Jun 17, 2009 7:04 pm US/Central
2-Year-Old Girl Vanishes From Car In Gary
Cousin Returns From Gas Station To Find Toddler Gone
GARY, Ind. (CBS) ―
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Jada Justice, 2, is missing from Gary, Indiana.
CBS
A 2-year-old girl is missing after a relative says the child was snatched from a car at a Gary gas station, but investigators aren't so sure. Jada Justice vanished Tuesday night. Police are now trying to verify the relative's story.
CBS 2's Mai Martinez reports that the 18-year-old cousin says she left the child in her car last night at a gas station 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.
Jada's mother says the last time she spoke with her 2-year-old daughter was either Thursday or Friday. She says her daughter was staying with the cousin for a two-week summer visit at a Hobart home.
It's just a short drive from the gas station where the cousin claims the child was abducted last night.
Hobart Police Chief Rod Gonzalez says they are still trying to determine if that is in fact what happened.
Investigators spent Wednesday searching the home the cousin shared with her boyfriend in the 3900 block of Missouri Street for any possible evidence in the case.
They also talked to neighbors and combed a nearby wooded area for any sign of the child.
Jada's parents say they don't know what has happened to their child, but they say after talking to the distraught cousin and her boyfriend last night, they don't think the couple is telling the truth.
"I think it was more like, 'I made a mistake, I did something,'" said Jada's father Clarence Justice. "To me, that's the vibes I got is like, 'I did something.' I don't want to speak on it, I don't want to speak on the worst."
"I don't know. I don't know what to feel. There are so many different speculations," said Jada's mother Melissa Swiontek. "I feel like I'm going to find her. I mean, I do feel like she can't be gone, like it's not even happening."
The store clerk who was working last night says at least two witnesses say they didn't see a baby in the car, and they didn't see anyone approach the car. He also says the woman was in the store for less than a minute and a half.
Police are looking at surveillance video from the store, but unfortunately, there is not a camera outside the store, so they do not have video of the car parked outside.
At this time, Jada's parents say the cousin and her boyfriend are still with Gary police, but police have not confirmed that.
They are also concerned because the cousin's boyfriend is burned on his face and arms, and has not been able to give them a good explanation for those injuries.
If you have any information on this case or the whereabouts of Jada Justice, contact Gary police or Hobart police.
CBS 2's Mai Martinez and the STNG Wire contributed to this report.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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