Help Me Save Ember – A Mother’s Plea for Justice and Safety.

Help Me Save Ember – A Mother’s Plea for Justice and Safety.

My name is Rhianna Baldwin, and I’m a devoted mother fighting to bring my almost 9 month old Baby boy, Ember, home.

On May 4th, 2025, something happened that no parent should ever endure. While trying to take Ember on a simple walk to the neighborhood park, I was forcibly separated from him by my boyfriend’s family. I had already called 911 because I felt unsafe during a verbal dispute—but before help could arrive, I was surrounded, grabbed, and torn away from the stroller. Ember was taken from me and rushed into their house. I was left outside, begging, pleading, and recording—terrified and powerless.

They tried to paint me as unstable, even claiming I was on drugs and a danger to my own child. None of it was true.

The officer who pressed charges, saw straight through the lies told me outright: this was a disturbing attempt to control me as a mother—not a lawful act. My boyfriend’s father was arrested for assault.

Ember was returned to me…that time.

But the warning signs were there. I was urged to file immediately for legal protection—but I didn’t. I was scared. I wanted to trust my boyfriend. He told me that if I filed a protected order, his family would kick me out. I was 9 weeks pregnant at the time, with no money, no car, no family, no resources in Texas, and no resources to get out of Texas.

The next afternoon I started spotting. I initially was scared of how miscarriages are handled in Texas, and thought I could handle it myself because I’d had a previous brutal stillbirth. The bleeding got worse over the week, and by the time I was so sick and could of used medical intervention, my boyfriend had realized this would increase charges on his father, and did not want me to report it.

This is when I started realizing things were not right.

I started to pressure my boyfriend to move us back home, or to my family system in Florida. He would tell me “Yes, Eventually” but deep in my gut I knew he was lying. I told him I didn’t feel safe, or supported, and I didn’t recognize him anymore.

I stayed, bleeding from the trauma, both physical & emotional, I had no where else to go.

This wasn’t the first time having an incident. When Ember was just 6 weeks old, my boyfriend’s mother took him while I was sleeping, without permission from me. I was recovering from an emergency C-section, and she told me I didn’t matter—because I was “just” the mother. Now, this is the third time they’ve tried to take Ember. 

And this time—they’ve kept him.

I haven’t seen my baby since May 22nd, 2025 at 6:00 PM.

SAPD, and BCSO keep telling me this is a civil issue.

I found a custody lawyer, and was told jurisdiction is in Ember & I’s home state, Virginia. I cannot file for emergency custody, because I cannot file for normal custody, because we need an AOP. My boyfriend can’t apply for an AOP, because he is not the father. 

I am still married to my husband in Virginia, we never separated when I got with my boyfriend. Ember only came along 4 months into our relationship, and I had been living there so I stayed. Life is messy, and things happen. Since Ember was born during that marriage, the law recognizes my husband as the legal father. 

Before anything can move forward in custody court, all four of us must go to Virginia for court appointed paternity and custody proceedings. But I cannot leave without Ember safely in my care.

I am completely cut off from my family and support system. I fear I was even moved out here to San Antonio, Texas intentionally to isolate me with this exact goal.

I have exhausted every resource, phone call, every possible route.

I am being mishandled by local law enforcement refusing to acknowledge me or my husbands marriage, and focusing on the fact my boyfriend has possession.

I need help.

I have now retained a new attorney—someone who truly believes in this case and wants to help me bring Ember home quickly, safely, legally, and then hold the system accountable for enabling what they’ve done.

Pressing kidnapping charges on my boyfriend, and suing the San Antonio City Police Department, and Bexar County Sherifs Office for aiding and abetting kidnapping.

The attorney’s retainer is $5,000.

I’ve managed to raise $300 so far.

This isn’t just a custody battle. It’s not just a legal fight. This is a desperate effort to rescue a child from a cycle of control, manipulation, and emotional abuse—and to make sure he knows his mother never gave up on him.

If you have ever loved a child, if you’ve ever known fear, heartbreak, or the helplessness of being silenced;

Please help me bring Ember home.

Every share matters. Every donation brings us closer.

I have not seen my son since May 22nd, 2025, at 6:00 pm. I have been counting the hours. 

24. 48. 72. 100. 120. 

I worry for his safety, mental wellbeing, and mental duress every single minute.

He has never gone this long without me, I know he must be scared, worried, and confused.

Thank you for your support, your compassion, and your belief in justice.

With hope,

Rhianna Baldwin