Foster Father: Hasanni Not Just a Paycheck

Louis Ross talks about sword found in home, angry text message, failed polygraph

Loius Ross says he wants to set the record straight about questions surrounding his actions in the case of his missing son, Hassani Campbell.

Police have served multiple search warrants as part of the investigation into the disappearance of 5-year-old boy, who was last seen Aug. 10, and the boy's foster father has turned over a sword to investigators, a police spokesman and an Oakland attorney said Thursday.

Hasanni had been living with his foster parents, Ross and Jennifer Campbell -- who is also  Hasanni's aunt -- at a home on Roxie Terrace in Fremont before he was reported missing.

Police spokesman Officer Jeff Thomason said at least one of the search warrants was served at the Roxie Terrace home, but he declined to disclose what police were looking for there.

However, John Burris, an Oakland attorney who has consulted with the foster parents, said one of the items Oakland police were seeking was a sword, and that Ross has turned over a sword to them.

"The sword is something I keep underneath my bed." Ross told NBC Bay Area. "The sword was initially put in the closet, to be honest. But we had some incidents, a couple of incidents where somebody was setting off our alarm while it was in our garage."

Investigators gave Ross a polygraph test but he failed it. He says the test was fraudulent.

Ross said the polygraph test was fraud.

"They gave me five questions. Three were controls. The controls was: Is my name Loius Ross? Am I 38 years old? Do I live in Fremont? Then they asked two other questions around the case. They showed me results that said I was 99% deceptive." Ross detailed. "So he told me I didn't even get my name right."

Burris said Ross is "a little overwhelmed" that he is being scrutinized by police and "is disappointed that attention is being focused on  him" rather than on the search for the boy.

But Burris said Ross also realizes that it is "par for the course" and that police want to investigate everyone close to a missing child.

The FBI has also joined the search for the boy, who has cerebral palsy and wears foot braces to help him walk. Agents searched Ross's car and took swabs from the back seat, carpet and molding latches.

An Alameda County Court document shows agents also recovered latex gloves from the car but Ross disputes that.

He told NBC Bay Area's Jodi Hernandez that the glove was a hand puppet that their 1-year-old daughter was playing with in the car.

"They need to check their story." Ross insists. "Was it their latex glove? Because they left all latex gloves. They destroyed parts of the house, knocked down plastic shelves and left latex gloves laying around my home."

Ross has also had to defend himself against a text message he sent to Campbell, his fiancee, 10 days before Hassani vanished.

According to court documents, the text message read: "The text message read, "This is f*#king over, I will watch her but he will be out on the BART and its your responsibility to (sic?) get him so f*#k you."

Ross says he sent the text after the couple had an argument and it had nothing to do with abandoning Hasanni. He said the it was a simple argument that was quckly resolved.

What he meant by the message, Ross told NBC Bay Area TV, is "I'm going to meet you at the BART, hand off the children. I'm gone. I'm leaving the house. You can have the house. You can have the car. I don't care. I'm gone."

NBC Bay Area learned Thursday that Ross failed a polygraph test given by police last week. Campbell is pregnant and said she did not want to take the polygraph test because she was concerned it could harm her unborn child.

Ross and Campbell were also serving as foster parents to Hasanni's younger sister, who has been taken from the couple. They say the boy and his little sister were thriving under their care.

Ross stressed his love for Hasanni, insisting the boy was not just a foster child paycheck.

"I was his father. He was my son." He said.

Hassani's room is the same as he left it. His bed his backpack and other belongings remain, awaiting his return.

Ross said he won't talk to the media anymore; he wants to keep the focus on the search for Hasanni.

Police describe Hasanni as an African-American boy with medium complexion, brown hair and brown eyes. He is about 3 feet tall and weighs about 30 pounds. He was last seen wearing a gray sweatshirt and gray pants.

Oakland police and Crime Stoppers are offering a $10,000  reward for information leading to the whereabouts of Hasanni.

Family and friends are holding a car wash Saturday from 12 p.m.-3 p.m. at Tone's Auto Detail on MacArthur Boulevard in Oakland to help raise money for the reward fund.

Bay City News contributed to this report.

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