Northern California authorities suspend search for baby
Jul 14, 2015, 3:43 PM
The California Highway Patrol assists other North State law enforcement agencies in Dunsmiur, Calif., Monday, July 13, 2015, after authorities shot and killed a carjacking suspect. A Northern California couple said Monday that a father who vanished while officers searched for his missing infant daughter stole their car at gunpoint and was later shot and killed by police. (Greg Barnette/The Record Searchlight via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT
(Greg Barnette/The Record Searchlight via AP)
REDDING, Calif. (AP) — Northern California authorities said Tuesday they’ve stopped actively searching for an infant who’s been missing for 11 days, but they’ll keep the case open and investigate any leads they receive.
Shasta County sheriff’s Lt. Dave Kent said search teams have been recalled from the field after scouring an area around the baby’s home and another region where a pacifier resembling one of hers was found.
The infant’s father, Matthew Graham, was shot and killed in a police shootout Monday. He went on the lam Saturday after he became a “person of interest” in his daughter’s disappearance.
Shasta County Sheriff Tom Bosenko said at a news conference Monday that investigators believe only her father knew what happened to the infant.
“Mr. Matthew Graham was the person who had that information. He did not share that information with us. And unless this investigation finds a note or some documentation that he left behind,” Boshenko said, “we may not be able to ever find her.”
Boshenko said Ember couldn’t survive on her own and needed drugs twice a day to treat seizures, and that no medical professional in the area reported treating an infant for that condition in recent days.
Matthew Graham was fatally shot after he stole a car at gunpoint in Siskiyou County and got into a shootout with sheriff’s deputies. He never divulged his daughter’s whereabouts.
Matthew Graham reported Ember missing July 2 and said she was abducted. But the 23-year-old went on the lam Saturday after investigators named him a “person of interest” in the baby’s disappearance because of the inconsistent statements he made.
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