Crews searching pond for evidence in baby Janna case
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) –The search for missing three-month-old Janna Rivera is now a homicide investigation, according to sources.
Police said dive crews returned to a retention pond behind the family’s home where Janna was last seen in search of new evidence Monday evening.
It happened near the 4100 block of Candy Apple Court on the east side of Indianapolis.
The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department have searched the pond before when Janna was first reported missing last month by her mother.
Sources tell 24-Hour News 8 police received a fresh tip in the case. The caller told police they saw the baby’s dad throwing items into the retention pond.
Chopper 8 flew over the scene as divers with the Indianapolis Fire Department searched the pond for any new evidence about the death of Janna Rivera.
“Everybody has been kind of quiet about it they’re just waiting to see what happens,” said resident Brian Coffey when asked about the chatter among residents in the neighborhood.
A dive commander told 24-Hour News 8 they rotated three divers during the search. Each spent 20 minutes in 13 to 15 feet of water. They searched more than an hour but found nothing, only coming across trash and debris.
Brian Coffey lives in the neighborhood. He said he has been following the case since day one.
“I was hoping that that they would find her. If they find the blanket, initially he wrapped her in the blanket, but that hasn’t happened yet so the search goes on,” said Coffey.
Police said the baby’s father has been their only suspect in this investigation.
Rivera’s mother told detectives that the father admitted to tossing their child’s body in a dumpster. But so far no arrest has been made and charges have not been filed.
“It’s disturbing, it’s troubling, the fact that a three-month-old would go missing and the father would not be charged with the crime,” said Coffey.
Police told 24-Hour News 8 that divers have exhausted all of their resources and it appears as though they won’t be returning to the pond Tuesday.
At this time, police are still waiting for forensics to test several baby blankets that were found during a landfill search to see if the DNA matches to baby Janna Rivera.
If you know anything about this homicide investigation you’re asked to call police.