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Woman snatches girl, 5, from bus
By MIKE BRASSFIELD © St. Petersburg Times, published October 5, 2000 ST. PETERSBURG -- Police were searching late Wednesday for a 5-year-old girl after an unidentified woman claiming to be her mother took her off a school bus at Woodlawn Elementary School. Investigators suspected the girl's father, who is separated from the girl's mother, might be involved and might have the girl. But detectives weren't sure. Aleyah L. Conway, 5, was on a bus about 2:45 p.m. at the school at 1600 16th St. S when a woman who falsely identified herself as Aleyah's mother approached a bus aide and said she had come to get Aleyah. The woman left with Aleyah. The woman was black, in her early 20s, about 5 feet 8 and 160 pounds, with short hair pulled back into a ponytail. Police suspected that Aleyah's father -- Walter "Doc" Conway III, 33, of Jackson, Miss. -- might be involved because he had come to the school about 12:30 p.m. Wednesday, saying he wanted to pick up Aleyah. But Conway wasn't on the school's list of people approved to see Aleyah, so he was turned away, said acting police Maj. Randy Bratton. Conway hadn't seen Aleyah since early May. Aleyah's mother, who lives in St. Petersburg, had custody of the child, Bratton said. "He's been out of the picture for some time," Bratton said. Police suspected that Conway was taking Aleyah with him back to Jackson, Miss., but they didn't really know. The child might still be in the Tampa Bay area. Detectives also didn't know for sure that the unidentified woman who disappeared with Aleyah was connected to Conway. Aleyah was last seen wearing a white shirt, navy blue skirt and black shoes. Anyone with information was asked to call St. Petersburg police at 893-7780.
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