Here we are. Season 5. This journey we have been on has been equally eye opening and heart breaking. Our passion for seeking justice has grown and we are more determined than ever. We are starting this season navigating advocacy in Northport, Alabama. Northport is a small suburb located just outside Tuscaloosa. It is a small and close-knit community with a population of around 31,000 people.

Nestled along the banks of the Black Warrior River, Northport has all of the charm those lifetime christmas movies boast about. Art is dripping from every corner of this quaint little town. From a giant metal bird dog sculpture, mosaics , historic homes, right down to the brick lined walkways and painted mailboxes. You can feel the southern hospitality seeping out of the photos and as I researched this case, I read almost every article in a deep southern drawl. I’m honestly a little worried that my own accent may show up a bit more than usual in this episode.

Every October, the Kentuck Festival of the Arts brings a burst of creativity to the town, showcasing folk and contemporary art alongside traditional crafts from 300 invited artists. The annual festival celebrated its 52nd year at Kentuck park just this past weekend. It has been featured in the Smithsonian Magazine, Southern Living and National Geographic Traveler.

One proud piece of art can be seen under 5th street bridge proudly claiming the area to the Crimson Tide. In true southern fashion, football reigns supreme and since the University of Alabama is just 5 miles away, “Roll Tide” is displayed far and wide.

Before the University was established and overflow students sought housing, the town was merely a pass through town. Where one could ferry across the Black Warrior River.

Just outside of the Northport city limits, sits a half-mile section of a Byler Road that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It was originally built in the mid 1820s as a public thoroughfare to connect Courtland Alabama with Tuscaloosa. Both Union and Confederate soldiers used this road during the civil war. It is the oldest public road in Alabama still in use today.

Northport as with most sleepy suburbs are seemingly safe when it comes to crime. The current crime statistics on Neighborhood Scout.com show Northport being safer than 41 % of other similar cities in the United States. Your chance of becoming a victim of a violent crime is 1 in 431. 0 murders have been reported this year. Niche.com claims Northport to be one of the best places to live in Alabama, grading it an A-. A resident was quoted as saying there isn’t much to do there and football is life.

Reading these statistics and seeing the photos of this quiet little town, it was easy to get lost in the cute details of the location. I was quickly snapped out of the “Sweet Home Alabama” rom com when I typed in the name of a bright and once lively 11 year old girl.

Heaven LaShae Ross, known as "Shae" by her family and friends, was a typical 6th-grade student at Collins-Riverside Middle School. She had striking red hair, hazel eyes, and a warm, outgoing personality. Shae loved the outdoors, often spending her time riding her bike, swimming, playing the trombone and playing basketball. Shae was a little bit of a girly girl, adoring dressing up but never shying away from getting dirty. Some called her a tomboy but her room was adorned with butterflies, and she kept a pink diary where she had recently written about her crush. Almost as if keeping a balance of soft and rugged.

She was known for her kindness, obedience, sweet spirit, and her propensity for giving hugs. A teacher once talked about how Shae gave the best hugs.

In the same diary where she kept her secrets about the boy down the street that made her blush, Shae wrote about her big sister Alex. How much she adored her and looked up to her.

Shae lived with her mother, Beth, step-father, Kevin, and sister Alex at the Willowbrook Mobile home park off of Hunter’s Creek Road on the north east side of the city.

Every morning the girls would wake up, get ready for school and walk the 50 yards down the straight road to the west to the bus stop. Alex usually walked out the door a minute or two before Shae who wouldn’t be too far behind. Sometimes walking with a friend to the pickup spot.

The way these homes were situated is almost treelike. The homes are lined up in rows. One house on each side of the road. The road dead ends at what appears to be a power plant. Here is where things get a bit complicated to explain so I will share photos on our social media. One road turns off of Hunter Creek road to enter Shae’s neighborhood from the west. Then the southernmost row of homes there is another road coming from the east. If you lived on the southernmost row of houses you would enter the neighborhood from a completely different direction than if you lived on the northernmost or center rows.

Tuesday, August 19, 2003, clouds were brewing as the girls left the house to head to the bus stop. Kevin offered them a ride to school but the girls declined thinking they would make it on the bus before the clouds opened and the rain would start. Alex walked out the door 10 minutes before 7 am and like every other morning Shae was just a couple minutes behind bouncing out of the house at 6:55 am. Alex made it to the bus stop 50 yards away and turned around but didn’t see her sister. When the thunder rumbled in the distance, Kevin decided he was going to take the girls to school instead of them waiting in the weather.

He hops in his car at 7:01 to drive the short distance to the bus stop. When he arrived, he asked Alex where Shae was and she had no answer. Shae disappeared in a 6 minute window.

She had disappeared somewhere between her home and the bus stop. In 6 minutes, In less than 50 yards in broad daylight.

Kevin and her mother, Beth, immediately contacted the police, as they knew Shae would not willingly skip school.

The initial investigation involved door-to-door inquiries within the mobile home park. Three neighbors saw Shae wearing a pink Bratz t-shirt and leggings that morning as she walked past their trailers. Further narrowing the window. No one saw Shae run off with anyone as if she was skipping school and no one saw anyone force Shae into a vehicle or take her. Since there was no evidence of suspicious activity or suspected foul play, Shae’s disappearance didn’t meet the requirements for an Amber Alert and I know this will shock you, but she was treated as a runaway.

To qualify as an Amber Alert, there must be reasonable belief by law enforcement that an abduction has occurred. The agency believes that the child is in imminent danger of serious bodily injury or death. There is enough descriptive information about the victim and the abduction for law enforcement to issue the alert to assist in the recovery of the child. That the missing person is under the age of 18.

When Shae hadn’t returned after school had let out, Investigations ramped up. A command center was established, bringing together local, state, and FBI resources. Volunteers poured in to help with the search effort, with local businesses like Kmart, Olive Garden, Kinkos, and Office Max offered their support. Steve's Grill & Billiards Surveillance Footage near the bus stop was reviewed, but it yielded no leads. 16,000 flyers were distributed through the United States Postal Service. A reward even reached $70,000.

One lead law enforcement pursued was that of one of Shae’s older brother’s friend. The 21 year old at the time had previously gotten in trouble for harboring two 16 year old runaways. He eventually was cleared of all suspicions.

Shae’s teachers and friends were interviewed to see if perhaps Shae had spoken with someone online or had made plans to meet anyone. Her friends didn’t believe that she would have been meeting anyone or have a secret boyfriend. If she did, both her friends and family felt confident she would have written about it in that pink diary. They also felt if she was going to run away, she would have taken it with her.

The community rallied behind the family, but despite the initial surge of media attention, the tips eventually dwindled, and the case remained unsolved.

Five weeks after Shae's disappearance, a fire broke out in Shae’s bedroom in the trailer. The fire was localized to her room alone, and arson investigators concluded that it had been set intentionally.

The fire marshal's report said that a small hole in the floor at the foot of the bed and at the foot of a recliner where a cigarette butt and trash was found is where the fire started. I did learn that most of Shae’s belongings were destroyed or severely damaged. Both Kevin and Beth had no knowledge of the hole having been there before.

The family had no idea how the fire began, how it was so localized or why the suspicions heightened towards Kevin and Beth. Kevin believed that whoever took Shae may have felt the pressure looming and attempted to get rid of any potential evidence in her room by crawling under the trailer and setting the fire. This is obviously a theory and something that may not ever be known.

The fire created a lot of uncertainty with Shae’s parents.

Kevin and Beth were both brought in for questioning. Both participated in polygraph exams and both passed. Even with the passed polygraph exams, many felt Kevin may have had more of a hand in Shae’s disappearance than originally thought. There had been a previous domestic dispute 3 years prior where Kevin had grabbed Shae and threw her to the ground. Kevin was charged with harassment. Beth and Kevin both maintained that it was an isolated incident and that Kevin did love Shae as his own and that the girls considered Kevin to be their father.

The mobile command center was disbanded at the 10 week mark of Shae’s disappearance. No new evidence had arisen and the multi unit team had no lead to trace.

Beth purchased Christmas presents for Shae, hoping she would make it home to open them. But she didn’t. When her birthday arrived in June, the family released balloons and made wishes for her to come home.

Chief Lloyd Baker was determined to find Shae. He purchased and hung an identical Bratz shirt in the sheriff's office to help investigators recognize the distinctive clothing Shae had been wearing. He wanted the entire force to know what they were looking for.

Beth, Kevin and Shae’s siblings host vigils and multiple balloon releases hoping to keep the awareness for Shae’s disappearance alive. Three years pass with no movement in Shae’s disappearance

On December 19, 2006, a man was out collecting cans with his dog near an abandoned house off of Crescent Ridge Rd near Holt, AL when his dog ran into the crawlspace. He found a bright pink shirt with bratz dolls on the front, leggings, and the skeletal remains of Shae. Her body had been stuffed into the crawlspace of the house. He contacted law enforcement and once they arrived on scene, they saw the pink shirt and knew immediately it was Shae. They all had seen an identical one hanging for years in the Sheriff’s office so that it was always in the forefront of their mind.

This house off of Crescent Ridge Road wasn’t easily found unless you knew where you were going. It was abandoned and overgrown where you couldn’t see it from the road. Locals went there to engage in drugs and other illegal activities. 8 miles from Shae’s home.

Authorities found Shae’s backpack a few feet away from her body. While very little information has been shared, the authorities have listed Shae’s manner of death as homicide.

At her funeral over 100 people from the community came to pay their respects to Shae and the family on December 23rd, 2006.

It has now been twenty years since Shae bounced out of the front door never to be seen alive again. Shae’s case remains unsolved and the questions of what happened to Shae remain.

What is even more frightening is the similarities between Shae’s disappearance and that of Shannon Paulk and Teresa Dean. Melissa, you covered Shannon’s story last season. All three of these girls were 11 years old. All three were abducted from mobile home parks. All three disappeared 2 years apart and within days of each other in August. Teresa in 1999. Shannon in 2001 and Shae in 2003.

Anyone with information about Shae’s murder is urged to contact the Violent Crimes Unit at 205-464-8690.

Action oriented advocacy is always difficult in these cases we follow. Shae was taken 2 decades ago. Many many things can happen in that time frame. Allegiances change, people change. Perhaps the people that frequented that abandoned house know something or saw something and they are ready to talk. Or maybe the guilt has finally gotten to the perpetrator and they are ready to come clean.

I would like you to follow the Justice for Heaven LaShae Ross page on Facebook and please share her flyer. Someone knows something about what happened to Shae and how she ended up in that house twenty years ago.

Sources:

Alabama : Heaven LaShae Ross

Alaska: Donna “Marie” Campos, Michael Atwood, & Alyssa Jimenez

Wyoming : Amy Wroe Bechtel