Amber Alert: Missing Girl: Bianca Lilly Jones - MI - 12/02/2011

[LoriDavis]

2-year-old reportedly kidnapped during carjacking

by NBC25 Newsroom

Posted: 12.02.2011 at 1:19 PM

DETROIT -- Police are searching for a missing 2-year-old girl.

WDIV-TV reports Bianca Lilly Jones was kidnapped during a carjacking near I-75 and Grand Boulevard in the Detroit area Friday morning.

Jones’ father tells WDIV he pulled over to help a vehicle with a broken taillight, when the man pulled out a gun and drove off with his vehicle. The little girl was inside.

Police have found the car, but the child remains missing.

The Associated Press reports the FBI is now working with police to conduct a search for this child.   Police say she was last seen wearing a purple coat, pink tights, and pink shoes. The suspect is described by the AP as a light-skinned African Amrican man who is not clean shaven. Anyone with information on the whereabouts of Bianca is asked to call the Detroit Police at 313-596-2555 immediately.

[LoriDavis]

Search goes on for toddler missing after father reports car stolen

December 3, 2011

http://cmsimg.freep.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=C4&Date=20111203&Category=NEWS01&ArtNo=112030398&Ref=AR&MaxW=300&Border=0&Search-goes-toddler-missing-after-father-reports-car-stolen

A newly donated $5,000 reward is being offered for information leading to the return of 2-year-old Bianca Lily Jones, who reportedly was kidnapped during a carjacking earlier in the day near Detroit's New Center area.

Police Chief Ralph Godbee Jr. announced the award and provided a composite sketch of one of the two suspects in Bianca's disappearance at a news conference late Friday.

"We're in this for the long haul," Godbee said. "Finding the little girl is primary."

Read more: http://www.freep.com/article/20111203/NEWS01/112030398

[LoriDavis]

Amber Alert: Sketch released as police search for Detroit toddler; man says daughter was kidnapped during carjacking

By Mike Brookbank, Melanie Scott and Gina Damron

Detroit Free Press Staff Writers

http://cmsimg.freep.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=C4&Date=20111202&Category=NEWS01&ArtNo=111202030&Ref=V1&MaxW=300&Border=0&Amber-Alert-Sketch-released-police-search-Detroit-toddler-man-says-daughter-kidnapped-during-carjacking

The City of Detroit released this sketch of the man suspected of carjacking the car carrying 2-year-old Bianca Jones. The car was found abandoned; the girl is still missing. Anyone seeing the suspect is asked to call 313.596.2170, or the officer in charge, Lt. David Lavally at 313.801.2842, or Sgt. James Miller at 313.468.3630. / Detroit Police Department

Detroit Police and family friends are continuing their aggressive search for a 2-year old girl, Bianca Jones, who was reportedly kidnapped during a carjacking this morning near the city’s North End.

According to police, Deandre Lane, 32, said he was in his silver Mercury Marquis with his daughter in the back when he was carjacked at Brush and Custer at 10:10 a.m. Police Sgt. Eren Stephens said Lane was leaving his home on Custer when the incident occurred.

Within 10 minutes, the car was found at Beaubien and Philadelphia, less than a mile away from where the car was stolen -- but the child was gone, police said.

Read more: http://www.freep.com/article/20111202/NEWS01/111202030/Amber-Alert-Sketch-released-police-search-Detroit-toddler-man-says-daughter-kidnapped-during-carjacking

[LoriDavis]

$17,500 reward offered to help find Detroit girl, 2

Published: Saturday, December 03, 2011, 10:34 AM

By The Associated Press

Detroit police have announced a $17,500 reward to help find a 2-year-old girl whose father reported being carjacked by a thief who drove away with her strapped into a seat.

Detroit Police spokeswoman Eren Stephens said Saturday that one person has donated $15,000 and CrimeStoppers of Michigan is offering $2,500 for information leading to the return of Bianca Jones.

Police have been working with county, state and federal authorities to find Bianca, who was last seen Friday morning in the city's New Center area.

Her father reported being carjacked at gunpoint around 9:45 a.m.

Read more: http://www.mlive.com/news/detroit/index.ssf/2011/12/17500_reward_offered_to_help_f.html

[LoriDavis]

Reward Increased, Search Continues for Missing Toddler

$17,500 offered for info. on Bianca Jones

Updated: Saturday, 03 Dec 2011, 7:05 PM EST

Published : Friday, 02 Dec 2011, 10:55 AM EST

By ALEXIS WILEY

WJBK | myFOXDetroit.com

DETROIT, Mich. (WJBK) - Police and the FBI continued to search for 2-year-old Bianca Jones Saturday and also continued to question the child's father. He says she was kidnapped after a carjacking Friday. A reward for information that leads to the child's return has been increased to $17,500.

“Unfortunately, there is nothing new to report,” Detroit Police Chief Ralph Godbee Jr. told reporters, surrounded by members of Bianca's family including her older sister.

An anonymous donor added $15,000 to CrimeStoppers $2,500 reward.

Read more: http://www.myfoxdetroit.com/dpp/news/alexis_wiley/girl,-2,-inside-vehicle-carjacked-in-detroit-20111203-rs

[LoriDavis]

Missing toddler's family pleads for her safe return

Doug Guthrie and Serena Maria Daniels/ The Detroit News

Last Updated: December 03. 2011 5:37PM

Detroit— Bella Jones, 7, burst into tears and begged for the return of her little sister Saturday when she stood before reporters, microphones and cameras at a police department press conference.

"I just want you to bring my sister back home," the girl said before turning to be embraced by her mother and other family members who appeared with Detroit Police Chief Ralph Godbee Jr., to plead for the safe return of 2-year-old Bianca Jones.

The girl has been missing since shortly before 10 a.m. Friday, when carjackers allegedly forced her father, Deandre Lane, out of the vehicle at gunpoint at Brush and Carter streets, just north of East Grand Boulevard.

The 2004 Mercury Grand Marquis was recovered a brief time and a short distance away — but without Bianca.

From The Detroit News: http://detnews.com/article/20111203/METRO01/112030367/Missing-toddler’s-family-pleads-for-her-safe-return#ixzz1fWUBuEgx

[LoriDavis]

Detroit police, FBI set up road block in search for girl

Amber Alert issued Friday for missing Detroit girl

Published On: Dec 05 2011 11:47:35 AM EST  Updated On: Dec 05 2011 05:33:38 PM EST

DETROIT -Detroit police and the FBI were stopping drivers Monday morning to show pictures and ask questions while the community searched for a missing 2-year-old girl.

Police were showing drivers a photo of Dandre Lane, the father of Bianca Lily Jones, the Detroit toddler who has been missing since Friday morning.

Lane told police he was carjacked Friday morning and that the thieves took of with Bianca still strapped in the back seat of the car.

Police and FBI agents also were showing drivers a sketch of the man Lane said carjacked him and subsequently abducted his daughter.

Read more: http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/Detroit-police-FBI-set-up-road-block-in-search-for-girl/-/1719418/4877226/-/lrf7ehz/-/

[LoriDavis]

https://www.findthemissing.org/cases/show/13197

NamUs profile for Bianca Jones - Case 13197

[LoriDavis]

http://www.freep.com/article/20111210/NEWS01/111210022/Search-goes-missing-Bianca-Jones?odyssey=nav%7Chead

Search goes on for missing Bianca Jones

6:26 PM, Dec. 10, 2011

By Megha Satyanarayana

Detroit Free Press Staff Writer

Detroit police, aided by 153 volunteers, continued their search Saturday for 2-year-old Bianca Jones, who was last seen Dec. 2.

Her father, D’Andre Lane, said he was carjacked at Brush and Grand Boulevard while driving with his daughter. The car turned up about a mile away but Bianca was not inside.

To date, 972 volunteers have pitched in to search for the little girl, Detroit Police Spokeswoman Sgt. Eren Stephens said Saturday. More than $15,000 has been offered as a reward for her return.

Anyone with information about the disappearance of Bianca can call 800-773-2587 (800-SPEAKUP).

[LoriDavis]

Sources: Bianca Jones may not be found alive

Published On: Dec 12 2011 04:55:52 PM EST  Updated On: Dec 12 2011 06:45:04 PM EST

DETROIT -There is evidence that 2-year-old Detroit girl Bianca Jones will not be found alive, sources close to the investigation told the Local 4 Defenders.

Jones has been missing since Dec. 2, when her father, D'Andre Lane told police Bianca was in a rear car seat when he was carjacked at gunpoint. The car was found a short time later, but the girl wasn't in it.

Sources said investigators have searched Lane’s home on Mitchell Street with cadaver dogs, which did return a positive hit for signs of decomposition.

Read more: http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/investigations/Sources-Bianca-Jones-may-not-be-found-alive/-/1719314/5363678/-/km8ym6/-/index.html

[LoriDavis]

Relative makes claim in missing Detroit girl case

15-year-old says he was with father on morning girl went missing

Published On: Dec 14 2011 05:52:07 PM EST  Updated On: Dec 14 2011 07:04:57 PM EST

DETROIT - The 15-year-old nephew of missing 2-year-old Bianca Jones' father, Dandre Lane, said he was with Lane the morning Bianca went missing.

Treveon Lane said he was with his uncle Dandre Lane, Bianca and two other children the night before and the morning when Bianca was reported missing by her father. Treveon Lane said he had just met Bianca earlier that week. He said the FBI, not the police, confronted him with questions about the case.

Read more: http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/Relative-makes-claim-in-missing-Detroit-girl-case/-/1719418/5652006/-/n6ahjz/-/index.html

[LoriDavis]

Search resumes Saturday for missing Detroit toddler

2-year-old Detroit girl missing since Dec. 2

Published On: Dec 16 2011 10:04:48 PM EST  Updated On: Dec 16 2011 10:11:17 PM EST

DETROIT -Volunteers will return to the neighborhoods of Detroit Saturday to resume the search for missing Bianca Jones.

Volunteers are scheduled to meet at 11 a.m. Saturday at Metropolitan Methodist Church.

Official searches ended on Sunday for the 2-year-old girl after nothing was found.

Bianca has been missing since Dec. 2. According to her father Dandre Lane, he was carjacked when Bianca was in the car and she was taken.

Read more: http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/Search-resumes-Saturday-for-missing-Detroit-toddler/-/1719418/5946070/-/tyqpbmz/-/index.html

[LoriDavis]

New search for Bianca Jones, possible charges against dad

Published On: Dec 18 2011 10:56:04 PM EST

This week could be the turning point in the mystery surrounding the disappearance of Bianca Jones. A new community group is putting together a plan for a new search for the two-year-old Detroit girl and charges are expected to be filed against Bianca’s father, D’Andre Lane.

Bianca Jones disappeared on Dec. 2 without a trace and now a new effort is underway to find the little girl. Her father claims he was carjacked and then Bianca was taken.

Read more: http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/New-search-for-Bianca-Jones-possible-charges-against-dad/-/1719418/6077722/-/27jh7sz/-/

[LoriDavis]

Prosecutors continue review of Detroit police warrant in missing girl's case

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS 

First Posted: December 19, 2011 - 4:05 pm

Last Updated: December 19, 2011 - 4:07 pm

DETROIT — The Wayne County prosecutor's office is continuing to review a warrant request connected to the disappearance of a 2-year-old Detroit girl.

Prosecutors say Monday that a decision on charges is not anticipated this week.

Detroit police submitted the request last week. Officials have not disclosed who was named in the warrant.

Read more: http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/f7f5da5eec4a4ed7aab5acf731e3056c/MI--Carjacking-Missing-Child/

[LoriDavis]

Charges not likely in Bianca Jones disappearance until 2012

2:09 PM, Dec. 22, 2011

By Gina Damron

Detroit Free Press Staff Writer

It’s unlikely a charging decision will be made in connection with the disappearance of a 2-year-old Detroit girl until the new year begins, the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office announced today.

Bianca Jones went missing Dec. 2. Her father, D’Andre Lane, told police he was carjacked at gunpoint near East Grant Boulevard and Brush Street while his daughter was in the car.

Police have said his car was found just minutes later a short distance away, but Bianca was missing.

The Detroit Police Department has submitted a warrant request to the prosecutor’s office. Details about the request — including who is named in it at what charges are being sought — have not been released.

Read more: http://www.freep.com/article/20111222/NEWS01/111222020/Charges-not-likely-in-Bianca-Jones-disappearance-until-2012?odyssey=nav%7Chead

[LoriDavis]

Church holds Christmas Eve vigil for missing Bianca Jones, 2

Dec. 25, 2011 

By Naomi R. Patton

Detroit Free Press Staff Writer

Banika Jones appeared composed and stoic for much of the first hour of a vigil service honoring her daughter, missing 2-year-old Bianca Jones, at Greater Phillips Temple Church of God on Christmas Eve.

She spoke occasionally to her family and her 7-year-old daughter, Bella. But Jones' eyes lit up as she beamed, clapping and singing along with Bella to "Jesus Loves Me" for the dozens of Greater Phillips congregants in the pews.

Bella, smiling as she sang, looked to her mother -- who with her sister, Kelly Jones, signed the words to the song from their pew.

Read more: http://www.freep.com/article/20111225/NEWS01/112250585/Church-holds-Christmas-Eve-vigil-for-missing-Bianca-Jones-2?odyssey=mod%7Cnewswell%7Ctext%7CFRONTPAGE%7Cs

[LoriDavis]

More than 3 weeks later, Bianca Jones' family clings to hope

11:39 PM, Dec. 25, 2011

http://cmsimg.freep.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?NewTbl=1&Site=C4&Date=20111225&Category=NEWS&ArtNo=112250804&Ref=PH&Item=1&Maxw=640&Maxh=410&q=60

Bianca Jones has been missing for more than three weeks, but her family refuses to give up hope of finding the toddler alive and well.

But as time passes and details of the investigation surface, the outcome is looking bleaker.

"With each passing day, it's getting harder and harder," said Kelly Jones, Bianca's aunt, "but we're leaning on each other for strength."

Bianca's father, D'Andre Lane, 32, reported he was carjacked Dec. 2 by a gunman who drove off with the 2-year-old inside.

Read more: http://www.freep.com/article/20111226/NEWS01/112260354/More-than-3-weeks-later-Bianca-Jones-family-clings-to-hope

[LoriDavis]

Hope Remains Missing Two-Year-Old Bianca Jones Will Be Found Alive

Updated: Tuesday, 27 Dec 2011, 6:06 PM EST

Published : Tuesday, 27 Dec 2011, 6:06 PM EST

By ROOP RAJ

WJBK | myFOXDetroit.com

DETROIT (WJBK) - It has been over three weeks since two-year-old Bianca Jones disappeared. Her family is still holding out hope that she will be found alive.

Her seven-year-old sister, Bella Jones, wants her to come home soon.

"We really want her home, and when she [gets] home, we won't be worrying about her [being] missing [anymore]," she said.

Read more: http://www.myfoxdetroit.com/dpp/news/local/hope-remains-missing-two-year-old-bianca-jones-will-be-found-alive-20111227-ms

[LoriDavis]

Parents of Bianca Jones Speak Out on Daughter's Disappearance

Banika Jones doesn't think father was involved

Updated: Friday, 20 Jan 2012, 11:46 AM EST

Published : Friday, 20 Jan 2012, 11:40 AM EST

By RONNIE DAHL

WJBK | myFOXDetroit.com

SOUTHFIELD, Mich. (WJBK) - The mother of missing Detroit toddler Bianca Jones says she doesn't believe the girl's father has anything to do with her daughter's disappearance.

Banika Jones, along with D'Andre Lane, spoke with FOX 2 legal analyst and 1270 AM radio host Charlie Langton Friday morning about the police investigation surrounding the case and allegations that Lane abused 2-year-old Bianca.

"I would not give my daughter to someone I thought would hurt her," said Jones. "I don't think (D'Andre) was anyway involved with her disappearance."

Read more:  http://www.myfoxdetroit.com/dpp/news/local/parents-of-bianca-jones-speak-out-on-daughter's-disappearance-20120120

[LoriDavis]

Andy Arena Reflects after 5 Years as FBI Special Agent in Charge

Updated: Tuesday, 24 Jan 2012, 6:46 PM EST

Published : Tuesday, 24 Jan 2012, 6:46 PM EST

By AMY LANGE

WJBK | myFOXDetroit.com

DETROIT (WJBK) -- Andy Arena became the special agent in charge at the FBI in Detroit in 2007. He was back home where he grew up and ready to take on crime in the Motor City.

However, who could have guessed the kind of cases his office would encounter from an attempted terrorist attack on Christmas Day to the killing of an imam in Dearborn to the search for missing children to the public corruption cases making national headlines.

[Excerpt..]

The arrest of the Hutaree militia members, the explosion of health care fraud with more than 160 people indicted in the past year alone, and then there are the missing children -- Tangena Hussain, the three Skelton brothers missing from Morenci, Bianca Jones -- all unsolved.

Read more: http://www.myfoxdetroit.com/dpp/news/local/andy-arena-reflects-after-5-years-as-fbi-special-agent-in-charge-20120124-ms

[LoriDavis]

http://www.freep.com/article/20120427/NEWS01/204270388/Mother-of-missing-girl-Bianca-Jones-on-verge-of-losing-home-gets-a-helping-hand?odyssey=nav%7Chead

Mother of missing girl Bianca Jones, on verge of losing home, gets a helping hand

April 27, 2012

By Elisha Anderson

Detroit Free Press Staff Writer

Banika Jones' 2-year-old daughter disappeared in December. Four months later, she was going to be evicted from the Detroit home where she had lived all her life.

Jones, who was looking for a job when Bianca went missing, had fallen behind on bills. She was set to be evicted April 5 after her grandmother, who owned the home, took out a reverse mortgage, officials said.

"I was devastated," Jones, 32, said Thursday. "I really didn't know what I was going to do."

But a day before she was to be put out, she got help from Working Homes/Working Families, the organization founded by Free Press columnist Mitch Albom and operated with the Detroit Rescue Mission Ministries.

"How much tragedy is one family supposed to deal with at any one time?" Albom said outside the Jones' home on Custer in Detroit on Thursday.

Albom paid the money that was owed, and on Thursday a handful of people showed up at her home to paint the living room and bring in a new couch, chair and ottoman. Jones picked out a shade of blue for the living room ceiling because blue is the favorite color of her oldest daughter, Bella, 7.

Not only will she get to keep her home, Jones, who was an Army specialist from 1999 to 2001, also received a job as a resident specialist at the Detroit Rescue Mission's Veterans Independence Program.

"I'm working with homeless veterans and I'm making sure no one ends up where I was about to end up," she said.

Jones said she plans to pay back the $2,100 she received and give it to Working Homes/Working Families so others can be helped.

"It's the least I can do when so many have stepped up to help me," Jones said.

Jones will get help on other needed home repairs in coming weeks, Detroit Rescue Mission Ministries President and CEO Chad Audi said.

Bianca vanished in December after her father said he was carjacked at gunpoint. D'Andre Lane said the carjackers took his Grand Marquis and drove away with Bianca inside. The car was found a few blocks away but Bianca was not in it.

Lane has been charged with first-degree felony murder and first-degree child abuse in connection with Bianca's disappearance. His preliminary examination is scheduled to continue today in Detroit.

Jones said Wednesday she believes her daughter is still alive and she continues to search for her.

"I will never stop looking for my baby," she said.

[LoriDavis]

http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/news/Witnesses-testify-about-day-Bianca-Jones-went-missing/-/4714498/12156284/-/14f7ensz/-/index.html

Witnesses testify about day Bianca Jones went missing

Girlfriend of D'Andre Lane says she heard him disciplining 2-year-old

Published On: Apr 27 2012 06:04:31 PM EDT  Updated On: Apr 27 2012 06:16:02 PM EDT

DETROIT - Key witnesses in the Bianca Jones case are telling their story.

The 2-year-old Detroit girl hasn’t been seen since Dec. 2, 2011, when her father said he was carjacked with the girl in the back seat.

The car was found minutes later, but the girl wasn’t in it.

Her father, D’Andre Lane, is charged with murder in her disappearance.

On Friday, two witnesses described different stories about when Bianca went missing.

The key prosecution witness told the court it wasn’t something she saw, but something she heard, that set off alarm bells.

Anjali Lyons, Lane’s girlfriend, said she awoke to hear Bianca crying and being disciplined by Lane for wetting the bed. She said he used a stick he had made by wrapping a sponge with duct tape. She said she heard Lane hit Bianca “three or four times.”

Lyons was reluctant to speak in court, stopping several times. But she described Lane as being frustrated and irritated until it all just stopped.

Friend Rico Blackwell said he talked with Lane the morning Bianca went missing, and when Lane stopped his car, no one else was inside.

Investigators also testified Friday that Lane had been at Wayne Community College, near the Detroit River.

More witnesses are due in court before it will be decided if Lane will stand trial.

The case will resume May 8.

[LoriDavis]

http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2012/05/08/hearing-will-continue-for-father-of-missing-2-year-old-bianca-jones/

Hearing Will Continue For Father Of Missing 2-Year Old Bianca Jones

May 8, 2012 7:37 PM

DETROIT (WWJ) – Bizarre new details in the disappearance of a two-year Detroit girl Bianca Jones.  The hearing, which continued on Tuesday, will eventually determine whether her father will face trial for murder.

WWJ’s Sandra McNeill reports that D’Andre Lane, father of missing and feared dead, Bianca Jones, was in a Detroit courtroom for a hearing to determine if he will stand trial for the murder of the 2-year old.

Lane has claimed that his daughter was kidnapped during a carjacking last December.

Officer John Quincey testified that Lane told him Jones had suffered some sort of head injury the night before she went missing from the alleged carjacking.

Prosecutor Carin Goldfarb asked Quincy about the injury in court:

“Do you remember what he said he did in order to help Bianca? With this head injury she had,” asked the prosecutor.

“The defendant stated that he was trying to keep her up by tapping her with a stick on the buttocks, to keep her up,” said Quincey.

“Did he tell you if he tried to get any medical attention – for this child?”, asked Goldfarb.

“No, he did not,” said Quincey. “No, he didn’t try,” he clarified.

The stick wrapped in tape was more than a foot and a half in length the court was told.

Lisa Dungy owned the home were Lane was staying and said she got a call from Lane claiming Bianca was taken during a carjacking.

“I heard pleading, crying –’someone help me please … somebody took my baby’ he kept repeating it over and over. I was calling, like, “what’s wrong, what’s wrong or how can I help you?” but there was no answer,” testified Dungy.

A strange woman then came on the phone she said they took Bacon, the name Bacon, so I wasn’t familiar with that. I said, “What happened?” and she said, “No car, no bacon, I’m hanging up, I’m calling the police now,” and she hung up,” added Dungy.

The hearing will continue on Thursday in 36th District Court in Detroit.

[LoriDavis]

http://www.freep.com/article/20120511/NEWS02/205110367/Bianca-was-alive-morning-she-disappeared-nephew-testifies

Bianca was alive morning she disappeared, nephew testifies

May 11, 2012

By Melanie D. Scott

Detroit Free Press Staff Writer

The 16-year-old nephew of D'Andre Lane testified Thursday that he saw 2-year-old Bianca Jones alive the morning of Dec. 2, just hours before Lane said he was carjacked and the girl disappeared.

The nephew said he spent the night of Dec. 1 at Lane's house on Mitchell Street and said one of Lane's three children at the home, Bianca, who was suffering from diarrhea, was the last to go to bed.

"My uncle brought her to the front room around 2 a.m.," the teen said. The teen said Lane spanked Bianca with his homemade paddle -- two times on the buttocks -- and then hit him.

"She didn't cry really," the nephew said. "He set her on his lap and she was looking at me."

The following morning the nephew recalled Lane placing Bianca on the couch next to him.

The testimony came on the fourth day of a preliminary examination for Lane, 32, in 36th District Court in Detroit.

The hearing, before Judge Ruth Carter, is to determine whether Lane will be ordered to stand trial on first-degree felony murder and first-degree child abuse in connection with Bianca's disappearance. Prosecutors have presumed the tot to be dead.

FBI special agent Chris Hess, an expert in cellular phone analysis, also testified Thursday about Lane's cell phone activity the morning of Dec. 2.

Hess said there were no phone calls made from Lane's phone from 8:55-9:47 a.m., when a 911 call was made.

Wayne County prosecutors showed videotaped portions of a Dec. 9 ride-along Hess and Lane took to retrace the events leading up to the carjacking.

In the video, Lane told Hess he left his house on Mitchell before 8 a.m. From there, Lane dropped off his nephew and got gasoline.

Lane said he went to Wayne County Community College in downtown Detroit and realized his briefcase was not in the car. He said he checked on Bianca in the backseat.

"I pulled the blanket back a little bit and she looked up at me," Lane said.

Lane told Hess he was near West Grand Boulevard when someone motioned and told him his back lights were out.

"I was getting close to the boulevard and the person behind me was blowing," Lane said.

[LoriDavis]

http://www.bgdailynews.com/opinion/commentary/her-child-still-missing-a-mother-soldiers-on/article_0429e722-9bd6-11e1-9af5-001a4bcf887a.html

Her child still missing, a mother soldiers on

Posted: Saturday, May 12, 2012 6:00 am

By Mitch Albom

There was a movie not too long ago, based on a book called “I Don’t Know How She Does It.” It was about a working mother juggling a high-powered job, a demanding family and endless obligations.

I don’t know how she does it. I found myself thinking about that phrase – but in a whole different context – while standing next to Banika Jones on the porch of her decaying home in Detroit.

If Jones’ name sounds vaguely familiar, it’s because her 2-year-old daughter, Bianca Jones, was a headline for several months this past winter. And not the way you want to be a headline.

Young Bianca was first believed to be inside a car when it was stolen. After weeks of exhaustive searching, authorities charged her father, D’Andre Lane, with her murder.

To this day, there is no body.

To this day, Banika believes her baby is still alive, somewhere.

And meanwhile, there we were, on the porch, talking about how Banika had been a day away from losing her house, due to missed payments on a reverse mortgage.

Your baby daughter goes missing. You don’t know if she’s dead or alive. And they’re about to put you in the street.

How does she do it?

“I lost a job last year, and I was actively looking for a new one when my daughter disappeared,” Jones said. “And, as you can imagine, that derailed my job search.”

Banika and her other daughter, Bella, 7, were living in the Custer Street house, which was given to them by Banika’s grandmother. Unbeknown to Banika, her grandmother had a reverse mortgage, and missed payments led to the house’s imminent foreclosure.

She was one day from being homeless.

“I was devastated,” she said. “I really didn’t know what I was going to do.”

As she spoke, I glanced at the front of her house. Taped on the window pane was a flyer with a picture of her missing daughter, and a phone number to call if anyone had any information.

I saw that flyer, then I saw Banika, and I couldn’t get that phrase out of my head. I don’t know how she does it. If my child were missing, I doubt I could stand up, much less uphold a conversation. If I thought my baby had been murdered, no amount of comfort could bring me to my feet – let alone to deal with foreclosure or imminent homelessness.

But I realized, especially in Detroit, how often I have been alongside victims of awful things, a murdered spouse or sibling, a child lost to war, a parent taken by drunken driving, a terminal prognosis, an eviction.

And yet these brave people speak, they serve you coffee, they say, “Thank you.” They soldier on. They face the day.

I don’t know how they do it.

In Banika Jones’ case, one crisis was averted. We were able to save her house through our charity Working Homes/Working Families and fix it up. A job was arranged thanks to the Detroit Rescue Mission Ministries, which now employs Banika – who spent several years in the Army – in working with homeless veterans.

“It puts me in a place where I can move forward,” she said, “where I can help people too, to make sure that no one ends up where I was about to end up.”

She still has no news on her missing daughter. The flyer remains on her window. There are more court dates involving the accused father.

Yet Banika Jones cares for Bella, she works five days a week, she straightens her salvaged home, she is even planting a garden across the street with neighbors who want to help feed the community.

If you stood next to Banika Jones, you might have no idea the private torture she is going through, the monumental issues she’s had to deal with this year alone.

But that could be true of anyone you see today. So many people carry private burdens, yet push up a smile and drag through the everyday hours of life. That’s worth remembering the next time we think a person is rude or aloof. We never know what they might be wrestling with – especially in these difficult times. I don’t know how she does it. Or some days, how any of us do.