Tip leads to mother’s arrest 2 years after boy’s body found in suitcase in Indiana
March 16 (UPI) -- A tip has led to the arrest in California of the mother of a boy whose body was found in a suitcase in an Indiana field two years ago, according to Indiana State Police.
Dejuane Anderson, the mother of Cairo Jordan, was arrested this week, police said in a statement issued Friday.
Cairo was a 5-year-old boy whose body was found inside a hard suitcase bearing an image of a "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas" sign.
"Information from a concerned citizen" given to a detective earlier this week helped authorities locate Anderson in California.
U.S. Marshals found and arrested her as she "attempted to board a public transit train" in Arcadia, Calif., authorities said. Indiana detectives are visiting California to continue investigating the case against Anderson, they added.
The investigation started after an Indiana man hunting for mushrooms on the morning of April 16, 2022, found the suitcase in a heavily wooded area in rural Washington County, located about 45 miles northwest of Louisville.
Anderson's arrest is a "thing we've looked forward to and anticipated for almost two years now," Indiana State Police Sgt. Cary Huls told reporters during a news conference Friday. "It's still a sorrowful, somber moment in the investigation."
An autopsy showed Cairo's cause of death was an electrolyte imbalance likely caused by diarrhea and vomiting that resulted in the boy being dehydrated.
Anderson is being held in a Los Angeles jail pending extradition to Indiana to face trial for felony charges that include murder.
A warrant for Anderson's arrest issued in October 2022 in Washington County lists pending charges of murder, neglect of a dependent resulting in death and obstruction of justice.
Another woman, Dawn Coleman, also was charged, tried and convicted of conspiracy to commit murder in November in connection with Cairo's death was sentenced to 25 years in prison. Coleman was located in San Francisco in October 2022 and extradited to Indiana, where she pleaded guilty to the charge, the Louisville Courier Journal reported.
Police said Coleman likely had custody of the boy for about two weeks in April 2022.
Coleman's arrest affidavit said she and Anderson published social media posts referring to Cairo as a "demon" and an "avatar playing a character." The affidavit also indicated Anderson was writing a book about "living with a demonic child."
Anderson spent the past two years on the run and spent time in Houston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, San Diego and San Francisco prior to her arrest, according to WIXN-TV.
Investigators said they found fingerprints belonging to Anderson and Coleman on items inside the suitcase that contained Jordan's body. Police also found cellphones owned by the women in the area where the boy's body was found.
A license plate reader for the toll bridge connecting Louisville and Indiana also showed a car Anderson owned crossed the bridge the same day Jordan's body was recovered.
Less than a month earlier, Anderson was charged with second-degree robbery when she allegedly tried to steal items from a Louisville store and struck a security guard who tried to stop her. She was release on her own recognizance on April 11, 2022, the Courier Journal reported.
