Ke'Shaun was last seen at his residence in the 1400 block of north 17th Street in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on September 25, 1995. His mother, Tina Vanderhorst, told her relatives and police that the Department of Human Services (DHS) had taken the child. Her family became suspicious and reported Ke'Shaun as a missing person on October 13. Investigators who searched Tina's apartment after the child went missing described it as filthy, cluttered and rat-infested. Tina repeated the story about Ke'Shaun being in DHS custody, but the DHS had no child by that name in their care.

Tina had long-standing problem with drugs and alcohol at the time of Ke'Shaun's disappearance, and her boyfriend had threatened to remove Ke'Shaun from her custody as a result. He had previously been in foster care while his mother was incarcerated. Ke'Shaun was given back his mother after she was released from prison; a social worker was supposed to check in on the family once a month. Ke'Shaun was classified as being at low risk for abuse, as his mother had never been accused of harming or neglecting him. She had been in jail when he was born and he was taken away from her immediately afterwards. The social worker assigned to the Vanderhorst family believed Tina was a good parent and, after six months, requested that the DHS close their file on Ke'Shaun. In August 1995, the file was closed. Ke'Shaun disappeared the following month.

Tina had seven children, including Ke'Shaun, by 1995. Four of them died in 1980s, all before they were a year old. One was born premature and addicted to crack cocaine and never left the hospital before she died four weeks after birth. Another died of pneumonia and two of them supposedly from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). Two additional children lived with their paternal grandmother at the time Ke'Shaun vanished.

After her story about Ke'Shaun and the DHS was proved to be incredible, Tina stated that she sold Ke'Shaun to an African-American female named Virginia Graham. She was paid $500 and used the money to buy crack cocaine. A sketch of the woman is posted below this case summary. She is described as being approximately 35 to 40 years old in 1995, 5'4 and 140 pounds with black hair and brown eyes. The abductor's ears are pierced and she was well-dressed; she wore a maroon skirt, a cream-colored shirt and false designer fingernails. Tina stated that Graham, whom she did not know, visited her apartment one day and offered to take Ke'Shaun because "someone" told her Tina was having difficulty caring for him. Graham drove a blue four-door sedan with a white child seat inside for Ke'Shaun. She told Tina she lived in Philadelphia, was married and had two children of her own. Graham, if she exists, has never been identified.

Tina later changed her story yet again and stated that, while under the influence of drugs, she took Ke'Shaun at a friend's fruit stand on Cecil B. Moore Avenue. She could not remember what happened to the child after that. Tina frequently left Ke'Shaun at the fruit stand for short periods of time prior to his disappearance, but would always come back and get him eventually.

Neither Ke'Shaun nor the woman Tina told the police about have been heard from again. His mother pleaded no contest to child endangerment in connection with his case and was sentenced to 2 1/2 to 7 years in prison. At her sentencing, she admitted abandoning Ke'Shaun but denied having sold him. She stated she gave him to a woman who claimed to be a DHS worker, and she had been coerced into making the statement about selling him to a stranger for drug money. Police began reinvestigating Tina's other children's deaths after Ke'Shaun disappeared. No charges were filed, however. Ke'Shaun has never been located.

Above: Sketch of abductor