How did Jaclyn Dobbs die? Body of Indiana girl, 1, found days after mom was strangled
The body of one-year-old Jaclyn "Angel" Dobbs was found by a construction worker at about noon on Thursday, November 11, in a retention pond close to Interstate 80 in Hammond, less than two days after she was reported missing. A few days earlier, Angel's mother was found strangled to death. The body of Ja'nya Murphy, 21, was found inside their apartment in Wheeling.
"An ensuing check for well-being revealed Ms. Murphy had apparently been murdered and Angel to be missing," police had said in a statement. Subsequently, the Illinois State Police had issued an Endangered Missing Persons Advisory Notification for Angel.
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Someone took Angel, whose cause of death has not been announced, from the apartment, and fled in a maroon 2020 Dodge Grand Caravan bearing Illinois license plate FP139293, police said. Surveillance footage located by detectives showed Ja'nya Murphy in the presence of a man the day before she was found murdered. The man was later identified and has been named a person of interest by Wheeling Police. His identity has not been publicly revealed. On Wednesday, November 10, the man was located in Missouri, along with his van, and taken into custody.
Angel, however, could not be found. Police confirmed that the man and Murphy had previously been in a relationship, but he is not Angel's father. Murphy was reported missing on November 9 after she failed to show up at her workplace. She was a 2018 graduate of Stevenson High School. Unable to reach her, police gained access to her home through the balcony and subsequently found her dead inside the house.
A family member of Murphy, whose exact relation to the slain woman MEAWW could not independently verify, said on Facebook that the family is grieving and needs time to process the tragedy, and heal. "I’ve known about this for a while today but I just couldn’t deal with it at the moment. I thank everyone who shared the pictures and post looking for her but for right now, our family needs this time to process and heal. I especially need this time right now so like I said earlier, I’m not willing to talk to any reporters right now. I know you guys was just trying to reach out to see if I would be willing to talk about my cousins but at this time, my family needs time to be together to heal," Kenthany Angel Murphy wrote on Facebook.