Authorities in Ohio are still searching for a 5-month-old baby who was kidnapped with his twin brother when their mother’s car was stolen when she stormed into a pizza shop.
The next morning, Kyair Thomas was found abandoned and cold in an airport parking lot, but family, friends and Columbus Police are still searching for his brother Kason.
The twins were in a car Monday night believed to have been stolen by known child molester Naleh Jackson, 24.
Kason (left) and Kyair Thomas (right) went missing Monday night when they were kidnapped in a car that was stolen outside a pizza joint in Columbus, Ohio. Kyair was found in an airport parking lot while Kason remains missing
Employees at Donato’s Pizza told Columbus Police Department that Nalah Jackson (pictured), 24, was exiting the restaurant as Barnett walked in. Police have named her as the prime suspect
The twins were left in their mother’s car at 9:45 p.m. on December 19 as she went to Donatos Pizza in Columbus to pick up a door dash order.
When she turned, her car, which was still running and contained the two boys, was gone, police said.
On a 911 call, Barnett can be heard telling dispatchers, “Someone just stole my car, and my babies are in there.”
I was right here and all I did was grab this pizza. I was right here, I didn’t even go into the building,” she said.
Restaurant employees said a homeless man, now believed to be Jackson, was in the restaurant but left when the barnett walked in, Columbus Police Chief Elaine Bryant said.
Jackson has a criminal record and has been charged with abusing her own child. In June 2021, Jackson pleaded guilty to child endangerment after her 11-month-old child fell down a flight of stairs, the Columbus Dispatch reported.
She was subsequently sentenced to 13 days in prison and two years probation.
In September 2021, Jackson went to the National Youth Advocacy Center for a supervised visit with her children, but ran away and pulled over a stranger’s car, police reported.
Jackson has a criminal record and has been accused in the past of molesting her own child after it allegedly fell down a flight of stairs
The 2010 Honda Accord was spotted at a gas station. Barnett told officers during the 911 call that the car was missing a front bumper and a torn makeshift license plate
Wilhelmina Barnett with her twin sons, one of whom is missing
Kyair was found in a parking lot at Dayton International Airport early Tuesday morning following the nationwide Amber Alert.
Someone found the child in a car seat among cars in the airport’s economy parking lot.
In a Tuesday news conference, police confirmed she was the prime suspect and had been seen at a service station driving Barnett’s 2010 Honda Accord.
Barnett tells officers during the 911 call that the car was missing a front bumper and a torn makeshift license plate.
Bryant said during a news conference that the car was sighted at a gas station near Dayton and released surveillance footage of the car.
Various law enforcement agencies have worked together to search for Jackson and the missing boy. Officers from the Ohio Highway Patrol and local law enforcement agencies have visited more than a dozen addresses linked to Jackson, police said. They also visited three homeless camps.
Barnett told police the car tore up a temporary Ohio license plate
The Columbus Police Department issues an Amber Alert notifying surrounding states that any sighting of the stolen car should be reported
Police have confirmed the message was a scam aimed at extorting money from Kason’s traumatized parents
Barnett posted a screenshot of a text message she received on social media demanding $650 for the safe return of her baby. Police have since confirmed the message was a scam aimed at extorting money from Kason’s traumatized parents.
She created a GoFundMe page to raise funds, but the site’s policies do not allow users to raise funds for paying ransoms.
Police have issued a warning to the surrounding states of Michigan, Pennsylvania, Indiana, West Virginia and Kentucky that a sighting of the 2010 Honda Accord should be reported.
Local anti-gun violence advocate Dion Green has announced he will be handing out a $10,000 reward for the baby’s return and that no questions will be asked.
“I hope this reward can make a difference,” Dion told Dispatch. “Any lead that will help me find the kid, I’ll give you your $10,000.”