Fighting for Baby Vanessa

DAYTON, Ohio - 2 News has obtained new information about a Dayton father involved in a bitter adoption battle, that reached from Los Angeles to Dayton.

A toddler named Vanessa was in the middle of this legal tug of war.

The child's birth mother placed her up for adoption to a single woman named Stacey Doss, in Orange County, California a month before Vanessa was born.

Doss was the only mother Vanessa had ever known. Now, her birth father has stepped forward.

Benjamin Mills, Jr. said he had no idea he had a daughter. He did not give permission for the adoption to take place. Now, he wanted his daughter back.

2 News has just learned that the Department of Job and Family Services currently has an open case of child endangering against Vanessa's birth father, Benjamin Mills, Jr.

"The law does not really allow us to talk about specific details. I can confirm the father has an open case with children services," said Ann Stevens, a spokeswoman for The Montgomery County Department of Job and Family Services.

Court Records indicated that Mills had multiple drivers licence suspensions on record, several of them for failure to pay child support.

2 News has also learned that Mills served 8 months in prison for domestic violence. The victim was baby Vanessa's birth mother.

"He drug Vanessa's birth mother around by the hair to the point where police found bloody clumps of hair around the house. He strangled her until she was unconscious," said Doss.

Vanessa's birth mother's parents spoke to 2 News last Friday. Her father said they had walked in to find her in a bathtub full of blood.

Family Court judges in California ruled that the child should be sent back to her birth parent, last Friday.

The decision left Doss and her friends devastated.

"I only have until the 16th to save my daughter," said Doss.

Doss and her attorneys are filing an appeal in California's Court of Appeals to ask for a stay to the judge's orders. They hoped to keep Vanessa in California.

2 News went to several addresses listed for Benjamin Mill's Jr. We were unable to track him down, but we did find his father, Benjamin Mills, Sr. living in Huber Heights.

Mills said he was aware his son was fighting for custody, and he supported that decision.

He's the father. He's never seen his daughter. He wants his daughter," said Mills, Sr.

Doss's friends were organizing fundraisers to help raise money for her legal expenses.

Teri Sawyer said they had set up a website, www.operationvanessa.com, to spread the word and raise money. They also set up a facebook page and online petition to gain support in their fight to keep Vanessa with her adoptive mother.

"In the big picture this case isn't just about Baby Vanessa. It's about all the children who're in similar situations, and their welfare should be the primary concern," said Sawyer.

Mill's father said, his son had made some mistakes in the past, but now he was a changed man.

"Hes a nice boy, a man now. He's a man now," said Mills, Sr.

According to the court ruling, Vanessa was expected to be back in Ohio by July 16th.