Georgia police are actively searching for a 2-year-old boy whose father was arrested and charged with falsely reporting that the boy was kidnapped.
DeKalb County Police said J'Asiah Mitchell was originally reported kidnapped just before 11:30 p.m. Wednesday by his father, 23-year-old Artavious North, who said that a car started following him then swerved in front and forced him to stop in front of an apartment complex in Panthersville.
Police Found 'Inconsistencies' in North's Story
He said the boy was taken from him at gunpoint, WAGA reported. By Thursday afternoon, police said they'd uncovered "inconsistencies" in the story and that a kidnapping did not take place.
"We are working through inconsistencies in the reporting of the alleged kidnapping," the department said in a statement. The investigation is fluid and evolving. We are working with federal state and local law enforcement partners to follow up on all available leads."
Later Thursday evening, they announced that North had been arrested for false statement and false report of a crime and that the East Point Police Department had taken over as lead of the investigation.
Location of the Toddler 'Still Unknown'
"Our investigation found that there was no armed robbery nor kidnapping in DeKalb County," DeKalb Police said. "The location of 2-year-old J'asiah Mitchell is still unknown." On Friday, police launched search at a landfill in Griffin and began to drain a pond near an East Point apartment complex where North and his girlfriend live, WAGA said.
According to WXIA, police said they had no specific information leading them to the pond but that they were exhausting all possibilities. East Point police also went door to door asking if anyone had seen the toddler. Police also told WSB that North, who was denied bond at a court appearance on Saturday, is the only suspect in his son's disappearance.
