April 10--Preliminary results of a child welfare investigation have led authorities to believe that the father of a 3-year-old girl found wandering the streets alone near a suburban forest preserve earlier this week had left her in a trash can, authorities said Thursday.
"Initially, our investigation has shown that the father left the child in a garbage can and drove away," said Andrew Flach, spokesman for the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services.
As the DCFS investigation continues, Cook County authorities moved forward on the criminal investigation, issuing an arrest warrant Thursday for the girl's father, Faiz Ikramulla.
Ikramulla, 35, was named in a $300,000 arrest warrant for aggravated kidnapping, according to the Cook County sheriff's office.
The little girl was found alone and crying Tuesday near a forest preserve in suburban Prospect Heights, police said. The Van Buren County sheriff's office in Michigan took Ikramulla into custody Wednesday after officials there learned that he was wanted in Illinois.
"I don't know whether he was fleeing or not," said Cook County sheriff spokeswoman Cara Smith. "It appears so, from where he ended up."
The sheriff's office launched a criminal investigation into the girl's parents Wednesday after passers-by found her wandering near Milwaukee Avenue and Palatine Road around 6:30 p.m., officials said.
In the course of the investigation, authorities said they determined the mother had been in process of filing missing persons reports for the girl and the father with Round Lake police when the girl was found.
The mother is no longer a suspect in the investigation, Smith said.
Instead, authorities alleged the father left the girl in the forest preserve "where he believed she would not immediately be found," according to a release from the sheriff's office.
The girl was able to tell police her first name, but she did not know her last name or her parents' names. She also told police that her father left her alone in the forest preserve, Smith said.
The father is being held at the Van Buren County Jail in Michigan.
