On Oct. 4, Deborah Bradley and Lisa’s father, Jeremy Irwin, reported their 10-month-old daughter missing. They claim while Irwin worked a night shift, and Bradley and their other two sons slept, an intruder entered the home and abducted the baby.
After three weeks and no significant leads, police are now starting to evaluate the parents more closely.
Police initially said the kidnapper may have gained entry to the home through a window in the child’s room, which showed signs of tampering. An Amber Alert was issued, and authorities canvassed the couple’s Kansas City neighborhood and nearby wooded areas. At the time the investigation began, the fact both parents were present and jointly alerted the police to the child’s absence, seemed to rule out a singular parental abduction, but did place the missing child on a higher state of alert.
Two days after the search began, it was reported that the parents had stopped cooperating with the police. And well, when that happens, an already tense situation with law enforcement ratchets up even higher.
As reported by the Huffington Post and the AP, Kansas City police spokesman Steve Young stated:
“Tonight, they decided to stop talking to detectives, and I don’t have to illustrate how that affects the investigation. That speaks for itself.”
Yeah, that doesn’t sound good. Refuting the remarks, the family maintained that the police had their continued cooperation, as indicated in a news conference of their own, where in a tearful retelling, they described their frantic search for the child after finding an open window, an unlocked front door and house lights blazing, and later discovering that their three cellphones were gone. However, the police state that the stolen cellphones have led to no suspects, and after the family’s news conference, police spokesman Darin Snapp sent out a news release saying authorities believed they had done everything they could “regarding geographic searches” and were shutting down the command post about a mile from the home. Snapp said police “will continue tracking leads as we get them or develop additional information.”
If you know the history of cases like these, it’s becoming more and more apparent that the police are changing the focus of the investigation from outside sources to those closer to the missing person, namely the child’s parents. Law enforcement has repeatedly indicated that they have no leads in the case, despite being provided with a list of persons by the parents, and after expending resources and man-power that included search dogs to go over the family’s home and nearby woods, helicopters, all-terrain vehicles and door-to-door interviews with neighbors.
The only possibility the Police have come up with is someone entered the home through a front window and snatched the baby, but they haven’t pointed to any sign of forced entry.
What it seems the police aren’t saying is that this explanation seems unlikely, despite claims by the child’s mother that “maybe somebody wanted a baby.”
Which brings us to Deborah Bradley. After quickly falling out of favor with the police amid accusations both parents retreated from police questioning, apparently now Bradley’s recollection of the events leading up to the disappearance seem to be changing, and the couple has retained attorney, Joe Tacopina, who is known for representing the prime suspect in the Natalee Holloway case, Joran Vandersloot.
In addition, during her appearance on the Today show on Monday, Bradley admitted to being blackout drunk on the night of the baby’s disappearance, as well as changing the timeline. She now states that the last time she actually saw her daughter was at 6:30pm and not 10:30pm as she told the police. And to add more suspicion, Bradley also admitted to failing a police-administered lie detector test.
“They said that I failed when they asked me where she was [and] if I knew where she was,” Bradley said.
The admissions led the FBI to take action mere hours after the show’s airing sending dozens of FBI agents to search the home where the couple has been staying since the start of the investigation.
Law enforcement aren’t the only ones with suspicions about Bradley. People who know her have also come forward with tales of erratic behavior, some questionable personality traits that led to trust issues, and unpredictability.
Shirley Pfaff, former best friend and neighbor says:
“She was my friend at one time and I loved to be around her, but when I [saw] the other side of her and got to know the true Debbie, I couldn’t even believe I trusted her with anything,” Pfaff told The Huffington Post.
The police have cleared nearly 700 tips and leads in the case, and still have no viable suspects that they’re ready to announce. The couple also refuses to let investigators question their two sons about the events of that night. For her part, Deborah Bradley fully expects to be arrested, but hopes it won’t happen, even though it looks as if she’s giving the police more and more cause to rule her in as a suspect. Jeremy Irwin has gone on record in saying that the police have asked if it were possible that there was an “accident” wherein Lisa got hurt and they’re afraid to come forward with the information. Bradley has maintained her innocence during the questioning.
“I had absolutely nothing to do with it,” she said. “It’s a waste of time, money, energy and focus and people should be looking for [Lisa].”
So what do you think? Do all roads appear to lead to the parents’ involvement, or minimally Deborah Bradley, or does it seem possible that this is an unfortunate kidnapping?
Update: Late yesterday reports surfaced that FBI cadaver dogs picked up a “decaying body” scent under the floorboards in the master bedroom of the home shared by Deborah Bradley and Jeremy Irwin.
“That’s what they hit on. What the dogs are saying is that they smell that scent,” Lanza said. “That can be the scent of an actual body decomposing, or residual scents after the body is no longer there.”
Law enforcement has not released information on what was found in the home, but the couple’s attorney has stated that Bradley and Irwin are cooperating.
(Update provided by THurdler)
