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Amber Alert update: Father may have switched cars
By Russ Kent
News Journal

MOUNT VERNON -- Authorities have received information the man who abducted two children last week is still in the area but may have switched vehicles.

John Wesley Strauser, 30, is believed to have abducted his 5-year-old son and his 4-year-old son. Robert Aaron Strauser and Matthew Howard Strauser were not returned to their mother last week after a supervised visitation with their father in Columbus.

According to a spokesman at the Knox County Sheriff’s Office, Strauser is believed to be driving a brown 1989 Chevrolet van with two racing stripes. The van has two large tinted windows on the driver’s side and a tinted window on the passenger’s side. The license plate number on the van is CV06SH.
Knox County Sheriff Dave Barber feels the kids are in “imminent danger."

Anyone with information on the children or their father is urged to call 911 immediately.

The boys and their father last were seen Monday in the Columbus area wearing blue sweatsuits. At the time they were in a 2002 dark-blue Dodge Stratus with Ohio license plates BEU 9315.

Robert Aaron Strauser, is 3 feet 4 inches tall weighs about 40 pounds. He has blond hair and blue eyes. Matthew Howard Strauser is 4 feet tall, weighs about 50 pounds and has blond hair and blue eyes.

Their father, John Wesley Strauser, 30, is 5 feet 11 inches tall and has brown hair and blue eyes.
No one has been in contact with the boys nor their father since Monday. Prior to that John Strauser had conversed with family members and authorities had hoped for a quick conclusion to the abduction.

The abduction is the cause of the first activitation of the North Central Ohio Amber Alert system. The system covers Richland, Ashland, Morrow, Marion, Knox, Crawford and Wyandot counties.

Although not usually activated in custody disputes, the Amber Alert system may be activated when authorities believe victims are in danger. Barber opted to activitate the system when contact with the father ceased.