EAST POINT, Ga. — There has been a devastating break in the case of missing 2-year-old J’Asiah Mitchell.
Authorities confirmed to Channel 2 Action News that they have found a body that could be J’Asiah at a garbage facility in East Point.
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Now, the East Point Police is asking for DNA from the toddler’s family to see if the remains they found are Mitchell’s.
Channel 2′s Veronica Griffin was live on WSB Tonight at 11 p.m. where they found a body believed to be Mitchell’s at a transfer station on South Martin Street. The lead detective in the search for the toddler struggled to hold back tears shortly after the child’s body was found.
“Uhm… it’s just a 2-year-old that can’t really defend himself. It’s just unfortunate that this happened to him,” said Sgt. Rick Michaud with East Point Police Department.
The transfer station in East Point is where household trash and other materials are separated for recycling before trash heads out to a landfill.
“We can tell you the trash we looked in was picked up from near the father’s apartment,” said Chief Shawn Buchanan with EPPD.
Mitchell was reported missing a week ago after his father said he’d been kidnapped at gunpoint in DeKalb County. Early on, police said the father’s story didn’t add up. So, they searched everywhere for him, even drained a lake.
The father was arrested for making false statements.
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A caravan of police cars from EPPD, Federal Bureau of Investigation and Georgia Bureau of Investigation all worked together to find the body.
“The detectives are very emotional. The family is very emotional,” said Buchanan.
Investigators told Channel 2 Action News it hard having to tell the family there is a strong possibility the body belongs to J’Asiah. They then asked the mom and grandma for DNA samples to help with identification.
East Point police initially said the GBI was working to identify the child, but the GBI later clarified that the agency in charge of the autopsy is the Fulton County Medical Examiner’s Office.
East Point police said that the child’s father is now the primary suspect.
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