TV story leads Rasheed Wallace to reunion with 28-month-old son

Jet, Jan 19, 1998

It's been a year and a half wait, but Rasheed Wallace of the NBA's Portland Trailblazers recently was happily reunited with his 28-month-old son, Ishmiel Shaeed Wallace.

Wallace said he felt "joy and satisfaction" after getting his son back. "I'm just glad to have him here and glad this is all over," he told Turner Network Television (TNT) during a sportscast. The network's story about Wallace's ordeal led to the boy's return.

A North Carolina judge had awarded Wallace, 23, full custody of Ishmiel last June, but he had not seen the child since August of 1996.

Ishmiel's mother Chiquita Bryant disappeared with him months ago. Private detectives had been looking for them but all their leads came up empty until Wallace was on TNT.

Photos of Bryant and Ishmiel caught someone's attention in Kings Mountain, NC. She called the police.

"The woman said, `Do you know Rasheed Wallace?,'" said officer Gary Wagner of the Kings Mountain Police department, "and I said no. Then she said, `He's an NBA player and his son is missing and I know where he's at.' And then she hung up. She called me back about three times, and I finally got a return number to call her back."

Wagner contacted authorities in Durham, NC, and Hampton, VA, where Bryant had lived, and after obtaining the needed custody papers, Wagner went to a house in Kings Mountain.

"Sure enough, Ms. Bryant was there with the juvenile," he said. "In fact, she had her bags packed and was getting ready to leave. The woman who had called me anonymously had called Ms. Bryant and told her she knew who she was."

James Williams, Wallace's attorney, called Wallace's mother Jacqueline. She and Williams flew to Kings Mountain, picked up Ishmiel and then few to Durham where Wallace was anxiously waiting after flying in from Portland.

Ishmiel is living in Oregon with his father; Fatima Sanders, Wallace's fiancee; the couple's 6-month-old son and her 10-year-old son.