Missing Texas baby found dead in sinking car as kidnapper dad drove into river hours after issue of Amber Alert
GAINESVILLE, TEXAS: A man has been arrested after authorities found his infant daughter dead in a submerged vehicle after he had abducted her.
The tragic news emerged just hours after an Amber Alert was issued for three-month-old Lyrik Aliyana, who was last seen at approximately 9 pm on June 8. The child's mother told police that the girl's father, Jeremy Nathaniel Brown, had assaulted her and abducted the infant.
She said she was riding in a car with Brown when they got into an argument and a physical altercation. She said she managed to get out of the vehicle but that he came after her and continued the alleged assault before getting back in and driving away.
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children confirmed that Lyrik might have been in Brown's company and that they may have been traveling in a gray 2011 Volkswagen Jetta with Texas temporary license plates 55432B6.
The organization said Lyrik weighed 15 pounds and had brown eyes and brown hair, as well as a birthmark behind her right knee. She was last seen wearing a yellow onesie, with hearts and flowers. Brown was last seen wearing khaki shorts, a black shirt with a Chicago Bulls decal, and black and white Nike shoes.
At 3.51 pm on Tuesday, June 9, the Gainesville Police Department said they received information on the location of Brown and that they immediately dispatched officers to the Red River at Interstate 35.
On arrival, they located Brown in the river next to an overturned vehicle that was submerged, according to a press release by the police department. He was removed from the river and medical personnel was called to the scene to assess him for injuries.
After the vehicle was removed from the river, they found an infant located inside in a car seat. They said the family had been notified of this information but that identification on the body is pending.
The investigation into the incident is still ongoing,
CBS19 reported that the Amber Alert for Lyrik was the third such alert issued in Texas in just the last two days. On June 7, Irving Police said a woman took her seven-month-old child, who was in the custody of her grandparents.
Police said Jocelyn Nicole Bridges, 35, went to the grandparents' home at an apartment complex in the 2900 block of West Pioneer Drive and pulled a fire alarm to cause a distraction to pull off the kidnapping.
"Then [she] began banging on the child’s grandparents apartment," said Irving Police Public Information Officer Robert Reeves. "Once they opened the door, because they heard the fire alarm going off, she pushed her way inside, grabbed the seven-month-old child Serenity Berry and took off."
Authorities found the young girl safe but said they are still searching for Bridges, who is at large.
On June 8, Port Arthur police said Nathan Roberts Jr. forced his way into his ex-girlfriend's home, shot her in the hand, and kidnapped her seven-month-old boy before fleeing.
Detectives pinged Roberts' cell phone to the 600 Block of 7th Avenue in Port Arthur, not far from where he had abandoned his SUV. He was taken into custody and the child, who was his biological son, was reunited with his mother.