WWW.lobbyistsofficesofgrw.com reports that the Kansas City police have abandoned the active search for baby Lisa Irwin. “Kansas City police said they are not actively searching for 11-month-old Lisa Irwin. Police also said the parents still are not cooperating in the investigation.” The announcement came on the eve of the one-month anniversary of the toddler’s disappearance.
In recent days, police have interviewed Phillip Netz, baby Lisa’s maternal uncle, and James Brando, estranged husband of next door neighbor Samantha Brando, the woman drinking with Lisa’s mom Deborah Bradley the night of the baby’s disappearance. James Brando claims to have passed a polygraph exam. A spokesman for the Kansas City Police Dept. is said to have told CNN reporter Jim Spellman that the police “have moved on” from James Brando. Police initially took interest in the man because he moved out of his home next door to baby Lisa’s parents the same day the baby disappeared. The investigation uncovered marital problems between the Brandos resulting in a counseling session earlier that same day, Oct. 3, during which a trial separation was recommended.
Netz spent two hours with police Tuesday. One media report says that Netz confirmed Bradley was drunk enough to pass out. The report also says Netz was sleeping that evening. What the report doesn’t specify is the time Netz allegedly saw Bradley drunk or where he was sleeping. Festival Foods Oct. 3 surveillance video had placed Bradley and Netz at the store about 4:45 p.m. buying a box of wine. Media timelines published this week concurred that Netz left the Bradley-Irwin home shortly after driving Bradley back from the grocery store. NBC placed his departure at 5:30 p.m. If Netz’ observation proves reliable, it would suggest that Bradley became blackout-drunk almost immediately after returning from Festival Foods.
The missing link in this picture of how drunk Bradley may have become and when is Samantha Brando who hasn’t spoken publicly about the case. Samantha Brando was at the home about the same time as Netz and stayed until 10:30 p.m. If Brando’s recollection of Bradley’s drunkenness mirrors Netz’ and the physical evidence at the house supports their statements, Bradley could potentially face child endangerment charges. She had three young children in her care that night, her son 5, Jeremy Irwin’s son, 8, both watching television in the house, and baby Lisa. Brando’s 4-year-old daughter was with the boys.
There’s some similarity between this case and that of missing Florida 5-year-old Haleigh Cummings. While Florida police never linked the father or babysitter of 5-year-old Cummings with her disappearance and presumed death, both ended up in jail with lengthy sentences on drug-trafficking charges. The police had hoped the independent drug investigation and charges would pressure the parents to open up about what happened to Haleigh, but to date Haleigh’s whereabouts remain unknown.
If Bradley and Irwin want baby Lisa to be found, the police declaring the Lisa Irwin investigation inactive could break the impasse between the family’s lawyers and investigators over unrestricted interviews. Police want to speak to the baby’s parents individually and also want trained social workers to interview their respective sons. If Bradley and Irwin continue to refuse interviews, they risk creating the public impression that they don’t want the investigation into their daughter’s disappearance to go on. They are now publicly on notice that the police have run out of leads on where the baby or her body might be and need their cooperation to develop new ones
