LATEST UPDATE: Shaquille Pierce was released after questioning. Police said they do not have enough evidence at this time to keep him. The case is still under investigation. Detectives said they are planning on filing charges after they gather more evidence.
#breaking @nlvpd released man who disappeared with 5y/o Amari Connor after questioning due to not having enough evidence @KTNV
— Mahsa Saeidi (@MahsaKTNV) May 13, 2016
"I want to make sure justice is served," said Amari's father, Christopher Atkinson. "...If he's out there, I'm gonna get him, period."
Amari Connor's dad says the 5 y/o is different. He wants the man who took him to be charged. @KTNV
— Mahsa Saeidi (@MahsaKTNV) May 14, 2016
The day before Pierce disappeared with Amari, the 22-year-old had spent the night at the family's home, according to relatives.
Police have not confirmed details of the disappearance.
The 5-year-old told his father he had spent the night at a house with two adults.
The child said he had pizza for dinner and he was not harmed.
However, his father is concerned about a change in his behavior.
"He is a little bit too nonchalant for me," said Atkinson.
The family decided to take Amari to the hospital a second time to get checked out.
They said they are grateful for the communities support.
"Thank everybody for being there," said Atkinson, "thank you so much."
UPDATE: Amari Connor has been found safe. He was found at Sam's Town Casino. He was taken to a hospital to be checked out. Police said 22-year-old Shaquille Pierce has been arrested and faces kidnapping charges. He is not related to Amari. A motive has not been revealed.
ORIGINAL STORY:
NORTH LAS VEGAS (KTNV) -- A 5-year-old North Las Vegas boy has been missing since Wednesday afternoon.
North Las Vegas police say that Amari Connor was last seen at his home in the area of Martin Luther King Boulevard and Cheyenne Avenue.
"Bring my son home, bring my son home. that's my baby, he don't have the right to have my son," cried Monique Connor, Amari's mother. "He's supposed to be out there playing."
He left home with 22-year-old Shaquille Pierce and has not been seen since.
Connor said she met Pierce five years ago and took him under her wing.
She viewed him as a little brother or cousin.
"He was going to go to a youth center on Charleston somewhere and um I told him he could take my son with him," explained Connor.
She gave him strict instructions to have Amari home by nine that night, but they never came back.Amari home by nine that night, but they never came back.
"I don't know where he could have gone, he told me he was going to the center and his grandma's and I called his grandma's and she's in Chicago, and she gives me the number to another grandma out here and she doesn't even exist," said Connor.
The question many have been asking is, "why no Amber Alert?"
"There's no vehicle and Amber Alerts really are designed for vehicles, and you have to have certain things to put out an Amber Alert. We don't set that criteria, so we are not able to do that," explained North Las Vegas Police Officer Ann Cavaricci.
Connor is an African American boy, approximately 3’4” tall and weighs 75 pounds with black hair and brown eyes. He was last seen wearing a red polo shirt (with a black stripe and white design), khaki shorts, multi-colored Puma shoes and a red “LA” hat. He was carrying a blue backpack.
Pierce is an African American man about 5’3” tall and weighs about 130 pounds. He has black hair and brown eyes. He was last seen wearing a gray shirt, leopard print legging pants, and red shoes.
All hospitals are asked to check their registries for Amari Connor, or any John Doe matching the above description, and to notify police immediately if found.
Anyone with information on the whereabouts of Amari Connor or Shaquille Pierce is asked to contact the North Las Vegas Police Department at 702-633-9111.
