Aleise Dawson does not exist. The five-year-old girl was reportedly abducted in Affton, in the 8900 block of New Hampshire Avenue, on the morning of March 30. St. Louis County detectives immediately began searching high and low for Aleise and her abductor — only to discover, shortly after 1 p.m., that the five-year-old was completely made-up.
Two female suspects — now identifed as Ashley Collins and Kayla Williams — have been brought into custody after recanting their story about the child abduction. They have both been charged with filing a false police report.
“We’ve spent an inordinate amount of time this morning investigating what we believed to be the abduction of a five-year-old child,” Lieutenant Colonel Jerry Lohr of the St. Louis County Police Department said. “We have dispelled that. There was no child that was abducted, so we are pleased to announce that there was no abduction this morning.”
He added, “I’d like to take this opportunity to thank the community. Obviously, everyone has been worried, everyone has been responsive. Our community has obviously done what we expected them to do. They called in tips. They were actively assisting in our search. So I’d like to thank our community for their support.”
Officers responded to a call at 7:57 a.m. that Aleise was sitting in a 2020 teal Jeep Renegade when her guardian went inside the home. When the guardian returned, the vehicle and Aleise were gone, according to the story. The vehicle was recovered at Madaford Gardens Apartments, with no sign of the child.
Lohr said that he believes there was a car theft, which is where officers and detectives will now turn their attention. They do not yet have a suspect when it comes to the stolen vehicle.
Lohr said that the story about Aleise’s abduction unraveled when detectives began asking more questions and contacting family members, until they were certain that the child did not exist. The primary suspect and her roommate, who also added to the false story, made up the name and description for Aleise — a Black girl, wearing a pink “Flower Power” T-shirt and blue shorts. There were some “indicators that raised questions,” Lohr said, such as a lack of child’s clothing, photos and more.
As for a motive, Lohr said, “I don’t know if it was a sense of panic. I don’t know if the individual thought that they would get more response to the fact that the vehicle had been stolen. I can’t speak to the motivation of the individual to make a claim like that.”
