Baby Girl Reported Missing In Will County
UPDATE: DCFS Investigating Mother Of Missing Baby In Will County
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A desperate search was underway in Will County on Wednesday to find a baby girl who has been missing for more than 12 hours.
The Will County Sheriff's office said 1-year-old Semaj Crosby was reported missing around 6:30 p.m. Tuesday. Her family said they were working on a car outside their home near Luana Road and Richards Street in unincorporated Joliet Township, and Semaj was playing with other children in the back yard, but wandered off.
Deputy Chief Tom Budde said about 80 people have been searching for Semaj since Tuesday evening. Search dogs and a Cook County helicopter equipped with an infrared camera were helping look for the girl.
A second team of bloodhounds joined the search Wednesday morning, and crews also were searching a nearby pond. Officials also have deployed drones to assist the search, and people who live in the area were being asked to check their own properties.
"In addition to the manpower, we also put out help requests through notifications to the public through social media. We also sent out a reverse 911 phone call to everyone within a 5-mile area of the last-seen location of the missing girl to notify people on their home phones to be on the lookout," he said.
Semaj was last seen wearing a grey long-sleeve shirt with a cat face on it, dark blue jeans, and no shoes. Her hair has pigtails with white beads.
Police said there is no sign of an abduction or foul play, and investigators believe Semaj is still in the area. They are hoping she fell asleep after wandering off, and someone will find her soon.
Investigators have been questioning the family, which they said is standard procedure. However, police said there have been conflicting reports from relatives about whether it had been 30 minutes or up to 2 hours before Semaj was reported missing.
If anyone has seen Semaj, they should call the Will County Sheriff at 815-727-8575.
