM

MOBILE, Ala. -- Mobile police have arrested the father of two missing children.

John Joseph Deblase, 27, has been charged with two counts of aggravated child abuse and two counts of abuse of a corpse, according to a Mobile police news release.

Natalie Alexis Deblase, 5, and Jonathan Chase Deblase, 3, were reported missing in July by there stepmother in Kentucky. The stepmother, 22-year-old Heather Leavell-Keaton, has been arrested and charged with two counts of willful child abuse in connection with incidents when the children were living in Mobile with her and their father.

[klaasend]

http://www.wkrg.com/alabama/article/step-mother-he-may-have-murdered-his-children/1203021/Dec-03-2010_5-40-pm/

video at the link above

Police: Two Missing Children Are Dead

by Jessica Taloney
Published: Thu, December 02, 2010 - 12:08 pm CST Last Updated: Fri, December 03, 2010 - 5:40 pm CST
BREAKING NEWS Based on information from the father of two missing children, Mobile police say they believe the kids are dead.

MOBILE, Alabama - Friday 5:40 p.m.
During a press conference underway right now, Mobile police said they believe two missing children are dead.

Police told reporters they believe the children are dead based on information from the children's father, John DeBlase, 28.

Investigators say the children's bodies are buried within 100 miles of Mobile. Police will begin searching for the bodies tomorrow.

[MuffyBee]

 

[klaasend]

http://www.wkrg.com/alabama/article/police-focused-on-finding-childrens-bodies/1203052/Dec-03-2010_7-24-pm/

Police Focused On Finding Children’s Bodies

by WKRG Staff
Published: Fri, December 03, 2010 - 7:24 pm CST

Mobile police say two children, missing since July, are dead. Their father is believed to have played a role in their deaths. Police will start searching for the bodies on Saturday.

MOBILE, Alabama - Mobile Police Chief Micheal T. Williams said they believe 5-year-old Natalee and 3-year old Chase DeBlase are dead. They will start searching for the bodies on Saturday.

"Tomorrow and for the next few days, the investigators will put a team together, they'll be out looking for the children based on what they've been told," said Mobile Police Chief Micheal T. Williams.

Friday evening, they charged the children's father, John DeBlase, with two felonies, abuse of corpse and aggravated assault. Police interviewed him for several hours before his arrest.

"(Do you believe yo know where the children are, the bodies?) We're not sure exactly, but he's given us an indication of a location where they may be, where he remembers burying the children. So the investigators will go out and they will scout those areas with a team of people, with cadaver dogs and with the teams that do that for a living."

"(So you do believe at this point that these two young children are dead?) Based on what he has told us, um, we believe that. (Is it here in Mobile, or in Mobile County, or somewhere in the state of Alabama? Did he say where they are?) Well, at this point I can't say. But we believe that, based on what he has said, within 100 miles of Mobile."

Police are not sure who killed the children.

"Investigators are continuing to talk with him. At this point, he's somewhat cooperative. So we want to gain as much information while he's talking to us so we can locate these children. We want to make sure we find these children's bodies. That's what's important right now."

[MuffyBee]

It's so sad.  I don't even have words right now.