Toddler remains found at Georgia garbage station could close missing child case

A Georgia toddler, who had been missing for a week, may have been found after police discovered a child’s body at the East Point transfer station, a garbage facility, on Wednesday.

Dekalb County police and community members have been searching for J’Asiah Mitchell, 2, since Aug. 16 when his father, Artavious North, told police the boy was kidnapped.

“We have not confirmed the identity of the child J’Asiah Mitchell, however, there is high probability based on the circumstances surrounding this case,” 11Alive reported investigators said.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is working to confirm the identity of the body found.

On Aug. 17, North told Dekalb County Police that someone took Mitchell from him as he was stopped at a stop sign. Police questioned North’s story and ultimately charged him with lying about Mitchell’s disappearance, 11Alive reported.

East Point Chief Shawn Buchanan told FOX 5 Atlanta that North’s family wants to know what happened to Mitchell, but he is not being cooperative.

“I will tell you, several of his family members who are very forthcoming have tried to talk to him, and they are pleading with him, ‘Tell the truth,'” said Buchanan. “I will tell you that his family is just as concerned about the child as the mother’s family. It’s just that he is not being cooperative.”

Mitchell’s mother, Asia Mitchell, is raising money to continue the search for her child.

“We want to pay for helicopters, whatever we need to do to search for J’Asiah,” Leriesa Mitchell, the child’s maternal grandmother told FOX 5 Atlanta. “Ground-wise, air-wise, drones, state-to-state. Whatever we need to do to look for my grandchild.”