11 October 2023 , 03:07
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Michigan authorities have confirmed that the remains of a small boy found by a dive team in a local river are that of a missing toddler who had disappeared on Monday.
Two-year-old Jermain Jones' body was found in the Looking Glass River at around 4.00pm, Clinton County Sheriff Sean Dush confirmed to local outlet WLNS News.
Teams spent the bulk of the day checking the local buildings in the area, along with any wooded areas or nearby rivers for any update as to where the boy could have been, the sheriff explained. Law enforcement from across the state assisted in the search, Sheriff Dush said.
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Teams spent the bulk of the day checking the local buildings in the area, along with any wooded areas or nearby rivers (WILX10)According to Sheriff Dush, the boy's babysitter told investigators that he had been home with her on Monday. She explained that she had only gone to shower for less than 10 minutes, coming back to find that the boy had vanished.
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Calls about the missing boy were first recieved by Clinton County dispath at around 2.05pm in the afternoon, with teams jumping into immediate action to try to locate the boy.
The boy's babysitter told investigators that he had been home with her on Monday (WILX10)
During the time she went to take a brief shower, the boy vanished (WILX10)Dive teams and State Police helicopters were utilized in the search for Jermaine, according to the sheriff, as temperatures plummeted to low 40s in the area. Drones and thermal imaging was also used in the search of the toddler.
Local outlets on the scene reported that there were more than a hundred volunteers helping authorities from the Michigan State Police, Clinton County Sheriff and the Office of the Michigan Attorney General in looking for the boy.
Jermaine's disappearance comes a week after nine-year-old Charlotte Sena was found hiding in a cabinet of a camper that belonged to Craig Ross Jr. after he abducted her from a New York park.
Dive teams and State Police helicopters were utilized in the search for Jermaine, according to the sheriff (WILX10)Charlotte had been camping with her family in Moreau Lake State Park when she decided to go on an additional bike ride around the park, eventually getting abducted by Craig.
The boy's death also comes as California Governor Gavin Newsom has recently signed into law the "Ebony Alert," a first of its kind law geared towards finding missing Black children in the state.
The law will come into effect on January 1, 2024, and will permit the California Highway Patrol to activate the alert upon request from local police officers when a Black child goes missing in the area.
The "Ebony Alert", which will be used for missing Black people between the ages of 12 to 25, will spread information on radio, TV, electronic highway signs, social media and other systems.