ATLANTA — Cairo Jordan’s paternal grandmother holds onto the last photo she has of her grandson. It’s a smile she says she will never see again.
“It was shock...you would never expect to lose your grandchildren,” she told Channel 2′s Candace McCowan.
Indiana State Patrol identified Jordan as the 5-year-old boy who was found dead inside a suitcase on the side of the road in April. There is now a search for Jordan’s mother, 37 year-old Dejuan Anderson.
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Cairo’s grandmother wants privacy but said it was Wednesday night when they got the news. Jordan would have turned six on Monday.
“Words cannot explain the heartache everyone feels,” she said. “And of course, we wish we would’ve been able to do more or do something.”
Jordan’s body was found by a mushroom hunter in April. The man reported to police that he found a suitcase designed with the iconic Las Vegas sign that was out of place. He opened it and found the boy’s body.
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According to court documents, police identified Anderson through fingerprints on trash bags used to wrap the child’s body. The autopsy report done on Jordan’s body showed he died from an electrolyte imbalance, likely due to dehydration.
“No crime scene evidence technologies were spared in this case,” Sgt. Carey Huls said.
Cairo’s grandmother said her son, Cairo’s father, wanted to see the boy more, but his mother always kept him away.
“Hurt. Pain. Because he tried to you know, he wanted to get custody of his son but she disappeared and we didn’t know where they were,” she said.
They never expected this from his mother. Now they want her to answer for his death.
“She should turn herself in,” Jordan’s grandmother said. “She’s committed a crime. She needs to pay.”
Police believe Anderson dumped her son’s body then traveled to California with another woman, 40-year-old Dawn Coleman of Louisiana. They arrested Coleman in California but have yet to find Anderson.
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