A missing 2-year-old child has been found safe and his grandmother has been arrested after Emporia Police initiated a search for the toddler Monday.
Police Sgt. Lisa Hayes says 2-year-old Kyrese Cabrera-Downs was found safe around 5 pm in Emporia after his grandmother, 41-year-old Jessica Downs, was arrested at a residence in southwest Emporia around 2:30 pm. Downs says she gave the child to his biological father, Devin Downs, at some point Tuesday in Emporia. Devin Downs then took the child to his biological mother.
The finding of Kyrese Cabrera-Downs and the arrest of his grandmother followed a public appeal for help from Emporia Police on Monday, which was followed by a series of tips indicating Jessica Downs was in Augusta to hand the child off to Devin Downs. Augusta Police interviewed the older Downs, who allowed a search of his home. Tips also led authorities to Topeka on Monday night, but Topeka Police did not find either grandmother or child.
Downs was jailed on suspicion of aggravated interference with parental custody. Formal charges are pending.
Devin Downs was arrested afterward on an outstanding Lyon County warrant. Details about that are pending.
One other person initially mentioned, 39-year-old Nathan Shown, is not being sought by law enforcement in connection to this case.
The case was initially investigated as a missing person case with an interference with parental custody component, but it was not filed as an AMBER Alert because there was no sign of abduction and there was no imminent threat to the child. Before Jessica Downs’ arrest, officers began treating the case as a felony-level aggravated interference with custody incident.
