The body of a young girl was recovered from a retention pond in northwest Indiana Thursday afternoon, and police were determining whether she’s the 1-year-old who has been missing since her mother was found strangled in her Wheeling apartment.
Construction workers spotted the body near the Interstate 80-Kennedy Avenue exit ramp just after noon, according to the Indiana State Police.
The workers called 911 and then went into the water to retrieve the girl, state police said. The girl was described as Black and under the age of 5, but authorities were awaiting autopsy results before identifying her.
Wheeling police were notified of the discovery, the state police said.
Earlier in the day, police said they arrested a person of interest in the murder 21-year-old Ja’nya Murphy and the disappearance of her 1-year-old daughter, Jaclyn “Angel” Dobbs.
The person had a relationship with Murphy and was last seen with her at a mall on Monday, around the time her family last had contact with her, according to Wheeling police.
The man was stopped by police in western Missouri while driving a maroon 2020 Dodge Grand Caravan that was also sought by police, based on video reviewed by officers, authorities said.
Police said the man is not the father of Jaclyn.
Murphy had been strangled and died of asphyxiation, according to autopsy results released Thursday by the Cook County medical examiner’s office. Her death was ruled a homicide.
She was discovered late Tuesday as police made a well-being check. Officers climbed onto a balcony and entered her apartment at 356 Inland Drive in Wheeling around 10:20 p.m., according to Deputy Police Chief Al Steffen.
Police went to the building after Murphy had not been to work on Tuesday and had not been seen by relatives since Monday, Steffen said.
Murphy was a 2018 graduate of Stevenson High School and lived with her daughter at the apartment building, Wheeling police said.
Anyone with information can call Wheeling police at (847) 459-2632.
.png?w=600)
