Indiana authorities have issued an arrest for an Atlanta woman after her 5-year-old son’s body was discovered in a small suitcase left in the woods.
Reports show that a mushroom hunter discovered the carry-on size luggage with Cairo Jordan’s body inside in April in Southern Indiana. He would’ve turned six years old on Monday, Oct. 24.
Indiana State Police found no matches to missing child reports, and thousands of incoming tips did not result in any leads. However, physical evidence pointed detectives to two suspects: his mother and another woman.
“It’s a bittersweet day,” said Indiana State Police’s spokesperson Sgt. Carey Huls, during a press conference on Wednesday.
“Bitter because no matter what progress is made, what happens in the case, we’re still dealing with the tragic death of a precious, young child, and unfortunately, we can’t change that.”
According to 13News, court documents show that state authorities linked the boy’s mother, Dejuane Ludie Anderson, and Dawn Coleman to the crime through fingerprints from trash bags used to package the boy into the suitcase.
Anderson was arrested before and after Cairo was discovered for other crimes. Georgia state authorities tracked down the boy’s biological father and confirmed his identity.
Investigators obtained search warrants for the women’s social media accounts and found photos of Anderson holding the suitcase and a boy that matched the remains inside of the suitcase.
Police said he was Black, about five years old, and 4 feet tall, with a slim build and a short haircut.
The mother also made references to having a demonic child and performing an exorcism on Facebook, according to reports. Anderson wrote on March 18 that she couldn’t wait to tell her story of removing a “very powerful demonic force.”
Coleman reportedly also made mention of Cairo being possessed on Facebook.
“Just because the avatar is of what we call a child does not mean that it is actually a child there are beings that are here that are not supposed to be here that pick avatars to hide behind to play roles to steal energy and to ruin lives,” Coleman wrote on April 8, eight days before the suitcase was found.
Anderson and Coleman had been traveling from state to state. On March 12, Anderson was arrested in South Carolina for child endangerment, speeding and failing to stop police, according to reports. Police said she engaged police in a high-speed chase that lasted for 30 minutes until she ran out of gas. Cairo was in the vehicle.
13News also reports that the mother was arrested on March 31 in Louisville, Kentucky, for shoplifting and assault. Anderson allegedly tried to steal more than $1,500 of merchandise from Von Maur and struck a security guard in the face who stopped her.
It is believed that Cairo was in Coleman’s custody at that time. The boy’s mother was released from the Louisville Metro Corrections on April 11.
Cell-phone tower data also put Coleman and Anderson near where the suitcase was found on April 14. The mother’s vehicle reportedly went through local toll roads between Louisville and Southern Indiana on April 16, the day of the hunter’s discovery. Police believe Cairo died sometime the week before he was found.
Autopsy results released in May showed Cairo died because of an electrolyte imbalance that was “most likely caused by gastroenteritis, which in common layman’s terms would be vomiting and diarrhea. And that resulted in dehydration,” Huls said.
No physical trauma was found.
Authorities arrested Coleman on Wednesday, Oct. 19, in San Francisco, California, for neglect of a dependent resulting in death and obstruction of justice.
A felony murder arrest warrant was issued for Anderson, who is also facing neglect and obstruction of justice charges.
Police have been searching for her in the Los Angeles area, but they said she has recently been to San Francisco, San Diego, Las Vegas and Houston, Texas. She is 5 feet, 5 inches tall, 135 pounds with short, dark brown hair but is also known to wear wigs or hair extensions.
“Help us locate her for Cairo so that justice can be served for him,” Huls said.
In May, members of the community where Cairo was found held a memorial service for the boy. More than 100 people were in attendance, the Courier-Journal reports.
He was laid to rest at Crown Hill Cemetery, marked by a black headstone engraved with an angel and the words: “In loving memory of a beloved little boy known but to God” and “Asleep in the arms of Jesus.”
