CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga. — The search for a missing baby in Clayton County came to a tragic end on Tuesday evening.
All the latest on the investigation LIVE on Channel 2 Action News at 4 p.m.
Multiple law enforcement sources confirmed to Channel 2 Action News that officers found the body of Nnakai Pratt outside the same apartment complex where his father, Antonio Pearce, reported his son missing.
Privacy screens shielded neighbors from the crime scene in the woods.
“Horrific,” said Tracy Karch.
Karch and her neighbors have been waiting for answers since Sunday morning.
That’s when police said Pearce claimed robbers kidnapped his 6-month-old baby right out of his car seat.
As the investigation into the kidnapping moved forward Sunday, detectives said they became suspicious of foul play.
“It’s scary when it hits this close to home,” said Chasity Lipscomb.
Police arrested the child’s father for unrelated charges, and they named him a suspect in the baby’s disappearance the same day.
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“This has been very disturbing for a lot of people here, me included,” said Karch. “It’s been very upsetting because we know so many people who are involved.”
For days, the Clayton County Police Department searched for the baby around the apartment complex on Valley Hill Road. They used dogs to trace scent. They scoured the area for surveillance video.
Then, on Tuesday, before 7 p.m., police taped off a dumpster at the complex with a play pen on top.
In the woods near the complex’s entrance, the crime scene barrier screens went up, and police confirmed they found a baby’s body.
The Clayton County Medical Examiner’s Office will have to confirm if that baby is Nnakai Pratt.
“Very heartbroken,” said Karch. “It’s going to be devastating to this community. This community has been praying and hoping for the baby to be returned, but as time goes by, and he’s so little and just defenseless, we kind of knew from the first day.”
Police have not named the baby’s mother as of Tuesday night. Pearce was booked on new charges overnight on false statements, possession of marijuana, driving with a suspended or revoked license and child restraint violation.
Court records show he has been accused of child cruelty and family violence in the past. The child cruelty case is listed as disposed, and records do not specify the outcome of that case.
He pleaded not guilty to the case involving family violence charges. That case is still pending.
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