Newborn Baby Kidnapped By Fake Social Worker

David Ezell Blockett was a 2-week-old baby boy born on November 26, 1980. He lived with his two-year-old brother Frederick and 19-year-old mother Vanessa Blockett. David’s father, 22-year-old Fred West, was in jail at the time of his son’s birth but was allowed to meet him.

David was African-American with black hair and brown eyes. He had a small mole on his right ear and birthmarks under his left arm, on his back, and buttocks.

On December 11, 1980, a woman knocked on the door of Vanessa’s home in Newport News, Virginia. She introduced herself as Marie Kelly, a social worker for the DSS (Department of Social Services).

Marie Kelly told Vanessa she was there to take David and Frederick to a photo contest at a Christmas party for children at the Riverside Regional Medical Center. The woman was able to convince Vanessa to let her children go with her.

A few hours later, a woman found Frederick lost at a shopping center in Hampton (about fifteen minutes from Newport News). He had a piece of paper in his pocket with his address and the police took him home.

Sadly, David has never been seen again.

Later that same day, a woman (likely Marie Kelly) called Vanessa’s home to ask what type of formula David was taking. She hung up before police could trace the call.

A few days after David was kidnapped, his diaper bag and a leather folder believed to have belonged to Marie Kelly were found tossed on the Colonial Parkway near Yorktown (about 20 minutes from Newport News). The diaper bag contained David’s booties, blanket, sweater, jeans, and comb.

Unsurprisingly, Marie Kelly was not an actual social worker. The DSS did not employ anyone by that name or anyone that fit her description. There was also no Christmas party at the medical center.

A sketch of the mystery woman was made based on Vanessa’s description. “Marie Kelly” was an African-American woman between the ages of 32 and 35. She was 145 to 155 pounds and 5"4 to 5"8 tall. The woman had large lips, arched eyebrows, and white teeth.

It is likely that “Marie Kelly” got David’s name and address from the Daily Press. Just three days before she knocked on the family’s door, the newspaper had published a listing of recent births.

Around the same time, another mother who had recently given birth in Newport News was approached by a woman claiming to be a social worker matching the description of “Marie Kelly”. The mother told the woman to go away.

Frederick has some memories of the day he and his brother were kidnapped.

“I remember being in the car. I remember my brother sitting beside me, and I remember playing with a cassette tape, and I was just pulling the ribbon and taking the cassette tape.”

He told WTKR that a man had been driving the car, not “Marie Kelly”, and that neither would look at the children.

“And where they dropped me off, I remember a whole lot of while silos, like farm. I think it was more farm land back then”.

Authorities believe the most likely scenario is that David was kidnapped in order to be raised by someone else, possibly “Marie Kelly” herself. The phone call asking about the formula is a good indication that she had no intent on harming the baby. But it is also possible that she sold David.

Oddly enough, David’s nephews (from his younger brother Dante) were also kidnapped by a random woman.

In 2011, Ta’vyion (5) and Dante Jr. (6) had been left in a car outside of a gas station where their mother, Yovonda Bennafield, worked.

The mother was approached by a stranger, Sommer Pannell, who needed help getting to North Carolina. Yovonda agreed to give Sommer a ride if she watched her sons until she finished her shift at the gas station. Instead, Sommer took off with the car and children.

AMBER Alerts were sent out and thankfully, both children were found safe a few hours later. Sommer was charged with abduction but was found not guilty by reason of insanity.

Vanessa always kept hope that she would be reunited with her son. In a Free Lance-Star article she said,

“I know David’s coming back. Next time I see him, he might not be a child. He might be a young man, but someday there will be a knock on my door and my boy will be home.”

Sadly, Vanessa died in 1997 of a brain aneurism. She was only 36-years-old.

David’s father has spent most of his life in and out of prison, mostly on drug charges. At the time, he had begged the police to let him out of jail so that he could search for his son. He too hopes he can meet David again:

“If you’re out there David, if you’re hearing me, know that you’re loved and you’re missed, and everybody wants to see you come home.”

David Ezell Blockett was kidnapped 40 years ago.