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in: Pennsylvania, 1995, Disappearances,
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Ke'Shaun Vanderhorst

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Real Name: Ke'Shaun Bryant Vanderhorst
Nicknames: Little Man, Little Shorty
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Date: September 25, 1995

Bio[]

Date of Birth: July 17, 1993
Height: 2'0"
Weight: 29 lbs.
Characteristics: Black male with black hair and brown eyes.

Case[]

Details: Two year old Ke'Shaun Vanderhorst is the son of thirty one year old Tina Vanderhorst. He is the youngest of her seven children. Sadly, four of them died in the 1980s. Eight-month-old Terrance Slaughter died on November 4, 1980, at Osteopathic Medical Center; three-month-old Catrina Stephens died on January 28, 1983, at the same center; and ten-month-old Kenneth Stephens died on January 2, 1985, at Lankenau Hospital. All three died in their sleep. Their deaths were attributed to pneumonia and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).
Another daughter, Marie, was born prematurely and addicted to crack cocaine in 1988. She weighed only one pound at birth. She never left the hospital and died there at the age of four weeks. Tina's other two sons, who were born in 1986 and 1987, had never lived with her. Instead, they were raised by their paternal grandmother. Tina visited them regularly.
Tina has been described by relatives as "hotheaded" and "bullheaded". Over the years, she has had serious problems with drugs and alcohol. At one point, she was convicted of drug charges. When Ke'Shaun was born in July 1993, she was in jail on charges of theft and parole violation. He was immediately taken away from her and placed in foster care. In August 1994, lawyer Ted Gorka was appointed by a Family Court judge as Ke'Shaun's advocate. He represented Ke'Shaun in court hearings on the child's custody and care.
When Ted read Tina's Department of Human Services (DHS) file, he was concerned. He was concerned about the deaths of her other children, her drug abuse, and her apparent lack of parenting skills. At the time, everyone agreed that Ke'Shaun should remain in foster care while Tina was in jail. In Fall 1994, she was released after the theft charges were dropped. She completed a drug rehabilitation program and moved into an apartment in the 1400 block of North 17th Street in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
In November 1994, DHS decided to return Ke'Shaun to Tina. Ted objected to this. He said that while he was not against reuniting the two at some point, he felt it was too soon. He noted the deaths of her other children and recommended that Ke'Shaun remain in foster care. The judge rejected Ted's argument, saying the other deaths were not relevant to the case. The judge approved DHS's plan to return Ke'Shaun to Tina under the supervision of a DHS social worker. He told the social worker to consult with Ted about the services they would provide for Tina.
A few days later, the social worker told Ted that they would not begin providing any in-home services for the Vanderhorsts until January (two months after the ruling). In the meantime, the worker would check on Ke'Shaun once a month. The case was classified as "low risk", since Tina had never been accused of abusing or neglecting him.
Unhappy with this, Ted contacted the social worker's supervisor and told them that they needed to check on Ke'Shaun more frequently, for the child's safety. The supervisor told Ted that DHS was doing "everything possible." She also told him if he was really worried, he could check on Tina and Ke'Shaun himself. Ted responded that "this case is a headline waiting to happen." The supervisor later denied telling Ted to make the visits himself.
Over the next few weeks, Ted voiced his concerns to the executive director of the Philadelphia Support Center for Child Advocates, the nonprofit agency that provides many of the child advocates for Family Court. He also talked with the coroner about the deaths of Ke'Shaun's siblings.
Starting in January 1995, Family Support Services, a private agency contracted by DHS, began sending a social worker to visit Ke'Shaun and Tina on a weekly basis. They provided her with counseling and helped her care for him. She also attended the agency's parenting classes. She and Ke'Shaun spent most of their time together since she was unable to afford a babysitter. The workers who observed her described her as a "devoted" and "exceptional" mother. They also found no evidence of drug use.
Tina told the workers that she was working hard to provide a better life for Ke'Shaun. She started taking culinary classes. Since she was enrolled in these classes, she was able to get public assistance to pay for his daycare. The daycare owner, Lisa Coston, thought Tina was a good mother who wanted what was best for him. Neighbors reported he always wore clean clothing and did not appear hungry or abused. They never saw Tina mistreat him.
It seemed that Tina was finally starting to turn her life around. After six months, the social workers from Family Support Services turned the case back to DHS, saying she no longer needed the agency's services. They also requested that DHS close their file on Ke'Shaun; they did not believe he and Tina needed supervision. DHS did not make any home visits during July or early August. They had no direct contact with Tina, although they did get updates from her parole officer. During this time, no one checked to see how Ke'Shaun was doing.
On August 10, 1995, at the regular six-month Family Court review, DHS asked the judge for permission to close Ke'Shaun's case. They felt that Tina did not need to be under any additional supervision. Ted disagreed; he urged the court not to close the case. He agreed that Tina was making progress, but he felt it was still too early for DHS to close it. He thought it was "dangerous" to cut off all supervision. The judge ruled in favor of DHS and the case was closed.
A few weeks later, Tina's boyfriend broke up with her. She was so upset that she stopped attending her culinary classes. As a result, Ke'Shaun was pulled out of daycare. One day in early September 1995, neighbors noticed him sitting alone on a windowsill in the apartment. They soon discovered that Tina was not home; she had left him alone. A neighbor pried open the window and held him. A few minutes later, she returned and took him, but she did not say anything.
The following week, Tina asked a neighbor to watch Ke'Shaun for a few minutes. Tina left and did not return until the next day. She offered no explanation for her extended absence. A friend of hers said that they would often hang out and drink, sometimes as late as 2am, in front of a nearby laundromat. It is assumed that Ke'Shaun was left alone during those times.
On September 24, 1995, Tina's sister, Kim, visited her and Ke'Shaun at their apartment. This was the last time anyone other than Tina reported seeing him. In early October, Tina visited Lisa and told her that he was with his father. Lisa noticed she was very intoxicated and was still upset about her breakup. After talking for about an hour, Tina asked for some money for food. Lisa gave her some money and they said their goodbyes. Tina said she would bring Ke'Shaun to visit sometime soon.
A few days later, Tina was seen by her landlord's brother-in-law. Ke'Shaun was not with her, which the brother-in-law thought was unusual. On October 11, Tina's two other sons visited her. When they asked about Ke'Shaun, she started crying and said, "You're not going to see Ke'Shaun anymore." When they pressed her about it, she only cried more.
When the boys returned to their grandmother's house, they told her about what Tina said. The grandmother called Kim, who had already been concerned after several phone conversations with Tina. She "had a feeling" something was not right. When she confronted Tina, Tina said that a DHS worker had taken Ke'Shaun. Kim was still suspicious. On October 13, she reported Ke'Shaun and Tina missing after she was unable to find either of them.
On October 16, police officers located Tina on Cecil B. Moore Boulevard. She was unhappy when she learned that Kim had called the police. She did not want to speak with the officers and appeared to be high. They found drugs in her possession and arrested her for violating her parole. When questioned about Ke'Shaun's whereabouts, she again said that a DHS worker had taken him.
The next day, police confirmed with DHS that they had no child by that name in their care. Friends and neighbors told police they had not seen Ke'Shaun in weeks. Investigators searched Tina's apartment and found it "filthy, cluttered, and rat-infested." They searched in and around the apartment complex but found no clues to his whereabouts.
On October 19, while in jail, Tina admitted that the story about the DHS worker taking Ke'Shaun was a lie. She said that sometime between 3 and 4:30pm on the afternoon of September 25, a stranger appeared at her door. The woman, who identified herself as "Virginia Graham," said she was married, had two children, and lived in Philadelphia. She said she had been sent by "somebody" who knew Tina and knew that she was having difficulties taking care of Ke'Shaun.
Virginia said that Ke'Shaun would be better off with her. Tina agreed and handed him over to her. Virginia gave Tina a paper with a number on it and told her that she would still be allowed to see him, and that Virginia would contact her to arrange visitations. Virginia then took Ke'Shaun to her car, strapped him into a baby seat in the backseat, and drove away. Virginia never contacted Tina after that.
Tina later added a detail to her story: she had actually sold Ke'Shaun to Virginia. Virginia gave her $500 in $20 bills. Tina said she later used the money to buy crack cocaine. The police were skeptical of her story. Still, they contacted several "Virginia Grahams" in the area; none fit the description of the woman who allegedly took Ke'Shaun.
A few days later, on October 23, Tina changed her story again. She said that after smoking drugs with a man in her apartment, she took Ke'Shaun for a walk in his stroller to a friend's fruit stand on Cecil B. Moore Avenue. She could not remember what had happened to him after that. She frequently left him at the stand for short periods of time prior to his disappearance, but she would always come back and get him eventually. She also sometimes left him at a nearby market, where an employee would watch him.
On October 27, Tina was charged with dealing in infants, endangering the welfare of a child, and corrupting the morals of a minor. Because the police did not know what had happened to Ke'Shaun, the charges against her were limited to endangering him, rather than harming him. Homicide detectives led the investigation into the case. Tina took a lie detector test, but the results were inconclusive.
Ted was angry when he learned of Ke'Shaun's disappearance, since no one had taken his concerns seriously. He believes Ke'Shaun is no longer alive. DHS officials have claimed that they did not mishandle the case.
On November 18, 1996, just before the start of Tina's trial, she pleaded no contest to selling an infant and endangering the welfare of a child. She did not dispute the charge that she sold Ke'Shaun for money to buy cocaine. She claimed that the drugs "took control of her" and that she never meant for it to happen.
In January 1997, Tina was given a two-and-a-half to seven-year sentence. At her sentencing hearing, she told yet another story. She said that on the day of Ke'Shaun's disappearance, she was under the influence of drugs and alcohol. When "Virginia" came to her door, she thought Virginia was a DHS worker, so she handed him over. She denied selling him, saying that police forced her into signing that statement.
Police and the medical examiner's office reinvestigated the deaths of Tina's other children after Ke'Shaun's disappearance. However, no charges were filed against her in those cases. Ke'Shaun has never been located and the police do not know if he is alive or dead. Some have theorized that her ex-boyfriend was responsible for Ke'Shaun's disappearance. Friends said he was aware of her problems with drugs and alcohol and had threatened to have Ke'Shaun removed from her custody because of her problems. At the time of her arrest, police were unable to locate the ex-boyfriend.
Another theory is that Tina killed Ke'Shaun, either accidentally or on purpose. However, many of their relatives and friends do not believe she would have harmed him. They note that there was never any evidence of abuse. Yet another theory is that he died accidentally after she left him alone in the apartment. However, there was no evidence indicating he had died there. Another theory is that she was telling the truth and that she sold him or gave him away. The changing stories have led many people close to the case to believe that she was responsible for his disappearance and presumed death.
After Tina was released from prison, she was arrested at least once for prostitution. In October 2016, she was arrested and charged with the murder of sixty four year old Robert Lynch. She was also charged with robbery, arson, and other offenses in that case. On September 12, 2016, firefighters and police responded to reports of a fire in Robert's Germantown, Pennsylvania, apartment. Inside, they found his body; he had been stabbed seventy seven times. The murder apparently took place five days before the fire. Gasoline traces found in the apartment indicated the fire was deliberately set.
Tina lived in the same apartment building as Robert, and the two were reportedly friends. A witness said that on the night after the fire, Tina called him and admitted to killing Robert and setting the fire. She said she and Robert had gotten into an "altercation", that she stabbed him on September 7, and that she had taken two TVs from his apartment. One of the TVs was later found in her apartment. In September 2017, she was acquitted of all charges.
Ke'Shaun likes sugar-frosted tangerine candy, banana-flavored taffy, and orange and lime popsicles. His relatives hope that he is still alive.

Suspects: Tina is considered the prime suspect in Ke'Shaun's disappearance. She told at least five different stories about what happened to him. Most were either proven false or could not be verified. She had a history of drug problems and four of her seven children died in infancy. After his disappearance, the investigation into their deaths was reopened. No charged were filed in their deaths, though.
"Virginia Graham" is described as a Black woman with a medium complexion, black hair, and brown eyes. She was approximately thirty five to forty years old in 1995, 5'4" to 5'5" tall, and weighed 135 to 140 pounds. Her ears were pierced and she was well dressed; she wore a maroon skirt, a cream colored shirt or jacket, and designer fingernails.
Virginia drove a light blue four-door sedan with the letters "AL" in the license plate number. She had a white child seat inside the car for Ke'Shaun. She told Tina she lived in Philadelphia, was married, and had two children of her own. She, if she exists, has never been identified.
Extra Notes:

  • This case was first released on October 19, 2020 as a part of the second volume of the Netflix reboot of Unsolved Mysteries. It is featured at the end of "Stolen Kids" as a part of a long term missing children roll call along with Andre Bryant, Cherie Barnes, Amber Crum, Corey Edkin, Desiree Carroll, Aaron Anderson, and Christopher Abeyta.
  • It was planned to be featured on America’s Most Wanted; however, it is not known if it actually aired.
  • Some sources spell his first name as "KeShaun" or "Ke-Shaun". Some sources state that he vanished on September 26 and that two of his siblings died of natural causes.
  • One source says that a male friend of Tina's told police he babysat Ke'Shaun in late September, around the 29th. However, no other sources mention this.

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