The search for Jordan Belliveau tragically came to an end with the discovery of the little boy’s body this week.
The nation held its breath as investigators and loved ones in Florida searched for a 2-year-old boy whose 21-year-old mother told police her child was abducted by a stranger after the man offered them a ride.
But the search for Jordan Belliveau tragically came to an end with the discovery of the little boy’s body and the arrest of his mother, Charisse Stinson, who police now believe was behind his killing.
Below is a timeline of the investigation:
Sunday, Sept. 2
Jordan was reported missing to Largo police by her mother, who said she was walking in the area the night before when a man pulled up in a white Toyota Camry, asking if they needed a ride.
Once inside the vehicle, she said the man punched her in the face and knocked her out.
She told cops that she later woke up in a wooded area alone.
An Amber Alert was issued for Jordan, which investigators urged residents and social media users to share in hopes of the boy's safe return.
Monday, Sept. 3
Family members, aided by the community, searched the area for Jordan.
Climbing through buses, scanning the ground and checking in nooks and crannies that a little boy might consider a good hiding spot, loved ones scoured the area to no avail.
“He’s a beautiful child,” Jessica Belliveau, Jordan’s grandmother, told reporters. “He’s happy, he loves everybody, he’s a people person and we just want him home.”
But back at Stinson's home, investigators took bloody children’s items into evidence, officials said.
They noted they were not certain whether the items were connected to Jordan’s disappearance, saying Stinson had told investigators the toddler had recently cut his chin. He received stitches for the injury, authorities said.
Authorities also released a composite of the man Stinson said attacked her and may have taken Jordan.
“Antwan” was described as being around 25 and having dreadlocks and gold teeth.
Tuesday, Sept. 4
Officials released video of a man at a 7-Eleven they said may have spoken with Stinson the night she said Jordan disappeared.
The footage was filmed at roughly 12:19 a.m. Sunday and showed a man they called a “possible witness.”
Authorities also urged citizens to check their own surveillance cameras for anything they may have picked up between 9:30 p.m. Saturday and 1 a.m. Sunday.
The search for Jordan came to a tragic halt when investigators found the little boy’s body in a wooded area.
“The AMBER Alert for Jordan Belliveau has been canceled," the Florida Department of Law Enforcement said in a tweet. "Sadly, the child has been found deceased."
Stinson was arrested shortly thereafter.
She was charged with aggravated child abuse and first-degree murder after allegedly admitted to killing her son in a "moment of frustration," which "in turn caused the back of his head to strike an interior wall of her home,” Largo police said in an arrest affidavit.
"After the blow to the head, the victim suffered seizures during the night, which lead to further decline [in his health], resulting in his death," the affidavit stated.
But instead of getting help, Stinson allegedly took Jordan to the wooded area where his body was found.
Wednesday, Sept. 5
Investigators told reporters that Stinson had admitted there was no “Antwan” and she had made up the entire story of Jordan’s abduction.
“The injuries to her were, by her own admission, self-inflicted,” Largo Police Lt. Randall Chaney said. “And at in the time in question when she stated she was unconscious in the park, she was actually in another location, which is where we subsequently found [Jordan’s] body."
Further details about Jordan’s short life were revealed, including that he had spent more than half his life in foster care.
"We loved Jordan deeply and we are devastated by his loss,” Sam Warren, Jordan’s foster father, said at a press conference.
Jordan was placed with Warren and his wife Juliet in January 2017, he said.
As his wife cried beside him, Sam Warren shared their own memories of the boy.
“We want you to know a bit about the Jordan that we knew,” he said. “He wasn’t just the boy in the Amber Alert.
“Jordan was filled with joy,” had added. “Most folks knew him [as] the Jordan that was laid back with an easy smile and a twinkle in his eye. He was our Mr. Chuckles. Like most other little boys, we saw Jordan’s mischievous side as well. We are devastated by his loss."
Surrounded by people who loved him deeply, Jordan learned how to roll over, crawl, walk and talk in the Warren home, he said.
"He flourished and grew in a community that loved him deeply as well," Sam Warren said.
Jordan was removed from the Warren home in May 2018, he said.
“But for a court order, he would still be safe in our home,” Sam Warren said.
They opposed handing him back to his mother, but a case manager for a state contractor advocated for the boy to be returned, and the guardians were overruled, according to the Tampa Bay Times.
A history of domestic violence reportedly exists between Jordan’s parents, as Jordan's father was arrested for allegedly punching Jordan's mother in the mouth, according to WFLA-TV. Jordan's father had an alibi in his son's case, police said.
The Florida Department of Children and Families was investigating the family and agents had seen Jordan at his home Friday, just one day before Stinson reported him missing, Largo police said.
The Warrens said the system had failed their foster son by having him returned to a home that was potentially dangerous.
“He was failed by many people who should have protected him, but didn’t,” Sam Warren said. “Promises that were made to us about how he would be protected after his return were broken.
“Ultimately we have hope that our painful loss will result in a fundamental reexamination of the entire system of how foster care works, of the reunification process. Jordan deserves that and the other children in the system need that."
DCF is reportedly working to compile abuse records concerning Jordan’s biological family.
Stinson, who is reportedly pregnant with another child, made her first court appearance Wednesday, where bond was set at $500,000.
Thursday, Sept. 6
For as long as he had been in the care of his biological family, Jordan had allegedly been in danger, documents released by the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office and obtained by the Tampa Bay Times show.
Jordan’s first contact with child protective services came three months after he entered the world.
His father, who was allegedly a known gang member, had been shot in his driveway and then again at the end of the street after threatening a woman with a gun, the report said. Police had been to the home several times before and noted that "the parents knowingly allow their infant son to reside in a dangerous environment."
Jordan’s father was ordered by the court to move out of the home, but Stinson allegedly refused to take Jordan to a shelter. He was eventually placed into foster care, with authorities noting his parents failed “to understand the danger the baby is in when around gang members."
But even in foster care, Jordan was an alleged victim to his parents’ volatility.
During an unsupervised visit with their son on June 18, 2017 for Father’s Day, Jordan’s father got into a fight with a woman at a Burger King, the report said. Stinson, who was carrying Jordan in her arms, intervened and the woman tried to hit her, but instead punched the 10-month-old child in the lip, officials said.
Stinson allegedly showed no remorse for putting Jordan in harm’s way.
"She did not seem to recognize that being near the fight with the child in her arms put the child in an unsafe situation," the investigator’s report said.
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