Newport News, Va. - It's an anniversary no parent should ever have to mark. Thirty-three years ago Wednesday, a woman stole 15-day-old David Blockett from his Newport News home and never looked back.
"It's just hard, the not knowing," said David's father Fred West.
The case had grown cold decades ago, until a NewsChannel 3 investigation inspired local and national authorities to reopen the case two years ago. Since then, new and more promising leads are giving investigators hope the case can be solved.
"When somebody takes your child from you like that, it just hurts," West said.
On December 11, 1980, a woman posing as a social worker named Marie Kelley showed up at Vanessa Blockett's door. She told the 19-year-old mother she was there to take her infant son to a Christmas photo contest at Riverside Hospital. Vanessa informed the woman she also had a two-year-old son, and allowed her to take both boys.
Hours later, another woman found the two-year-old in Hampton with a note in his pocket with his address; however, the only trace of David since that day was his diaper bag found tossed on the Colonial Parkway in the days after the abduction.
"I have faith that God will bring him here, bring him home," said West. "If you're out there David, if you're hearing me, know that you're loved and you're missed, and everybody wants to see you come home."
If you have any information, call the NewsChannel 3 Finding David tip line at (757) 446-1350 or the Crimeline at 1 (888) LOCK-U-UP.
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