Indiana man who found the body of a child in a suitcase now finds comfort in learning his name

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) - The day before Easter Sunday, Jeffrey Meredith was foraging for mushrooms in the woods near his Washington County home when he found a suitcase and inside, the remains of a little boy.

On Wednesday, Indiana State Police identified the child as 5-year-old Cairo Jordan of Atlanta.

Meredith reacted to the news with sadness and relief.

“I can’t help but get emotional about him,” Meredith said. “But I’m glad I found his name. Because I was so worried I would pass in my life without ever knowing that little fella’s name or where he was from. That was the most important thing in the world.”

From a rocking chair on his front porch, Meredith looked to the woods across the road and recalled the trauma he experienced discovering Jordan’s body.

“Whenever I (saw) him like that, it was the most horrifying thing that any human would have to go through. Especially when you’ve got grandbabies about the same age. You don’t expect anything like that in your life –ever,” Meredith said.

“Nobody should ever have to go through the situation that I went through. When I opened that suitcase and I seen that little fella, his eyeballs, he was like he was screaming to me help. And the only thing I knew to do is to call 911. That’s the only way I knew to help him.”

Meredith has since waited for answers.

His heart breaks thinking what the child might have experienced.

Identification of the remains allows him to put a name to the life he wishes he could have saved.

“Cairo is the sweetest name I believe I’ve ever heard in my life. That’s the truth. Wow.,” Meredith said as his eye filled with tears. “He was a handsome little fella wasn’t he?”

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