Jun 25, 2009 5:24 pm US/Central
Body Found Believed To Be Missing Gary Toddler
OTIS, Ind. (CBS) ―
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Jada Justice, 2
FBI Indianapolis
A body believed to be that of a missing northwest Indiana toddler has been found in a field about 30 miles away from where the girl was last reported seen.
Police investigators, working all day in the rural area near Otis, Ind., discovered the body around mid-afternoon. Otis is located about 6 miles south of Michigan City in LaPorte County.
Jada Justice, 2, of Portage was reported missing June 16 by her baby sitter, Engelica Castillo, 18, of Hobart, who said the girl was taken from her car when she stopped at a Gary gas station to buy milk.
Castillo says she left the child in her car seat with the doors unlocked at the Glen Park Gas Station, at 1401 E. Ridge Rd. in Gary, while she ran in to buy some milk and cigarettes. She says when she came out, the car was still there, but the baby was gone.
Police had suspicions about the version of events stated by Castillo.
Castillo, cousin of the girl's mother,
Melissa Swiontek, of Portage, was arrested for child neglect, but released after 48 hours when prosecutors did not file charges.
Justice's father, Clarence, and other family members have been blanketing the area with missing person flyers since she went missing.
The STNG Wire contributed to this report.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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