CHICAGO — The remains of a toddler found at Garfield Park last month do not belong to a missing Gary, Indiana, boy, police said.
Some suspected the dismembered remains of a toddler found in a Garfield Park lagoon were those of 2-year-old King Walker, but an FBI analysis of DNA discounted that theory, according to a news release from the Gary Police Department.
Police found the dismembered remains of a toddler in a Garfield Park lagoon in September. They drained the lagoon and used cadaver dogs to look for more evidence, and Police Supt. Garry McCarthy said the "full weight" of the city was behind the search.
The FBI tested DNA from the remains and found they were not a match for Walker's mother, Ariana, according to Gary Police. Walker and his aunt, Diamond Bynum, have been missing for several months. At a September news conference, McCarthy said it looked like the circumstances of the Garfield Park incident were not a match for what happened in Gary.
Police are still investigating if the remains could belong to Kyrian Knox, a 2-year-old boy who went missing from Rockford.
The investigation is ongoing and the remains have not been identified, said Officer Jose Estrada, Chicago Police spokesman. Estrada said he did not know of any ties of the case to Arkansas, where 2-year-old Malik Drummond went missing in November 2014. Police had confirmed in September they contacted Arkansas authorities about Drummond.
The toddler found at the lagoon was black or mixed race and was 1 ½ to 4 years old, according to police. The child had short, curly, black hair and brown eyes, according to a statement from the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office. The child's earlobes were not pierced, and that, coupled with the toddler's short hair, suggests "the child may be male (but female gender cannot be ruled out at present)."
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