Missing 8-Month-Old Baby Girl Is Feared Dead, and Suspect Allegedly 'Taunted' Her Mom
The disappearance of an 8-month-old baby girl in Indianapolis is now being investigated as a homicide — and a man who was the boyfriend of the child’s mother has been named as a suspect.
Amiah Robertson was first reported missing on March 16, the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department says.
At that time, the baby’s mother, Amber Robertson, didn’t believe the baby was in danger, saying she believed Robert Lyons, who was her boyfriend, had dropped her daughter off at her babysitter’s house on South Holmes Road, local Fox affiliate WXIN reports.
Now, police believe Amiah has actually been missing since March 9, when she was last seen with Lyons, the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department disclosed at a press conference Saturday.
RELATED: Indianapolis Police Search for 8-Month-Old Baby Amid Conflicting Stories from Family
“We’re frustrated and quite frankly angry because of misinformation and lack of information and lack of cooperation from those most closely involved,” Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Chief Bryan Roach said at the press conference.
“This is an 8-month-old child, and I think all of us would agree somebody would know the whereabouts.”
• Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Click here to get breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases in the True Crime Newsletter.
From the beginning, Roach said, police received conflicting information about what had happened to the baby.
Investigators have since found items on the banks of Eagle Creek, less than a mile from where Amiah was last seen, that have been identified as belonging to her, Det. Jean Burkert said at the press conference.
Amiah was last seen “alive and well” with Lyons at about 1:15 p.m. on March 9, Burkert said.
Lyons is believed to have spent the day in the area of Rockville Road and South Mickley Avenue, Burkert said. He was last seen driving a maroon 1996 Isuzu Rodeo that Burkert described as being in “poor condition.”
At about 10 p.m. that night, Lyons returned to the home of the baby’s mother, Robertson, “alone, without Amiah,” she said.
Since March 10, she said, “Robert Lyons has taunted Amber Robertson about Amiah’s whereabouts,” she said.
Police are asking the public or any witnesses to come forward if they know anything about Lyons’s activities on March 9 or afterward.
He was arrested last week on an unrelated charge and released, Burkert said.
Authorities now fear Amiah is dead. On Monday, divers searched a lake near Mariner Drive to look for evidence, Fox59 reports.
“I think that we all hope for the best, always, but I think that we can’t ignore the reality of the situation,” said Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department Lt. Bruce Smith. “Amiah cannot take care of herself and absent somebody else who is currently taking care of her that hasn’t come forward, we are very concerned about what happened to her.”
The FBI is helping with the search for Amiah.
Anyone who has information on the case is asked to call Crime Stoppers 317-262-TIPS.
