Police investigating disappearance of 5-day-old Wis. baby; no suspects or arrests
TOWN OF BELOIT, WIS. – Federal investigators have joined the search for a 5-day-old infant who disappeared from a bassinette at a home in southern Wisconsin.
The baby's 18-year-old mother called 911 after waking about 4:30 a.m. Thursday to find that her son, Kayden Powell, was missing from his bassinette in a room where she was sleeping at a home in the Town of Beloit, authorities said.
Police said Thursday night that about 40 officers from federal, state and local law enforcement agencies were working on the case, but no suspects have been identified and no have been arrests made.
The baby's mother, Brianna Marshall, and the infant's 23-year-old father, Bruce Powell, were staying at the house, Town of Beloit Police Chief Steven Kopp said. Investigators were questioning people who were at the house Wednesday night, Kopp told The Janesville Gazette.
Police said the infant's mother and father continue to be cooperative.
A woman who had been at the house but left around 1:30 a.m. Thursday — the last time people at the residence saw the baby — was questioned but is not a person of interest in the case, the police chief said.
see update below
see update below
Kopp told the Beloit Daily News that the woman was visiting the home Wednesday evening but left early Thursday for Colorado where she lives. Police were able to reach the woman on her cellphone, and she pulled off the highway in Iowa. Authorities took the woman into custody on an unrelated outstanding warrant from Texas.
The incident is not believed to be a custody dispute, Kopp said. An Amber Alert was not issued because the disappearance doesn't meet the criteria, he said. The FBI and Wisconsin Department of Justice are assisting with the investigation.
Police were still at the house Thursday evening. Authorities kept media away from the small A-frame home.
The Town of Beloit, home to about 7,700 people, is about 50 miles south of Madison near the Illinois border.
There were four people at the home when the baby was reported missing, the mother, the father, a brother of the mother, and a great grandmother of the child.
Police say there was no forced entry in the home and police say it is still an active search.
A woman who had been at the house but left around 1:30 a.m. Thursday — the last time people at the residence saw the baby — was questioned but is not a person of interest in the case, the police chief said.
Kopp told the Beloit Daily News that the woman was visiting the home Wednesday evening but left early Thursday for Colorado where she lives. Police were able to reach the woman on her cellphone, and she pulled off the highway in Iowa. Authorities took the woman into custody on an unrelated outstanding warrant from Texas.
The incident is not believed to be a custody dispute, Kopp said. An Amber Alert was not issued because the disappearance doesn't meet the criteria, he said. The FBI and Wisconsin Department of Justice are assisting with the investigation.
Police were still at the house Thursday evening. Authorities kept media away from the small A-frame home.
The Town of Beloit, home to about 7,700 people, is about 50 miles south of Madison near the Illinois border.
Update:
A woman was arrested at a gas station along Interstate 80 in connection with a newborn baby missing from Wisconsin.
Kayden Powell was five days old when he was reported missing from a home in Beloit before dawn Thursday, February 6, 2014. His mother, Brianna Marshall, reportedly told police she awoke at about 4:30 a.m. to find her baby missing.
Marshall and the baby’s father, Bruce Powell, were reportedly visiting a family member at the home.
Kristen Smith, 31, who is reportedly Marshall’s half-sister, was also at the home but reportedly left in the early-morning hours before Kayden was reported missing, according to WQOW.
Smith, who is from Denver, Colorado, was arrested at the Kum and Go along Interstate 80 in West Branch at about 5:30 a.m. according to KCRG. Police said she had an outstanding warrant for alleged tampering with government records in Texas. Police also said Smith was a person of interest in baby Kayden’s disappearance.
Smith reportedly had baby items with her when she was arrested, but there was no sign of Kayden. The Beloit police chief said Smith was cooperative with police and that she was not charged in connection with the baby’s disappearance.
FBI agents were reportedly sent to Cedar County, Iowa to meet with Smith.
The mothers half sister is a POI.
ReplyDeletenot any longer.
ReplyDeleteThe strange thing is the person left in the middle of the night but they did not issue an Amber Alert because the situation did not fit the criteria. I would assume she left in a vehicle so why wouldn't an Amber Alert have been sent out on her vehicle.
ReplyDelete5 day old babies need to be feed every 2 hours. No mention of when they last saw the baby.
ReplyDeleteThe woman was arrested on UNRELATED charges.
ReplyDeleteHope they find the baby safe and sound....
When did the mother or father last see the baby??? How long were they asleep?
ReplyDeleteSorry, this makes NO sense to me. How does the mom of a 5 day old manage to sleep so soundly that the child can go missing from the room she is in?? I am sure I haven't slept that soundly since I had my daughter, almost 6 years ago.
ReplyDeleteThe Mom and the Dad both slept through it?! Or do they know who came in the room & picked up the baby, and trusted this person??
ReplyDeletehttp://wrex.m0bl.net/w/main/story/109095298/
ReplyDeleteKayden Powell found alive in West Branch, Iowa.
Anonymous said...
ReplyDeleteThe Mom and the Dad both slept through it?! Or do they know who came in the room & picked up the baby, and trusted this person??
February 7, 2014 at 12:08 PM
Likely the first thought about this is substance abuse.
It is a sad commentary...
Peter
Thanks, Sus.
ReplyDeleteGreat news!
The first article said the half sister had baby stuff in her car, but no baby. My first thought when I read that was that the lady abandoned the baby when she pulled off the road to meet the police. The baby was found not far from where the woman was arrested.
ReplyDeleteI can't believe that jerk abandoned a newborn baby in such cold weather. I hope she is charged with kidnapping and attempted murder. I still find it hard to believe that the parents slept through the baby being taken from their bedroom. I hope that they didn't give the baby to the sister and then the sister dumped the kid.
Sus thanks for the link.
ReplyDeleteI also hope she is charged with attempted murder. I am so happy Kaden lived. We are having another cold snap in Illinois and Iowa. That baby was out in below zero weather with a wind chill of minus 20s or 30s. Unreal.
ReplyDeletehttp://fox11online.com/2014/02/07/missing-beloit-baby-found-alive/
ReplyDeleteIt makes me sick that this woman who took baby Kaden would rather leave him on the side of the road to freeze to death, than admit what she had done, and give the baby over safely. Disgusting!
ReplyDeleteAmber Alerts are issued only when the abduction is witnessed.
ReplyDeletereally? they put out an amber for hannah anderson and no one seen her get abducted.
ReplyDelete