Sept. 24--Rockford police said Wednesday they are investigating whether a 2-year-old boy reported missing there is the child whose dismembered remains were discovered in the Garfield Park Lagoon over Labor Day weekend. They cautioned that any link is "only speculation" at this point.
Assistant Deputy Chief Patrick Hoey said authorities are waiting to see whether a DNA sample taken from the mother of Kyrian Knox matches the DNA of the remains found in the lagoon.
"Kyrian's mother provided a sample of her DNA," Hoey said at a morning news conference. "We have sent it off for processing, and we asked for an expedited response."
Kyrian was reported missing Sept. 17, but police said they believe the boy was last seen around Aug. 20. Chicago police traveled to Rockford on Friday to discuss the case and collect the DNA sample.
Chicago police chief spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said the sample was sent for testing to the FBI laboratory in Quantico, Va. The results "will take some time," but detectives in Chicago are "cautiously optimistic" about the lead, he said.
But Guglielmi added that "Rockford isn't the only lead. The leads that we are investigating all have a nexus to Chicago.
"We will know much more once we get preliminary results from the FBI," he said.
Hoey said the boy's family has been cooperative as his officers investigate the case.
In Chicago, Kyrian's mother, Lanisha Knox, 24, remained adamant that her son could not be the toddler found in the lagoon.
"That sketch looks nothing like my child. There's no way my child's hair could grow that much in a month's time. I keep my son's hair low, super low, so that's impossible," she said.
Knox is staying with relatives in Chicago as the search and investigation progresses. Her mother, Cameshia Harris, 43, flew to Chicago and visited Rockford this weekend to help.
"Our entire family is from Chicago," she said. "Cousins, friends, family, basically everyone we know is handing out fliers, hanging up posters. It's all hands on deck."
Knox recently moved to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, with a high school friend, Harris said. The friend also has a young child.
Knox had secured a job in Iowa and needed to go through training in August. That's when the pair left Kyrian and the other child in the care of the high school friend's father, who lives in Rockford, Harris said.
"They were trying to get on their feet and get the kid's day care stuff in order," said Harris, who lives in Atlanta.
She said Knox called the Rockford man to check on Kyrian routinely but did not speak with the child on the phone.
"He just made 2 years old Aug. 5," Harris said. "He hasn't started talking yet."
Last Thursday, Harris said, Knox texted the Rockford man's girlfriend to check in, asking about her son, but the woman was at work. Hours later she received a call from Rockford police about Kyrian's disappearance.
Knox, who said she had expected to pick up the children last weekend, said the Rockford man was approached by another man who said he was picking up the toddler on her behalf. He allowed the boy to leave with the man.
"Any common-sense adult would say, 'Let me call to confirm that someone's coming to pick them up,'" Knox said. "But that never happened. ... How could I report him missing if I didn't know?"
Because Knox last saw Kyrian around mid-August, it is unclear how long the child was missing before his disappearance was initially reported, Rockford police said.
According to officials with the Department of Children and Family Services, the office has not had any previous contact with Knox's family. The agency is investigating the Knox family for neglect with regard to the disappearance of the child, DCFS spokeswoman Veronica Resa said.
The foot of a toddler was found in the West Side park's lagoon Sept. 5. Additional remains, including the head, were found over the next two days.
Investigators believe the remains to be that of an African-American boy, but officials cautioned that the body could be of a "mixed-race heritage" child and possibly that of a girl. The toddler was most likely about 2 years old, investigators said.
"The hair was short, curly and black in color; the eyes were brown; and the earlobes were not pierced, suggesting the child may be male (but female gender cannot be ruled out at present)," according to a previous statement from Chicago police and the medical examiner's office.
Kyrian is described as African-American, about 30 inches tall and 35 pounds, according to police. He has closely cropped black hair and brown eyes.
Investigators have looked into two other missing person cases out of Gary and Searcy, Ark., but don't think either connection is strong. "We're not ruling it out, but we do have some reason to believe the (Garfield Park) victim to be different," Guglielmi said.
"There are people out there that know what happened to this baby," he said. "We need you to come forward. This baby deserves better."
Chicago Tribune's Tony Briscoe and Carlos Sadovi contributed.
rcrosby@tribpub.com
