5-year-old found dead in suitcase identified; woman arrested, mother still at large
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) - Indiana State Police have identified the boy found dead six months ago inside a suitcase in a Southern Indiana field. Now they have one person in custody in his death and are searching for a second - the child’s mother.
Sgt. Carey Huls, public information officer for the ISP Sellersburg post, said the boy is 5-year-old Cairo Ammar Jordan, of Atlanta, Georgia. Cairo would have celebrated his 6th birthday on October 24.
On October 14, Washington County Circuit Court issued two felony arrest warrants in the case. One of the suspects, Dawn Elaine Coleman, 40, of Shreveport, Louisiana, was arrested in the recent days in San Francisco, California.
The second person wanted is Dejaune Ludie Anderson, 37, of Atlanta, Georgia. She is Cairo’s mother and is still at large. Anderson was believed to have been in the Los Angeles area but has also recently traveled to Houston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, San Diego and San Francisco.
Both Coleman and Anderson are being charged with neglect of dependent resulting in death and obstruction of justice. Anderson will also be charged with murder. The probable case affidavit for Coleman says she and Anderson are sisters.
Cairo’s body was found April 16 in a field off Holder Road, a dead end road in southeastern Washington County. The body of the young boy was inside a hard shell suitcase with “Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas, Nevada” printed on it.
“Why did you even have the nerve or the audacity to dispose of him like that?,” said Mary Jane Jordan, Cairo’s great grandmother. “I just want to know what happened. The baby didn’t deserve that. He was sweet.”
The probable cause affidavit states that cell phone records place phones belonging to Anderson and Coleman in the Holder Road area for 45 minutes - 4:30 p.m. to 5:15 p.m. - on the afternoon of April 14, two days before Cairo’s body was found in the suitcase. Video from a home surveillance system obtained by ISP shows a car coming into view at 4:53 p.m. on April 14 and stopping in the area where the suitcase was found.
On June 29, an ISP forensic scientist was able to obtain a fingerprint match from two of the trash bags in the suitcase. Those prints belonged to Anderson. Nearly four weeks later, a second fingerprint match was made. that print was identified as Coleman’s.
Huls said there was very little for investigators to work with in the beginning because there were no witnesses, no family and the road is not one that is heavily traveled. State police received thousands of tips on a tip line dedicated to the case, but Huls said none of the tips led to an association with the case.
Huls said there was no sign of trauma and Cairo‘s death was connected to electrolyte imbalance.
Coleman is being held in San Francisco. She is expected to be returned to Indiana in the next 30 days.
The Washington County community is elated about Cairo being identified, but say they won’t get full closure until he gets justice.
“He’s still our angel. He always will be. Always. Yep. We’ve got the shirts, and we wear them. And his birthday was just a few days ago and he’d be six. That’s just really heartbreaking but now we know,” said Yvonne Casey, a Washington County resident.
“Our prayers have been answered. We now know who he is, they have their suspect, they’re going to get her. And then the rest of our prayers will be answered and he’ll finally get the justice he deserves,” said Janet Irk, another Washington County resident.
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