Biological aunt of missing Fayetteville teen: 'Why did it take so long to report it?'
Blake Deven — or Trenton Dawayne Shuler, the name his biological family knows him by — has been missing from his adoptive home in Fayetteville since 2022 and his paternal birth aunt is seeking answers.
“Our main question is why? If he’s been missing between two and five years, why did it take so long to report it?" Miranda Miller, the sister of Blake's biological father, Trevor Shuler, said by phone from her home in western North Carolina this week. "What’s the big picture here?”
Blake, now 17, would have been about 15 when he went missing in 2022, Fayetteville Police Chief Kemberle Braden said at an April 5 news conference. The teen was reported missing this year after police spoke with the family during an investigation into a separate matter, he said.
Braden said that days later, the family reported they hadn't seen another Deven family member since 2019 — Blake's adopted sister London Deven, who would now be 27.
"We're asking the public to think back over this long period of time and if anyone came in contact with Blake and London or other members of the Deven family, we want to hear from you," the chief said last week. "Detectives are piecing together a timeline of events and seeking information from anyone who had interacted with or made observations of Blake and London at any time.
Braden said the FBI was asked to join in on the search for Blake and London and search warrants were served on at least three locations in Fayetteville on March 27. He declined to say what locations were searched but noted that one was a former home for the Deven family.
According to WRAL, a search was also conducted Monday at a home on Berriedale Drive. A neighbor told the TV station that he'd seen Blake and London there six years ago.
WRAL also reported that Buncombe County civil court records show that Avantae Emerald Deven adopted London in Buncombe County in 2011 and Blake in Madison County in April 2013.
Police report released Wednesday provides new details
According to a copy of the incident report released Wednesday by the Fayetteville Police Department, on Jan. 19, Avantae Deven, 61, reported Blake missing.
The document lists Blake as a runaway and indicates he was last seen on Aug. 1, 2022, at the Ramsey Street Walmart. The third page of the report has a different date; indicating he was last seen Nov. 30, 2022, at the Berriedale Drive home police searched earlier this week.
The report describes Blake as 5 feet 3 inches tall and weighing 120 pounds. He was reportedly wearing a red T-shirt, black jeans, and carrying a black hiking-style backpack with buckles and red writing. It states he has a small build, a small brown mole on his chin, dimples and a gap in his teeth.
The incident report for London was released. Attempts to contact Avantae Deven were unsuccessful.
Police have not said what happened since January to prompt the recent property searches.
Related: Hunt for missing Fayetteville teen, relative continued Friday as police ask for public's help
'We were willing to get kinship'
Blake's aunt said the last time she saw Blake and his two brothers, Devin, who would now be about 15, and Gabriel, who would now be about 13, was in December 2011.
Despite the birth family's desire to take the children in, the children were taken into the custody of the state and placed into foster care around that time, Miller said.
“Myself and my mother were willing to get kinship care and it was shut down by the Department of Social Services,” Miller said.
She said Blake pitched a fit when social workers took him from his mother. Miller declined to say what led to the state taking custody of the children, but she said she never saw any indication of abuse.
“There was never, not one indication, that they weren’t happy or weren’t well fed,” Miller said.
Attempts to contact the birth mother were unsuccessful.
Miller said Blake was a happy kid who was always laughing and playing with trucks before he was placed in foster care at 6 years old.
"He was an all-American boy,” Miller said. “His hair was so blond it was almost white just like his biological father.”
The last time Miller and Blake were together, the two played in the snow and built gingerbread houses, she said.
“He was such a happy kid," Miller said. “Up until the moment they were separated they were happy.”
Anyone with information on the whereabouts of Blake or London Deven is asked to contact the FBI at 1-800-CALL FBI or the Fayetteville Police Department tipline at 910-578-2697.
Public safety reporter Joseph Pierre can be reached at jpierre@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Aunt speaks about the Fayetteville disappearance of nephew Blake Deven
