A 23-year-old Indiana woman who reported her baby daughter missing in 2019 has been arrested and charged with neglect.
On Saturday, more than three years after 8-month-old Amiah Robertson disappeared, her mother, Amber Robertson, was arrested and charged with two counts of child neglect and two counts of child neglect resulting in bodily injury.
The arrest came after a Marion County grand jury indicted Robertson on the charges.
According to investigative evidence, it was found that Robertson knowingly placed her 8-month-old daughter Amiah Robertson in a situation that endangered her life or health, and/or ‘abandoned or cruelly confined’ the girl, and/or deprived her of ‘necessary support’ which resulted in serious bodily injury.
Robertson’s boyfriend at the time, Robert Lyons, is listed as a co-defendant in the case. The charge or charges Lyons faces are not immediately clear.
Amiah was first reported missing on March 16, 2019, the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department said at the time.
During that time, police said that Robertson told authorities that she believed Lyons had dropped her daughter off at her babysitter’s house on South Holmes Road.
Authorities then said they believed Amiah had actually been missing since March 9, when she was last seen with Lyons, the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department said at a press conference in 2019. Police allege Robertson waited seven days to report the girl’s disappearance.
“We’re frustrated and quite frankly angry because of misinformation and lack of information and lack of cooperation from those most closely involved,” Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Chief Bryan Roach said at the press conference.
“This is an 8-month-old child, and I think all of us would agree somebody would know the whereabouts,” Roach added.
“After Amiah’s disappearance, investigators found items on the banks of Eagle Creek, less than a mile from where Amiah was last seen, that were identified as belonging to her,” Det. Jean Burkert said at the press conference. “Amiah was last seen alive and well with Lyons at about 1:15 p.m. on March 9. At about 10 p.m. that night, Lyons returned to Robertson’s home “alone, without Amiah.”
In an interview at the time, Robertson said she remembered Lyons saying he hung out at a house near the White River and went to that house on Wednesday to see if her daughter had been there.
When she found some of her daughter’s belongings at the house near the river, she called police.
“All I can do is sit and think of things that my daughter loves,” Robertson said.
Fearing Amiah was dead, authorities had divers search a lake near Mariner Drive to look for evidence in 2019.
At a press conference, Marion County Prosecutor Ryan Mears said, “The one thing that I would make clear to everybody is if we are in a position where we are able to locate the baby, if we are able to locate that child, nothing precludes us from being able to file additional charges.”
That was weird. They found out these things and even filed neglect charges from 3 years ago yet they have not found the little girl. What makes them think the child is still alive? It’s times like this that I wish force could be used to find out where they took this child. With the right punishment, I’ll bet they would suddenly remember everything. (Yeah, I know that sounds harsh but sick of criminals like this that refuse yo cooperate in situations where children’s lives are concerned.
Doesn’t sound harsh to me sounds like a good idea..
I think they have to find a body for the charges to be more than they are