Parents of missing special needs child are not cooperating with investigation, police say
Police in California said the parents of a missing 2-year-old special needs child have stopped cooperating with the investigation.
The child, Thaddeus Sran, was reported missing by his parents from their home in Madera, about 23 miles from Fresno, on the morning of July 15, police said in a Facebook post.
The City of Madera Police Chief Dino Lawson said at a news conference last week that the parents said they put Thaddeus to bed around 10 p.m. and when they woke up around 8:30 a.m. he was gone. At the time, the chief said the parents were cooperating with the search for the boy.
But in a Facebook update on Tuesday, authorities said "Thaddeus’ parents stopped cooperating early on in the investigation."
"We believe their assistance in this case would be helpful," the police department wrote. "We are hopeful that they will resume cooperating with Madera Police Department detectives and help us to locate Thaddeus."
Police have not publicly released the parents' names and they are not accused of any crime.
Lawson said at the news conference that the child has "severe health issues" and was born prematurely. He uses a feeding tube, is nonverbal and was just learning to walk, but crawls to get around.
The chief said they are investigating a number of angles, including the possibility that Thaddeus somehow got out of the house or was abducted.
"Everything is on the table. We're looking at everything. We're leaving no stone unturned," he told reporters.
According to a missing child poster, Thaddeus is believed to have been wearing a red shirt and Spiderman pants with a diaper underneath when he disappeared. An Amber Alert has not been issued because there is no vehicle information, Madera police said. The boy's family has offered a $5,000 reward for information that helps find him.
Madera Police Lt. Josiah Arnold told NBC News on Wednesday that the boy's parents had an infant daughter who died in 2015. He said he could not provide further details, but said the death was investigated and the case is still open.
