[ad_1]
As Crystal Lake police continued their search, five-year-old Andrew "AJ" Freund, two days after his disappearance, the authorities announced that the boy's parents had stopped cooperating with them.
The investigators are following "hundreds of tips," Crystal Lake Police Chief Jim Black said on Saturday. "It's an ongoing investigation," Black said.
Black said that no arrests had been made, but the father, also known as Andrew Freund, left home around 1 pm Saturday with plainclothes police. He was not handcuffed when he entered with them in a black and unmarked police car.
The police inside the police station around 1:15 refused to say why Freund was there or where he was under arrest.
Police said she did not think the 5-year-old had been abducted, but the boy's father and mother did not cooperate with the investigation. Black described the situation as a whole as "disturbing".
"The fact that both parents stopped cooperating with us certainly raises our suspicions," Black said.
Andrew was last seen at bedtime around 9 pm Wednesday in the family home of the first block of Dole Avenue in the northwestern suburbs. After waking up Thursday morning and unable to find him at home, Andrew's parents reported his disappearance.
Andrew had blond hair and was wearing a Mario sweatshirt and black jogging pants during his last visit. It is about 3 feet 5 inches and weighs about 70 pounds.
Neighbors said the father was in front of his house earlier Saturday.
A neighbor said that he was out of the house and had hugged a woman who had come to lay flowers near the house and Freund had asked the neighbor to pray.
Black said that the evidence gathered so far "does not support an unknown offender, and that there is no evidence to support an abduction".
The police follow anyone who is known to have had contact with AJ or who has seen him for the last time.
Black said that the police came home Friday "on the basis of new information (obtained)," and he could not say they would return home, but he added: " If we have to go back, we will do it. "
Black has asked the community to continue to contact the police department to provide him with any information and to keep an eye on her. The agents have covered hundreds of acres in and around the area and will continue to do so.
"Things like this do not happen at Crystal Lake," Black said. "We take this very seriously. We act on everything that comes into play at this stage. We hope to find it.
A vigil is scheduled at 19h. Saturday at Crystal Lake Main Beach, 300 Lake Shore Drive, according to a Facebook page titled "Where is Andrew Freund".
Friday afternoon, local defense lawyer George Kililis said he was representing JoAnn Cunningham, the boy's mother, seven months pregnant.
Kililis said her mother was "depressed" and "sad".
"She's devastated, she's worried … All that interests her is her little boy – that's all," Kililis said.
Kililis said that he told her to say nothing after Thursday's appearance, during his interrogation, by police officers who appeared to be accusing him.
DCFS, which is tasked with protecting children from abuse, released the following statement Friday: "The department's collaboration with Andrew Freund began with his birth in 2013 and continued until the end. The last contact between DCFS Child Protection staff and Andrew's family was in December 2018 while she was investigating allegations of abuse and neglect. Dozens of law enforcement officers raided the home on Thursday and Friday.
Late last Friday, child protection officials released information about the boy's family since he was born in 2013 with opiates in his system. DCFS continued its contacts until the end of 2018, said a spokesman.
On Thursday, Andrew's younger brother was placed in another house under a DCFS security plan.
DCFS has published a calendar highlighting the interactions between DCFS and Andrew's family:
• In October 2013, DCFS investigated an allegation of negligence on the part of the mother and found that there was credible evidence to support the allegation. Andrew was born with opiates in his body.
• The following month, DCFS placed Andrew in custody. He was placed in a foster home and was sent home only in June 2015. The case was closed in April 2016.
• In March 2018, DCFS investigated the allegations of negligence on the part of the father and mother, but concluded that they were unfounded. The mother agreed to resume treatment.
• On December 18, 2018, DCFS investigated another allegation of abuse and neglect on the part of the mother. The boy was temporarily fired by the police but was sent home after the charges were found to be unfounded. There was no evidence to support allegations of deplorable home conditions and bruising on the child was attributed to the dog.
After a day of fruitless searches on Thursday, police said Friday in a statement: "By reviewing all the information from the investigation so far, nothing indicates that the police may think that an abduction took place ". They also said: "The information obtained currently has the police focusing on his residence."
Canine teams that "only detected Andrew's smell in the home said Andrew did not walk away," police said.
A neighbor across the street said that the child's father had left the house through a back door at around 2 pm Friday and began to go down the Avenue Dole. While walking, he said: "Find my son … find my son," said his neighbor Janelle Butler.
Butler said the police had approached him and tried to keep others away from him, but not before pleading with members of the media present at the scene.
"AJ, please, come home," he said. "We love you very much.You have no problem.We are just worried to death.See you, please, come home.
Authorities ask anyone with information to call the Crystal Lake Police Department at 815-356-3620. Anyone with a cell phone and who has information about the child can tip the department anonymous by sending a text message to the word CLPDTIP with tip at 847411 (tip411).
Amanda Marrazzo is an independent journalist.
[ad_2]
Source link