Chicago Area Local News

GARY, Ind. (CBS) ― As a family from Hobart, Ind., awaits news of their missing 2-year-old daughter, the FBI is joining in the search to find her and bring her home.

Meanwhile, as CBS 2's Susan Carlson reports, police have suspicions about the version of events stated by a cousin who was babysitting Jada Justice, 2, when the girl disappeared.

Police have been searching a wooded arae behind a gas station in Gary, where the toddler was last seen.

Jada was staying with a cousin when she disappeared in Gary, Ind., just after 9:30 p.m. Monday night.

The baby sitter, Angelica Castillo, 18, of 3925 Missouri St. in Hobart, Ind., is in custody facing charges of neglect of a dependent. She is a cousin to the missing girl's mother, Melissa Swiontek, of Portage.

Castillo says she left the child in her car seat with the doors unlocked last night 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.

"All I heard was her say, 'She's gone,'" said Johnese Epps, who lives nearby and witnessed the commotion. Epps said she doubted Castillo's story.

"To be honest, I got a little suspicious of her, because she wasn't acting hysterical like anybody who lost a child would," Epps said. "She was too calm for me."

Other customers told police they saw no one around Castillo's 1991 maroon Cadillac Fleetwood while it was parked in the lot.

And police dogs brought into the search found no scent in the immediate area.

Nonetheless, Gary police devoted the next six hours looking for the girl in a wooded area south of the gas station. Gary police Cmdr. Jon Cooros and Sgt. Greg Martin flew the city's helicopter through the top of trees as Gary Fire Department lights illuminated the scene, Cmdr. Anthony Titus said.

"We are leery of the baby sitter's accounting of the facts, but right now that's all we have to work with," Titus said.

Gary police contacted the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, but learned the case involving Jada did not meet the criteria for an AMBER Alert because investigators do not have detailed information on a suspect.

About 3:30 a.m., police called off the search and focused on Castillo. Hobart police obtained a search warrant for her home, where they found bloody crib sheets.

Hobart investigators determined the blood came from a dog in heat, and shifted the investigation back to Gary. Police did find evidence of drug use at the house and members of the FBI-led Gang Response Investigative Team were at the home for a time Wednesday afternoon.

Hobart police Chief Rod Gonzalez couldn't say how the blood was tested to convince detectives it wasn't human. "I don't know anything about that," he said. "I'm fairly certain the crime happened in Gary," he added.

All day Wednesday, police recruits attending the Northwest Indiana Law Enforcement Academy traipsed through muddy woods, fighting swarms off mosquitoes and turning over logs and brush in their search of the area between the gas station and Castillo's home.

Gary police also questioned Castillo's boyfriend, who complained he had suffered some serious burns recently.

Police would not comment on the 23-year-old man's condition. He was released Wednesday.

Neighbors near the gas station where Jada allegedly disappeared say they are afraid, and they are taking extra precautions.

"I've got a 4-year-old daughter. I'd never leave her in a vehicle when I go anywhere. She's with me all the time. There's no doubt about that," a man said. "It's very alarming."

Jada is described as an African-American female, 2 feet 2 inches tall and 35 pounds, with black hair, brown eyes and a light brown complexion. At the time she vanished, she was wearing orange skirt, a white tank top with orange and green stripes, white sandals and purple underwear, the FBI said.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the FBI Indianapolis Office at (317) 639-3301. The U.S. Marshals office has also joined in the search.

CBS 2's Susan Carlson and the STNG Wire contributed to this report.

(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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