Ohio infant remains missing after suspect arrested in Indiana

CINCINNATI (WXIX) – The suspect accused of abducting a 5-month-old Ohio infant is in custody, but the child has yet to be located, according to the Columbus Police Department.

Kasson Thomass remains missing, despite 24-year-old Nalah Jackson being found and taken into custody in Indianapolis, police announced around 5:15 p.m. Thursday.

The Amber Alert was first issued early Tuesday for 5-month-old twins Kasson and Kyair Thomas. Kyair was found safe at Dayton International Airport early Tuesday morning.

Kasson and Kyair were inside their mother’s vehicle when she stopped around 9:45 p.m. Monday at a Donatos Pizza in Columbus to pick up a DoorDash order, Columbus Chief of Police Elaine Bryant said previously.

Employees said a homeless woman, later identified as Jackson, was inside the pizzeria but walked out once the mother came inside, the chief said.

At 9:45 p.m., Chief Bryant said police got a call alleging someone stole a car with two kids inside from the Donatos.

Officers were on scene within seven minutes, she said.

Within an hour and a half of receiving the call, officers had searched previously known addresses of Jackson and three homeless camps, according to the chief.

Those searches turned up empty as neither Kasson, Kyair nor Jackson were found.

A Columbus police sergeant requested Ohio State Highway Patrol issued a statewide Amber Alert at 11:45 p.m., Chief Bryant explained.

Twenty minutes went by, and still, no Amber Alert had been issued, she said during the press conference.

It was not until 1:37 a.m. that the Amber Alert was sent out.

Chief Bryant said, “there was a lapse of communication from the executive level” that resulted in the alert not being issued sooner. She said the “lapse” is being looked into.

Nearly three hours after the Amber Alert was issued, authorities received a call that one of the infants, Kyair, was found in the Dayton International Airport parking lot.

Kyair was ok and is now safe, Bryant said.

See a spelling or grammar error in our story? Please include the title when you click here to report it.

Copyright 2022 WXIX. All rights reserved.