ORLANDO, Fla. — Crews with the city's Streets and Stormwater Division continued to drain a pond Sunday near the Willow Bend Apartments in search of evidence related to the disappearance of Baby Willow.
Water pumps at the pond have been guarded by Orlando police since Friday evening.
Photos: Orange County dive team searches for Baby Willow
Police say the thick muck prevents the use of cadaver dogs because the mud would trap the animals and they would be confused by all the odors churned up.
Orlando police dive crews searched the pond Friday morning without success.
The pond is a 10-minute walk from where Baby Willow was born.
The search for the missing newborn has been extensive since police were called to Willow Bend Apartments on Silver Star Road Monday on a report of a human placenta in the parking lot.
It's believed Susan Richardson, 30, had the baby in the apartment complex parking lot, which is why police refer to the missing girl as Baby Willow.
Richardson told officers she didn’t want the child and left it at an apartment but couldn’t remember which one.
She was arrested and charged with neglect and unlawful abandonment and remains in custody at the Orange County Jail in lieu of bonds totaling $50,000.
Johnnie Bryant, Richardson's boyfriend, said they planned on giving the baby to an ex-girlfriend and have given other children away to family members.
Police searched the area with K-9s and checked each dumpster in the complex.
On Thursday, robotic cameras were sent into the sewers around Willow Bend Apartments, but again investigators turned up empty-handed.
Neighbors left balloons and teddy bears along the fence at the apartment complex to show their support in the effort to find Baby Willow.
Bryant said Richardson’s mental health could be to blame for her lack of cooperation in the case.
A 2009 arrest report for battery said Richardson had not been taking her medication for bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.
Bryant said their daughter Juanita, 7, has never been taken from him by the Florida Department of Children and Families, but she has been taken from Richardson.
Bryant said DCF does not allow Richardson to be alone with Juanita, but she does spend time with her.
Cox Media Group
