Statewide police agencies and the FBI are continuing to search for Shaylyn Michelle Kay Ammerman, the 1-year-old girl who went missing from her family’s home in Spencer, Indiana, on Wednesday.
Shaylyn’s grandmother, Tamara Morgan, said she last saw the baby at about midnight Tuesday night, when she checked on her in her crib.
“She was sleeping, peacefully like she always does,” Morgan said.
When Morgan woke up at about 7:30 a.m. Wednesday, Shaylyn was gone.
More than nine law enforcement agencies, including the Indiana State Police and Indiana Department of Homeland Security, assisted with the search Wednesday, overnight and this morning. The FBI is also involved in the investigation, spokesperson Wendy Osborne confirmed today.
No arrests had been made as of Wednesday night, but officials issued a number of search warrants for different homes and vehicles, according to a news release from the Indiana State Police.
Morgan’s house at 489 West Jefferson Street, where Shaylyn lives part-time with her father, Justin Ammerman, was still blocked off by officials this morning. The family was told to stay out of the house while the authorities investigated the scene.
Morgan and Ammerman, along with Morgan’s other son, Adam Ammerman and her husband, Daniel Morgan, spent the night at a relative’s house across town.
"All we have is the clothes we slept in," Morgan said.
Investigators spent Wednesday interviewing witnesses and Shaylyn’s family members. Police searched areas in Spencer near Jefferson Street and the White River, extending to State Road 46, as well as other parts of northern Owen County.
Helicopters searched the town from overhead, and Indiana Conservation Officers also used sonar equipment to search the White River, according to the news release.
On the night that Shaylyn went missing, two other people entered and left the house, Morgan said. Kyle Parker, a friend of her son, Adam Ammerman, came to watch some movies with Ammerman and later left the house.
Justin Ammerman's ex-girlfriend, Kelly Rogers, appears to have come into the home sometime after 4 a.m. and placed some newspapers on the counter in the kitchen before leaving, Morgan said.
Rogers had been living at the house since her and Justin Ammerman broke up, Morgan said, but the family hadn't seen her since Sunday.
Morgan said she did not see Rogers enter or exit the house Wednesday, but believes she entered the home because she is always the one who leaves newspapers in her kitchen.
Justin Ammerman was in Indianapolis on Thursday morning taking a polygraph test, Morgan said.
"It's just frustrating," Morgan said, tearing up. "There’s nothing anybody can do besides just wait."
Shaylyn's mother, Jessica Mae Stewart, posted a message on Facebook early Thursday morning saying "Please help us bring my beautiful baby girl Shaylyn home safe to me ... Shaylyn is loved and we're missing her so badly and just want her home."
Shaylyn has blonde, curly hair and blue eyes and weighs 20 pounds. She was last seen wearing a white zip-up onesie decorated with owls, with a purple pacifier attached. She may also have a blue and white “Winnie the Pooh” blanket with her, according to the news release.
Anyone with information about Shaylyn’s whereabouts is encouraged to call the Indiana State Police at (812) 332-4411.
A press release from the Indiana State Police misstated the Shaylyn's height. She is 29, not 49, inches tall. The IDS regrets this error.
