INDIANAPOLIS — Three missing Indianapolis children who were the subject of a statewide Silver Alert last week may have been taken over 1,000 miles away to Mexico and are now believed to be in extreme danger.
The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department issued an alert last Friday that officers were actively searching for three children: Frankie, Queen and King Terrell. The kids were last seen around 12:30 p.m. Thursday with their biological parents, Willie and Jessika Terrell.
Police provided the following descriptions of the children:
Frankie Terrell (4 years old)
- Female
- 3 feet tall
- 46 pounds
- Brown hair
- Brown eyes
- Last seen wearing a pink shirt and blue pants
Queen Terrell (3 years old)
- Female
- 2 feet, 6 inches tall
- 30 pounds
- Brown hair
- Brown eyes
- Last seen wearing a pink shirt, gray pants and light-up tennis shoes
King Terrell (1 year old)
- Male
- 1 foot, 8 inches tall
- 15 pounds
- Brown hair
- Brown eyes
- Last seen wearing a Mickey Mouse outfit and red shoes
Court documents filed Tuesday show that IMPD officers were called around 1 p.m. on July 4 to Famous Dave’s Bar-B-Que on Vincennes Road in Indy for an abduction. Officers met with the grandpa of the three children, who said he has custody of the kids and agreed through DCS to have a meal with their biological parents at the restaurant.
However, when the man returned from using the bathroom at the restaurant, he said the children and parents were gone. The man said he had been granted custody of the children out of La Porte County in October 2023 and that Willie Terrell Jr., 50, Jessika Officer (AKA Jessika Terrell), 31, had taken them away in a white minivan.
While investigating the abduction, IMPD detectives learned that the children had been taken from Willie and Jessika due to medical neglect where the children were not being fed properly or given their daily required medication. An IMPD missing persons alert and State Police Silver Alert were issued soon after.
After obtaining the children’s medical records, IMPD determined that Frankie, 4, has been diagnosed with Alpha Thalassemia trait and Iron Deficiency Anemia. Queen, 3, has been diagnosed with Down’s Syndrome and Anemia. King has been diagnosed with Iron Deficiency Anemia and Alpha Thalassemia trait as well.
Detectives soon obtained phone numbers for the parents from DCS and then requested “exigent pings” of the cell phones. While pings were initially reported in Louisville and Shreveport, Louisiana, police were later told on July 5 that the numbers were no longer associated with the Terrells.
Then, on Monday, July 8, IMPD received an accurate phone number for Willie that was able to get a one-time ping around 4:15 a.m. in the area of Columbus, Texas. A DCS case manager then told police that she had just talked with Willie and his therapist on a three-way call.
During the call, Willie reportedly told his therapist that the children were “okay” and that they were on their way to Mexico. The DCS worker, who was looped in by Willie’s therapist, said the father was 288 miles from Mexico and that he wanted the FBI to investigate why his kids were being taken from him.
On the morning of Tuesday, July 9, Texas authorities helped obtain a ping of Willie’s phone that showed he was in Pearsall, Texas. This is 101 miles away from the U.S./Mexico border.
No other information was immediately provided by IMPD or in court documents. State and local police are still actively searching for the children and their parents.
