Day: August 17, 2020

We have a little boy who’s Lydia’s age that lives in a broken down shack, a couple of streets over from us. I normally don’t let the kids play with him because his favorite word is the F word and his life experiences are much different than my own children so the things he talks about are shocking and quite inappropriate to say the least. But today my husband was outside with them while I cooked lunch, so I thought it would be fine. They played and rode bikes for about an hour and when I went out to let my crew know that lunch was ready, I said ok buddy we’re going to eat so run along and we’ll see you later. He said, Can I please be invited? For a split second I almost said, no you run home and eat and then you can come back to play. But a still small voice said, Why can’t he come? You have the room and plenty of food. So instead I heard myself say, of course you can, wash up and pull up a chair!
As we ate I couldn’t help but notice how dirty he was. His fingernails were super long and dirty. His shoes had holes all through them and the soles flapped as he walked. His pants were way to small and his shirt was way too big. I asked him if he was excited for school to start and he said, NO WAY!! School is a scary place for a guy like me! That broke my heart because I know what his home life is like and it’s a scary place to be too. I couldn’t help but think if both school and home are scary, where is his soft place to fall? I tried to lighten the mood as we ate to show him what a healthy, loving family looks like. We laughed and joked around with each other like we always do, with our fun 70’s music playing in the background.
As I was cleaning up and they were getting ready to go back outside he said, can that be my place at the table? I said, sweetheart that will always be your place. When he ran out the door I stood at our sink doing our lunch dishes with tears running down my face. The fact that I almost didn’t invite him in, made me feel so incredibly ashamed of myself. I’m so thankful I listened to that small voice. We all have a need to feel wanted and loved. We all just want a place at the table. That precious little boy has no idea how he made my day.
Posted by: Amber Barrett

Do you have an anchor for your soul? When storms surround you—financial struggles attack, family issues occur, do you have something holding you down? If not, what you’re looking for is Jesus. He is the anchor for your soul! If you want Jesus to be your anchor, just say this prayer:
Prayer: Jesus, I need You. I want to give my life to You today. I want You to be the stability and anchor of my life. In Jesus’ name, amen!

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Arianna Fitts, age 2 at the time of disappearance. Missing from Oakland, California. Please share!!
#HELPFINDARIANNAFITTS

$120,000 REWARD FOR THE INFORMATION LEADING TO THE WHEREABOUTS OF ARIANNA FITTS, AND THE MURDER OF HER MOTHER, NICOLE FITTS.

CONTRIBUTORS: $100,000 LAW ENFORCEMENT

$10,000 FITTS FAMILY

$10,000 BEST BUY

CIRCUMSTANCES: ARIANNA FITTS DISAPPEARED SOMETIME IN MID FEBRUARY, 2016 FROM OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA. WHEN ARIANNA’S MOTHER NICOLE FITTS TOLD THE BABY SITTERS “SHE WON’T BE NEEDING TO USE THEM ANYMORE.” SHORTLY AFTER THAT ARIANNA’S 32 YEAR OLD MOTHER NICOLE, ALSO DISAPPEARED FROM SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA ON APRIL 1, 2016. SHE WAS LAST SEEN AFTER HER SHIFT AT BEST BUY ON HARRISON STREET THAT DAY. NICOLE WENT OUT WITH A FRIEND FOR SEVERAL HOURS THAT EVENING, THEY GRABBED SUPPER AND HER FRIEND SAID ” THEY STOPPED AT AN ATM MACHINE, NICOLE TOOK OUT ALOT OF MONEY. HE DIDN’T REMEMBER THE EXACT AMOUNT, BUT SHE IT WAS TO PAY THE BABY SITTERS.” HER FRIEND DROPPED HER OFF AT HER PLACE AND HE DROVE OFF, THAT WAS THE LAST TIME HE SAW HER. THE NEXT MORNING HE A PHONE CALL FROM A MUTUAL FRIEND, THAT NICOLE DIDNT COME HOME THE NIGHT BEFORE. HE HAD ASKED “WHAT DO YOU MEAN? I DROPPED HER OFF, I SAW HER GOING IN. THE MUTUAL FRIEND SAID SHE WAS HERE FOR A LITTLE BIT, BUT SHE GOT A MESSAGE AND LEFT AND NEVER CAME BACK.”

SOMETIME LATER IN THE EVENING, NICOLE EXCHANGED TEXT MESSAGES WITH FAMILY, SAYING SHE WAS GOING TO FRESNO, CALIFORNIA WITH A FRIEND NAMED “SAM.” HER FAMILY WAS PUZZLED BY THIS BECAUSE, NICOLE DIDN’T HAVE A FRIEND NAMED SAM NOR DID SHE HAVE A VEHICLE.

IN THE VERY EARLY MORNING HOURS OF OF APRIL 2, 2016 THERE WAS A POST ON NICOLE’S FACEBOOK READING, “SPENDING TIME WITH MY 3 YEAR OLD NEED THIS, BRAKE.” HER FAMILY DOESN’T THINK SHE ACTUALLY WROTE IT, ARIANNA WAS 2, NOT 3, AND NICOLE WROTE WITH GOOD GRAMMAR AND SPELLING.

NICOLE HAS NEVER BEEN HEARD FROM AGAIN. HER FAMILY REPORTED HER AND ARIANNA MISSING ON APRIL 5,2016.

ON APRIL 8, NICOLE’S BODY WAS FOUND IN A SHALLOW GRAVE IN MCLAREN PARK, COVERED BY A PIECE OF PLYWOOD WITH A SPY PAINTED SYMBOL ON IT. AFTER NICOLE WAS FOUND MURDERED, LAW ENFORCEMENT ANNOUNCED THEY THOUGHT ARIANNA WAS IN DANGER.

NICOLE, WAS A SINGLE MOTHER, WHO STRUGGLED FINANCIALLY PRIOR TO HER MURDER, SHE SPENT A PERIOD LIVING IN A HOMELESS SHELTER AND HAD SENT HER OLDEST DAUGHTER TO LIVE WITH THE CHILD’S FATHER IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. WHILE NICOLE AND ARIANNA LIVED AT THE SHELTER, NICOLE MET A “STREET PASTOR” NAMED LEMASANI BRIGGS, SHE INVITED HER AND ARIANNA TO LIVE WITH HER. NICOLE PAID HER RENT AND BABYSITTING FOR ARIANNA, BUT AFTER A FEW MONTHS NICOLE SWITCHED BABYSITTERS TO SIOLO HEARNE, LEMASANI’S NIECE.

ACCORDING TO NICOLE’S SISTER, LEMASANI WAS ABUSIVE TO NICOLE, NEVER GAVE HER A KEY TO THEIR SHARED HOME, READ HER PRIVATE DIARY AND SENT HER TEXT MESSAGES CALLING HER NAMES. NICOLE’S SISTER’S AND FRIEND HELPED NICOLE AND ARIANNA EXCAPE THE SITUATION, PICKING THEM UP FROM LEMASANI’S HOUSE IN NOVEMBER OF 2015 AND TAKING THEM TO THEIR HOME IN SANTA CRUZ, CALIFORNIA.

AFTER NICOLE MOVED TO SANTA CRUZ, SHE WOULD TRAVEL 2 HOURS EACH WAY TO HER JOB AT BEST BUY. NICOLE WORKED LONG HOURS AND STAYED WITH DIFFERENT FRIENDS. NICOLE OFTEN LEFT ARIANNA WITH SIOLO, HEARNE, AND HELENA MARTAIN, LEMASANI’S NIECES. AS WELL AS HELENA’S HUSBAND, DEVIN MARTIN. THE MARTINS LIVED ON CASTRO STREET IN OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA.

ONE OF NICOLE’S COWORKERS OFFERED HER AND ARIANNA A PLACE TO STAY, BUT ARIANNA’S BABYSITTERS DID NOT WANT TO LET HER GO AND WOULDN’T EVEN ALLOW NICOLE TO SEE HER DAUGHTER, ARIANNA. NO ONE IN ARIANNA’S FAMILY HAD SEEN HER SINCE MID – FEBRUARY 2016, ABOUT 6 WEEKS BEFORE HER MOTHER NICOLE, WAS MURDERED.

ACCORDING TO NICOLE’S ROOMMATE, “NICOLE PLANNED TO TRY TO RETRIEVE HER DAUGHTER, ARIANNA ON THE DAY SHE DISAPPEARED. NICOLE WAS VERY UPSET BECAUSE SHE HADN’T BEEN ABLE TO SEE HER, AND HER ROOMMATE URGED HER TO SEEK HELP FROM LAW ENFORCEMENT TO GET HER BACK.”

LAW ENFORCEMENT STATED “SIOLO AND HEARNE AND HELENA WERE REFUSING TO COPPERATE WITH THE INVESTIGATION AND HAD PROVIDED INCONSISTENT STATEMENTS, ALSO LAW ENFORCEMENT LEARNED HELENA PREVIOUSLY SERVED 6 YEARS IN PRISON FOR KILLING THE FATHER OF HER CHILD.” THEY HAVE NOT BEEN NAMED AS SUSPECTS IN ARIANNA’S DISAPPEARANCE OR NICOLE’S MURDER, HOWEVER.

ARIANNA’S FAMILY HOPES SHE IS STILL ALIVE AND BEING TAKEN CARE OF. LAW ENFORCEMENT BELIEVE ARIANNA COULD BE ANYWHERE IN CALIFORNIA.

ARIANNA FITTS’S CASE REMAINS UNSOLVED, THERE IS AN AGE PROGRESSED PHOTO TO 6 YEARS IN HER FLYER.

https://www.namus.gov/MissingPersons/Case#/33997/contacts

Posted by: Theresa Goben Nelson