INQUISITR.COM / News & Politics

Spencer, Indiana Man Arrested After Missing 1-Year-Old Girl, Shaylyn Ammerman, Is Found Dead

By Pam Wright
Published on: 01:44 PST, Mar 25, 2016

A Spencer, Indiana, man was arrested following the discovery on Thursday of the body of a 1-year-old girl who went missing Tuesday.

Kyle Parker, 22, of Spencer, Indiana, was arrested and being held in connection with the toddler’s death, according to a press release.

USA Today reports that the body of Shaylyn Ammerman, the 1-year-old Spencer, Indiana, girl, was found just after 6 p.m. Thursday in a wooded area northeast of Gosport, Indiana, State Police confirmed.

As previously reported by the Inquisitr, Shaylyn was last seen sometime before 8 a.m. Wednesday, prompting a search by more than 100 people, including a search-and-rescue team, FBI agents, Indiana Department of Natural Resources staff, and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, according to ABC News.

Indiana State Police Sgt. Curt Durnil said investigators were led to a remote area of private property, where Indiana Creek meets the White River in south-central Indiana, after “interviewing persons of interest” in the case.

“Information from witnesses and persons of interest led us to that spot.”

According to the release, an autopsy is scheduled for Friday by the Owen County coroner’s office to positively identify the girl and determine the cause of death. Crime scene investigators continue to process the scene where the Spencer, Indiana, toddler’s body was discovered.

According to Shaylyn’s grandmother, Tamera Morgan, she put the girl to bed in her home around 8 p.m. Tuesday and checked on her frequently until about 1:30 a.m. when she went to bed.

Morgan confirmed that the 15-month-old girl’s father, Justin Ammerman, was in the residence with his daughter that night, along with his brother, father, and Parker, who has been preliminarily charged with obstruction of justice, unlawful disposal of a dead body, and failure to report a dead body, according to staff at the jail.

Morgan said she was awakened Wednesday morning to the screams of her son asking her if she had Shaylyn with her.

“He yelled, ‘Mom, do you have Shaylyn?’ I said, ‘Of course, I do not have her. I went directly to her bed. It was empty.”

As a person of interest, Ammerman took a polygraph test in Indianapolis on Thursday to rule him out, Morgan said, adding that her son would never harm his daughter.

“The only explanation is that someone came in and took her.”

Parker’s criminal record includes charges of drug possession, criminal trespassing, and illegal consumption of alcohol, according to court records.

The Indianapolis Star reports that despite Parker’s arrest, the investigation is still ongoing, and others in the home the night Shaylyn went missing are not in the clear just yet, according to Durnil.

“Let me be really frank here. Please don’t feel like because we’ve found a body and we’ve made an arrest that this case is anywhere near over. This case is just getting started with more interviews, with more investigative tactics with everything that we have at our disposal we will use to bring those who are responsible for this little girl’s death to justice.”

According to Morgan, the door to the residence in Spencer, Indiana, was unlocked that night.

[Image via Owen County Security Center]

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