MISHAWAKA, Ind. — An 11-month-old Indiana girl was reported missing last Saturday. Now the parents and an unheeding man responsible for watching the child have been charged after little Mercedes Lain was found dead in a wooded area, according to reports.
Baby Lain was reported missing after being last seen Saturday, Aug. 14, in Mishawaka with the sitter, Justin Lee Miller, according to a Silver Alert issued by police.
Police made the grim discovery on Wednesday.
“The search for Mercedes Lain, 11-months-old, ended at approximately 9:30 p.m. in a remote, obscure, densely forested area,” Marshall County Chief Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Nelson Chipman said.
Afterward, they disclosed the arrest of Miller and the parents, Kenneth Lain and Tiffany Coburn, The Goshen News reported.
According to a Thursday press conference, Lain, 41, and Coburn, 32, refused to cooperate in the search for the missing baby. As a result, they were charged Monday with neglect of a dependent, while Miller, 37, was charged with neglect of a dependent resulting in death, police said.
Miller is a family friend who was tasked with watching baby Lain for several days, New York Post reported.
The parents and a family friend responsible for watching the child were charged. (FBI Indianapolis)
The baby wasn’t located until Miller finally pointed authorities in the right direction.
“After several times being interviewed, Justin Miller led investigators to this location in Stark County,” Chipman said.
The baby’s cause of death remains unclear.