IMPD: Missing 3-month-old thought dead

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — IMPD blocked off a section where trash from the east side of Indianapolis is dumped off, according to employees at South Side Landfill.

IMPD said that the biological father of baby Janna tipped them off that she had been placed in a dumpster on the city’s east side.

Investigators combed through that garbage because it’s the same area of town where the infant was last seen on Friday.

“We believe that the baby was placed into a dumpster on the east side of Indianapolis on Friday morning,” said IMPD Lt. Richard Riddle. “That trash from the dumpster was transferred to a transfer station out in Mount Comfort. A search was done in Mount Comfort yesterday with negative results. We did not find the body of baby Janna at that facility.”

When asked by 24-Hour News 8 about Janna’s likely condition, Riddle stated “At this point, we are three days out from the baby’s disappearance. Based upon that we do not believe that baby Janna is still alive”.

Community members with truckloads of trash they usually dump off over the weekend at the landfill were turned away on Saturday and when they found out why, they were left in shock.

“I have twins that are 9 years old at home and just the thought of something like this is terrible,” one driver said. “I wouldn’t know what to do or how to act.”

This wasn’t the first effort to find baby Janna Rivera.

Rescuers also spent eight hours searching a 5-mile radius near the infant’s home on the 4100 block of Candy Apple Boulevard on Friday.

IMPD says it is perusing any and all leads because time is critical, considering the baby is only 3 months old.