Mother says father buried Baby Janna
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — The mother of baby Janna Rivera said the child’s father admitted to burying their baby.
In a petition for a protection order, Yolanda Rivera-Gonzalez describes Jeffrey Fairbanks as violent and said he threatened her to the point where she was afraid to call police.
Rivera-Gonzalez said Fairbanks had been beating her for two years. She said he hit her so many times that she lost track of when the beatings happened.
In the protection order filed Monday, Rivera-Gonzalez said she came home from work Friday and her 3-month-old baby Janna Rivera was gone.
The documents state, “he said she’s dead, when he came home, and he had buried her. Detectives are looking for my baby now.”
The order goes on to say that when Fairbanks “gets upset, he pushes me or chokes me.”
She said Fairbanks was once upset because she didn’t eat food he had brought her, so he put plastic bags on the stove and turned on the stove. He then sprayed the bags and her with a fire extinguisher.
The family only lived in their Candy Apple Boulevard home near 42nd Street and Mitthoefer Road for a few weeks, but neighbors saw a different side.
“He used to play with the other kids around here, throw the football around, just being a regular neighbor. I didn’t think anything would go on like that,” said neighbor Trevon Turner.
Beulah Bricker said she saw them outside about one week ago.
“They were all hanging out. Kids were playing. Nobody seemed to be upset about anything,” said Bricker.
Police said Fairbanks admitted to tossing the baby in a dumpster.
“We have not been able to verify, not only his accounts of the story, but also recover any evidence or any object of evidentiary value for this case,” said Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department Lt. Richard Riddle.
Police blocked off the family home with caution tape on Friday searching for clues. They also searched two area landfills as well as an undisclosed location. They’ve given up hope of finding the 3-month-old baby alive, and are searching for her remains. Speculation has swirled over whether the baby was murdered, died of natural causes or died in a co-sleeping incident.
“We have not recovered the remains of baby Janna. We have not been able to have any type of autopsy, and we have not had the coroner’s opinion on the official cause of death. Anything outside of that would be speculative and would be too early to officially say at this point,” said Riddle.
At this time, authorities have not filed any charges in the case. However, they said Fairbanks is their only suspect.
Officials believe that somebody outside of Fairbanks has information that could help them in their investigation.
You can call Crime Stoppers at 262-TIPS with any information. You can remain anonymous. A $1,000 reward is being offered.