About 20 people rode in a van from Washington to Prince William County last night to comfort Karynne Sheldon's parents and plead for the missing 2-year-old's safe return.
Members of the group, including some who helped search for a missing Washington boy this week, carried flickering candles and offered prayers and words of support. They embraced Karynne's parents, Danielle and Scott Sheldon.
"This child will return safe," Wil Atkins, who described himself as a community activist, told the crowd. "We appeal in the name of God, right now . . . send this child back to this family."
Members of the group, including parents and students from Webb Elementary in Northeast Washington, urged the Sheldons not to give up hope. Some had helped search for Lamar Arnold, 3, a Northeast Washington boy who vanished from a preschool program at the school Tuesday and reappeared the next day. "We knew Lamar was going to come back," Atkins said. "We just pray your child comes back without any hurt, harm or danger."
As a search helicopter buzzed overhead, the Sheldons, along with relatives, told the group that its support helped boost their spirits. "I think it's wonderful; it means so much," Scott Sheldon said in a hushed voice as he held his sobbing wife.
The group, which traveled in a van owned by the D.C. government, arrived at the search area near Manassas just before 9 p.m. and stayed about 20 minutes. The excursion was organized by Mayor Marion Barry, said Lisa Shaw, who identified herself as a representative of the mayor. On board were two uniformed D.C. police officers.
Staff writer Avis Thomas-Lester contributed to this report.
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