Joshua Summeries, 5 months - Zion, ILLINOIS
August 22, 2013 (ZION, Ill.) (WLS) -- A 5-month-old boy from north suburban Zion was reported abducted Wednesday, sparking a massive search by about 125 law enforcement officers, emergency workers and bloodhounds.
Joshua Summeries, 5 months, is still missing Thursday morning, and the boyfriend of his mother is being questioned.
JUST IN: Man in custody after 5-month-old Joshua Summaries goes missing in Zion. Still not clear where the infant might be.
"Our concern and belief is that Joshua has been harmed or worse," Zion Police Chief Wayne Brooks said in a statement rleased Thursday afternoon.
He pledged that police are still committed to finding Joshua Summeries and will use all available resources. About 200 law enforcement personnel responded to Zion's call for mutual aid to search the area after the infant was reported abducted Wednesday.
On Thursday morning, a biohazard sticker was on the door of the mother's apartment door, and the scene had been sealed off, suggesting that the baby could have been harmed. Brooks explained a bio-hazard sticker placed by police on the front door of the apartment where the abduction occurred by saying: "There could be any fluids, but we're not talking about a horrendous scene, but just enough to think things aren't right here."
Police were actively searching for the baby Thursday morning. His mother last saw him around 5 a.m. Wednesday morning, but at 8 a.m. realized he was missing from his crib. Dozens of cops continued their search, checking dumpsters, garbage cans and abandoned buildings. Police continue to question the mother's boyfriend. Neighbors say they heard arguing on Wednesday morning.
Besides police, Zion residents have joined in the search for the missing baby boy. One man was looking through an alley with his three collies on Thursday morning.
"This was the area where the crime scene was, or where it all came down, where the baby's missing, this area. And then I'm gonna go back where I live, I live on the other side of town, so that's two areas," said Robert Pye, unofficial volunteer.
"He's just a baby. Some people, I just don't understand what they think about, why do they think that way. Who am I to question, but you do not harm a child. Your thoughts shouldn't even be to harm a child. If you don't want it, give it to somebody. Give it to somebody who's going to love it, don't just harm it like that," said Clementine White, baby's neighbor.
Joshua Summeries' mother told police the baby was crying early Wednesday morning and the boyfriend told her he would take care of the child. He left with the baby and came back about 10 minutes later saying he went for a smoke, the mother told police. The baby was not with him.
There was an argument between the baby's mother and boyfriend; neighbors reported hearing the shouting. The mother went to the home of the baby's father, which is nearby, but before they could talk she took off. When she got back to the home, her boyfriend was gone. Police later brought him in for questioning.
Bloodhounds searched the area and it is believed the baby was put in a vehicle and taken somewhere.
"They think the child is alive and they're going about [the investigation] believing the child is alive," Zion Mayor Lane Harrison told the Chicago Sun-Times.
Zion Police Chief Wayne Brooks issued a brief statement Wednesday evening that said the infant was reported missing Wednesday morning from a Zion apartment.
"The caller indicated that unknown persons had abducted the missing infant," according to the chief's statement. "Responding officers found some evidence to believe that the circumstances surrounding this missing infant were suspicious."
That sparked a large-scale search for the boy - about 125 police officers and other emergency workers helped search for the child most of the day.
They were "all over the city working in grid fashion in the neighborhood where this child went missing and trying to get some leads," the mayor said. He added that bloodhounds were used in the search.
"They pulled together what they consider to be some of the best to try and ferret this whole thing out and decide what is really happening," Harrison said.
Police said officers are conducting interviews and "painstakingly" searching the area. They also noted that they believe this to be "an isolated incident."
Joshua Summeries was apparently the only child in the apartment. His mother saw him at 5 a.m. and when she went to check on him at 8 a.m., she found he was missing and saw evidence of an abduction.
The incident took place in the 2300-block of Galilee Avenue in Zion. When investigators arrived, they also found evidence that made them concerned for the baby's safety.
Police continue to interview people who may know something or had been in the area. Several agencies have been called in to assist, including the Lake County Child Abduction Response Team.
"The mother was the last one there to see him and in fact believes there was an abduction and some of the evidence points to that," said Brooks.
"I think that it's really sad and whoever has the child should bring him back so he can be safe," said area resident Mennie Smith.
"It's heartbreaking," said area resident Brittany Cabell. "You think your baby is in the crib and the baby is not there. It's devastating, very much so."
For a time, Galilee Avenue was closed off while the painstaking search for the infant continued. The street has since been reopened.
Police say 5-month-old Joshua Summeries has been reported missing under suspicious circumstances and a search is under way.
The child was last seen in his apartment near 23rd and Galilee in Zion Wednesday morning.
The baby's mother and her estranged husband were talking with police.
Zion Police Deputy Chief Steve Dumyahn says they are treating the case as an abduction. The mother of the baby boy told police an unknown person came into her home and took the child around 8 a.m.
Police say there is a person of interest who is actively being pursued. Investigators have gone through the neighborhood's abandoned buildings and garbage cans as they do a grid search around the apartment building on Galilee.
More than 100 officers are searching. No Amber Alert has been issued as there is no vehicle to describe.
Source: http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news/local&id=9214406
Respectfully,
Amy Kinney,
Distribution List Manager
LostNMissing, Inc.
Phone: 603.965.4621
Cell: 603.548.6548
LostNMissing, Inc. is an all volunteer state and federally recognized 501c(3) Non-Profit charitable organization to assist law enforcement and the families of missing. We never charge a fee for our services. All Support Members, Board of Directors, Officers and Owner are Volunteers.
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