Missing Toddler Tyler Dasher Found Dead in St. Louis
Tyler Dasher, a missing 1-year-old boy was found dead near St. Louis County cemetery only hours after he was reported missing by his mother.
The cause of death has not been immediately determined, but police are calling the death a homicide.
Dasher was discovered missing from his home on Tuesday morning when his mother, 20-year-old Shelby Dasher, woke up to find the toddler gone from his crib.
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Dasher told police that she put her son to bed at 10:30 p.m. on Monday evening. She overslept and woke up at 11 a.m. to find Tyler had disappeared.
According to STLToday.com, a neighbor of Dasher reported seeing a suspicious vehicle in the neighborhood with a “loud exhaust system.”
Two women walking their dogs near the New St. Marcus Cemetery in St. Louis found the body of the 13-month-old toddler around 3:30 p.m.
Dasher's body was discovered just blocks away from the home he shared with his mother and maternal grandmother.
The boy’s father, Joe Ellington, does not live with Dasher. Ellington’s parents were appointed as Dasher’s co-guardians by a St. Louis County Circus County judge this past April.
Police have made an arrest in the death of the child but have yet to release any information on who was arrested. Police have said that there was no sign of a break-in at the Affton, Mo. home Dasher was sleeping at before he was reported missing.
A witness told police that they saw a man carrying a baby wrapped in a blue blanket at around 12:30 p.m. one mile from the Dasher home.
Following the discovery of the body on Tuesday afternoon, St. Louis County Police Chief Tim Fitch said at a news conference, “Anyone that would take a child into a wooded area like this needs to be dealt with severely by the justice system.”
