COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — Two brothers have been found safe, but Columbus police say they have also found a third child’s body Friday night after an Amber Alert was issued.
Investigators were looking for two boys, a 9-year-old and a 3-year-old, but confirmed around 9:50 p.m. they had recovered both of them. Columbus Division of Police Sgt. James Fuqua said they had not found Lashanda Delores Wilder, the boys’ 32-year-old mother named in the original Amber Alert as the last person they were seen with.
Lashanda Delores Wilder Martonio Wilder
Columbus police had separately sent out an earlier advisory Friday afternoon about another missing child, 8-year-old Martonio Wilder, but did not escalate that case to an Amber Alert. In a 10:50 p.m. press conference, CPD Chief Elaine Bryant confirmed that police believed they found Martonio’s body in the Wilders’ home. Fuqua confirmed that Martonio was brothers with the 3-year-old and 9-year-old.
Bryant said the mother called police earlier at noon. Lashanda told them Martonio was missing from their home in the 1000 block of Olmstead Avenue and that “he has done this before.” The division noted in its earlier post that Martonio was last seen Thursday around 9:30 p.m. in the same area.
The chief said the Amber Alert originally went out at 9:03 p.m., before investigators found two of the brothers alive at 9:29 p.m. at a family member’s home of Lashanda’s friend.
“We are treating this as a suspicious death,” Bryant said.
Deputy Chief Smith Weir could not confirm Martonio’s cause of death, but did clarify that Lashanda is not a suspect in the death investigation as of Friday night.
Lashanda is Black, 5-7 and 220 pounds. It’s unknown what type of vehicle she may be traveling in, and Bryant said they did not have any information on where she may be.
Police asked anyone with information to call 911 or 877-262-3764.
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