(Roanoke County, VA) April 22, 2020 -- At a press briefing at 4:45 p.m., Roanoke County Police Chief Howard Hall told reporters that Emma, Cameron, and Colin Allison have been safely located near Florence, South Carolina this afternoon.
On Tuesday, April 21, the Roanoke County Police Department was contacted by the Roanoke County Department of Social Services (DSS) for assistance with serving a child removal order in North Roanoke County. Social Services personnel attempted to serve the order on John Allison, the father of the children. Mr. Allison refused to reveal the location of the children or arrange for them to be turned over to DSS.
Concerned that the parents may be taking steps to remove the children from the state, felony abduction warrants were obtained for John Allison and Ruby Allison. An Amber Alert was issued Tuesday night for the children and law enforcement agencies across the eastern half of the United States have been alerted. Shortly after 10:00 a.m. on Wednesday, John Allison turned himself in to Roanoke County Police at his attorney’s office.
As a result of its investigation, Roanoke County Police learned that Ruby Allison, had transported the children to Florida and later decided to return to Roanoke. Their location was later narrowed to I-95 North in South Carolina. The South Carolina Highway Patrol was alerted and stopped the vehicle with Ruby and the children shortly after 4:00 p.m. today.
Ruby Allison has been taken into custody pending extradition to Virginia. The children have been turned over to authorities in South Carolina who will coordinate their return with Roanoke County Social Services.
“We would like to thank the South Carolina Highway Patrol for their quick response to our request for assistance,” Roanoke County Police Chief Hall said.
“Additionally, the successful resolution to this investigation can be attributed to the close collaboration with the US Marshals Service, FBI, and a variety of other state and local law enforcement agencies,” Chief Hall said. “And I’d like to thank all of these agencies and all of the personnel involved for their hard work that led to safely locating these children.”