Police return to home of missing baby
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KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Investigators on Wednesday launched another search of the Kansas City home of parents who say their baby was abducted two weeks ago, this time with a warrant that bars the parents from immediately returning.
Shortly after sunrise, FBI crime scene trucks and trailers pulled up outside the house, and a phalanx of FBI agents and Kansas City police officers gathered at the property. Officers used yellow tape to cordon off about a half block perimeter around the house, pushing back the ever-present abundance of reporters and media trucks packing the street.
“We have a warrant for the house,” said city police spokesman Capt. Steve Young.
He didn’t explain why a warrant was necessary. There was no indication the family has tried to block investigators’ access to their home, which already has been scoured by FBI agents with dogs.
FBI spokeswoman Bridget Patton said the search isn’t based on any sort of tip. Patton said they were restricting media access because agents are using a procedure involving dogs they don’t want taped. She declined to elaborate.
Lisa Irwin was 10 months old on Oct. 4 when her parents reported her missing. Her father, Jeremy Irwin, said he returned home from a late shift to discover the lights on, a window tampered with, the front door unlocked and Lisa gone. The baby’s mother, Deborah Bradley, and Lisa’s two older brothers had been asleep elsewhere in the house. Bradley has admitted she drank heavily that night and may have blacked out.
The parents insist their baby was snatched by an intruder.
Police, FBI agents, officers from area law enforcement agencies and the Missouri National Guard, have searched the family’s home, neighborhood, nearby wooded areas, a landfill and abandoned homes. Police have refused to discuss any evidence gathered in the searches, saying only that they remain without a suspect.
Young said all previous searches of the house have been conducted with the family’s consent. The warrant prevents anyone except those involved in the investigation from entering, meaning family members — who have returned home from time to time to collect clothes and other belongings — may not go back inside until the search is over.
The family’s lawyer, Joe Tacopina, said early Wednesday he hadn’t heard about the warrant except through media reports.
“I don’t know why a warrant is needed,” Tacopina said. “They can go in and out any time. They have had unfettered access because we want answers.”
He said the family hasn’t been back to the house in the past couple of days because they don’t want to interfere with the investigation.
