D'Wan Sims -- Missing 12/11/94

Disappearance still mystifies after 15 years

Fifteen years after reporting her son's disappearance from a Livonia mall, emotions still run high for Dwanna Jackson.

Her son, D'Wan Sims, was 4 when he disappeared Dec. 11, 1994. D'Wan would be 19 today, but his whereabouts are a mystery.

Jackson blames the lack of answers on how police handled the case and on the news media's response.

A Livonia police sergeant who investigated the case, however, says Jackson, now living in North Carolina, remains a suspect.

"I'm very, very frustrated," Jackson said before abruptly ending a phone interview Thursday. "It's not fair that I don't have all of my children at the holidays."

D'Wan's disappearance has confounded local, state and federal investigators. The case, which generated national media attention, remains open, but it no longer prompts regular tips. Wonderland Mall, the site of the initial search, was demolished in 2006.

Livonia Police Sgt. Shelley Holloway said she is the only officer who worked on D'Wan's case still with Livonia Police. She said the case continues to bother her.

Though the investigation centered on the mall, Holloway said police believe the mall was not where D'Wan disappeared.

"We're pretty confident D'Wan never made it to the Wonderland Mall," she said, noting the boy was seen at a Laundromat in Detroit that day.

Jackson has said she and the boy were walking through Target when the boy vanished.

But Holloway said police never were able to confirm her story and added that Jackson and the boy were not visible on store video. A Detroit Police spokeswoman said the department has no new leads in the case.

D'Wan's grandmother Beverly Harris, a former Detroit fire inspector, said she doesn't know what happened to D'Wan, but she doesn't believe her daughter, who has two other children, had anything to do with his disappearance. And she believes D'Wan is alive.

"Deep in my heart, I don't believe that he's dead," Harris said.

Ernie Allen, president of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in Virginia, cites cases such as Jaycee Dugard, who was found alive in California 18 years after her disappearance, as reasons to be hopeful.

"We never close a file," Allen said. "We owe it to D'Wan. Here's a little boy who was taken when he was 4 years old, and he is missing 15 years later. ... Our message is there is still hope."

Contact ERIC D. LAWRENCE: 313-223-4272 or elawrence@freepress.com

http://www.freep.com/article/20091206/NEWS02/912060431/1001/News/Disappearance-still-mystifies-after-15-years

I hope new leads surface for D'Wan and that he's alive and well somewhere.

15 years later, fate of missing Detroiter D'Wan Sims, 4, still puzzles law enforcement
December 10, 2009, 12:58PM
http://www.mlive.com/news/detroit/index.ssf/2009/12/15_years_on_fate_of_missing_de.html

An artist's reconstruction shows D'Wan Sims as he might look today, with a shadow of mustache and the same wide smile as on the posters that went up 15 years ago after his mother reported him missing.

Police in the Detroit suburb of Livonia keep an open file on D'Wan, who is 19 if he's still alive. The current missing poster asks, again, for anyone with information to contact them. But they have had few if any fresh tips lately.

D'Wan's mother, Dwanna Jackson, says the 4-year-old disappeared on Dec. 11, 1994, during a pre-Christmas visit to a Target store. Police question whether the boy was even at the mall that day.

Jackson, who now lives in Durham, N.C., and has two other children, says it hurts when she's questioned about her son's disappearance — especially since it's usually during the holiday season.

Now 40, said she still holds out hope of seeing D'Wan alive again.

"Hopefully, we'll be having one of those, 'How does it feel that he's finally home?' days," she said in a telephone interview Thursday.

Missing children cases are far from rare, with about 800,000 a year nationwide, according to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. The vast majority end well, with the children found safely in a short time. A few thousand end grimly, with a body found and a killer prosecuted. Still others remain mysteries. The D'Wan Sims case is one of them.

Jackson, who was 25 at the time and living in Detroit, told authorities D'Wan disappeared while she was at the crowded Wonderland Mall in Livonia. The cheery face of the 3-foot tall, 50-pound boy soon popped up on missing posters around the region.

But questions quickly arose about the account of D'Wan's disappearance. Sgt. Shelley Holloway, who said she is the only officer from the case still on the Livonia police force, told the Detroit Free Press D'Wan's disappearance still bothers her.

"We're pretty confident D'Wan never made it to Wonderland Mall," she said.

Jackson hired a prominent criminal defense lawyer. No charges were ever filed.

A multi-agency task force fielded more than 1,200 tips but never one leading to a breakthrough. A federal grand jury impanelled to aid the probe also came up empty. Wonderland Mall itself was demolished three years ago to make way for a new strip shopping center.

Over the years, Jackson has continued to assert her innocence. She's been called on to do so again as the 15-year anniversary of D'Wan's disappearance approached.

"This time of year is always difficult. It's so close to the time. We're doing the best we can. It's just not a whole lot to say," she said Thursday. "Keep us in your prayers."

On the Net:

National Center for Missing and Exploited Children: http://www.2missingkids.com

Latest up-date I can find on D'wan Sims: Still Missing
12/12/14: http://wheresdwan.org/2014/12/12/20-years-no-leads-no-movement-on-this-case/#more-65

Also 12/13/14:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Remembering-DWan-Sims/132759320144488?ref=eyJzaWQiOiIwLjk4NzcwNDU2NzE0NTU1NjIiLCJxcyI6IkpUVkNKVEl5VW1WdFpXMWlaWEpwYm1jbE1qQkVKMWRoYmlVeU1GTnBiWE1sTWpJbE5VUSIsImd2IjoiMzRhMGI3NWE1OTdmNzZjNTg0M2JiNzZiODM4NzgyOWMyODdhNjJkOCJ9