Police: RI child still missing after 2 found dead
JOHNSTON, R.I. >> Police continued to search today for a small boy they believe was abducted from a Rhode Island home where two bodies were found earlier in the morning.
Massachusetts State Police arrested a man as a suspect in the boy’s kidnapping, but later said the man apparently wasn’t linked to the child’s disappearance. Police wouldn’t say if they released him.
The Johnston police did not immediately return calls for an update on the search, a suspect and their investigation.
The search for 2-year-old Isaiah Perez began after the two bodies were discovered about 5:20 a.m. at the home in Johnston, a town of 30,000 residents less than 10 miles from Providence.
Investigators believe the two were killed between 4:30 and 5 a.m. and someone then fled the home with the child, Johnston Deputy Police Chief Daniel Parrillo told The Associated Press earlier.
“We don’t believe the child was harmed, and we’re just hoping that he will be safely returned,” Parrillo said at the time.
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Investigators were working to determine the relationships among the boy, his abductor and the two homicide victims, Parrillo said. It was unclear whether the boy’s abductor was living in the home, was a guest or was uninvited, he said.
“We are starting to talk to family members right now …,” he said. “What he was doing there, we have no idea.”
Authorities were also trying to obtain a photograph of the child, Parrillo said.
“We don’t have a picture; we don’t have any identification; we don’t have anything at this time,” he said.
When the boy went missing, a nationwide Amber Alert was issued that identified the child and a suspect.
Massachusetts State Police spokesman Dave Procopio initially said the suspect named in the alert was captured in Fall River on Sunday afternoon, and Isaiah remained missing. Procopio later backtracked and would only say he was told the man in custody wasn’t involved in the child’s disappearance.
Procopio referred all calls to Rhode Island State Police, who referred calls to the Johnston police.