After the mother and her baby boy were reported missing by their family, the police were finally able to find the mother after a search that stretched on for several weeks. Although the mother was found safe and sound, she kept mum when asked questions regarding the whereabouts of her son, James. Their family members revealed that they hadn’t seen the little boy since Thanksgiving in 2020, and whenever her aunt, Marisol, tried to check on him, she noticed that D’Lanny would avoid meeting her or even talking to her. Now, after D’Lanny was found by the police with no sign of the 19-month-old baby, she is faced with the worst fear of the boy possibly being dead.
When the police managed to track D’Lanny, they were told by the mother that her son “deserved better,” and that she wished to give the child up for adoption. Along with talking about her mental health issues, she told the police she wasn’t ready to be a mother and wanted him to “be in a better place.”
In February, before the mother and son were reported missing, Marisol tried setting up arrangements to meet James but would always get excuses from D’Lanny. Sometimes, she would say the boy was sleeping, and at other times, she would say he was with someone else. On several occasions, when Marisol continued to see D’Lanny, she avoid meeting her whilst dodging questions about James. When Marisol finally had a proper conversation with D’Lanny and asked about the little boy, the mother claimed she had given him up for adoption.
“I asked her right away, ‘Where’s James? Where is he?'” Gomez recalled. “She’s just breathes and she’s like, ‘I gave him up for adoption.’ And I mean, I’m hysterical, I’m crying, I’m trying to understand why, I’m asking her, ‘Why? Why?’ And she just said she tried and she didn’t want James to live the kind of life that she would have been living.”
According to D’Lanny’s story, she gave up the child to a couple she had known for two years, but couldn’t provide any proof of the adoption when Marisol asked for evidence.
On February 22, when Marisol showed up at D’Lanny’s trailer, she found no signs of the baby, but she did spot alarming sight of his crib blanket covered in blood. “My first reaction was like, ‘Oh, my God, that’s the baby,'” Marisol said. “Because the way it was, it looked it looked like something was wrapped in it.”
Marisol informed the police, who later confirmed details about the blood-stained crib sheets in D’Lanny’s trailer. “Multiple search warrants were conducted at the suspect’s residence. Apparent blood was found on a sheet that is consistent with a crib sheet. This sheet tested positive for human blood. The victim’s items; car seat, stroller, diapers, toys, etc. were left in the trailer.”
The family is still waiting to know where James is and what happened to him. “The unknown is what is killing me right now,” Marisol added. Currently, D’Lanny is being held on charge of abandoning the baby. Marisol said, “I still love her. And I want her to get help that she needs. But, she needs to be able to tell us where James is at.”