Khadijah Sheikh: Amber Alert Issued After 15-Month-Old Toddler Was Abducted By Her Own Suicidal Mother
An Amber Alert has been issued for a missing 15-month-old toddler named Khadijah Shaikh after the little girl was abducted by her own mother from a daycare center. According to KARE 11 News, Khadijah Shaikh was taken by her mother, identified as 30-year-old Yusra Abumayaleh, who had recently lost custody of the girl due to what is being described by authorities as irrational and suicidal behavior on her part.
According to the Amber Alert page, the toddler was taken from a daycare center in the town of Ramsey, which falls under the jurisdiction of Anoka County, Minnesota. Apparently, the toddler was handed over to the mother by officials at the daycare center, as they were unaware that Yusra no longer had the custody of her child.
Now, officials from the Anoka County Sheriff’s Office are asking for help from the general public in order to locate Khadijah and her mother. The authorities say they have “strong reasons” to believe that both the child and the mother are in danger because of the suicidal tendencies the mother had reportedly displayed recently.
According to reports, Khadijah was taken from the daycare center on Wednesday and was last seen between 3 p.m. and 4 p.m. on the same day near Coon Rapids. The Amber Alert page has photographs of both Khadijah and Yusra in order to aid quick identification of the two. Yusra Abumayaleh has been described as a Middle Eastern woman with black hair, brown eyes and was wearing a long-sleeved t-shirt with the following text written on it, “Anoka Brawlers 2008-2009.” She stands 5-feet-4-inches tall and weighs around 217 pounds. She was also wearing black athletic pants, running shoes and a black sweatshirt was tied to her waist. Yusra Abumayaleh was not covering her hair as depicted in the photo below and is not known to dress as pictured any longer.
The Inquisitr has recently reported about several Amber Alert instances, the most recent one being the case in which 36-year-old Tiffany Cherry was arrested for endangering the life of her 2-and-a-half-month-old son. The mother and child were eventually located and Cherry was subsequently charged with being a “fugitive from justice” after she failed to follow the advice of the nurse practitioner. Police records also revealed that Cherry was also facing several previous allegations of “prostitution and motor vehicle violations” in Dorchester and Somerville.
In the second incident, an Amber Alert was raised for 14-year-old teenager named Jordan Turner, who was initially thought to have been abducted. Initial reports said that the teen was abducted by two men in a small car. However, less than four hours later, the Amber Alert was canceled after the teen admitted to faking her own kidnapping.
While we have seen several instances of Amber Alerts turning out to be false alarms, officials insist that the program, since its introduction in 1996, has helped rescue countless children. Since its introduction, more than 650 children have been safely reunited with their families thanks to the help of alert citizens.
Hopefully, both Khadijah and Yusra Abumayaleh will be counted among those safely found.
[Image via Wikimedia Commons]
