Baby Elaina Steinfurth was reported missing last June when her father, Terry Steinfurth Jr., went over to Steven King's house, the ex-boyfriend of the toddler's mother, Angela Steinfurth, to pick up his daughters, who had spent the night with her. Angela Steinfurth reportedly handed over their oldest daughter, but refused to let him see 1-year old Elaina. When the toddler's grandfather, Steinfurth Sr. came over to help his son get baby Elaina back, Angela Steinfurth came up with several excuses until finally declaring that the toddler was missing.
At the time of the disappearance, Angela Steinfurth and Steven King claimed the child was kidnapped and said she had disappeared from her bed. A large searched followed, involving police, family and friends. However, Angela Steinfurth's story reportedly changed several times upon questioning. First she claimed that both her and Elaina had been taking a nap and when she woke up, the baby was gone. Later she claimed that when she woke up from the nap, her daughter had a black eye and broken nose, an injury which she did not initially report to the police.
Both the child's mom and Steven King were arrested for obstructing official business and making false statements in connection to Elaina's disappearance. They both claim that they have no idea what happened to the toddler, but remain incarcerated.
Yesterday, police received a tip in the investigation. They were told to return to the property where baby Elaina was last seen alive. Toledo Police removed a box from a garage near the home of Steven King, which is located at 704 Federal Street in east Toledo. Lucas County Coroner James Patrick confirmed just before 6:30 p.m. Thursday that the box contained human remains. He said Dr. Diane Barnett, Deputy Lucas County Coroner was with Police when the remains were found. Dr. Patrick says those remains will be autopsied Friday morning.
"We had a lot of deception taking place being told to us by a variety of sources in the community," Toledo Police Chief Derrick Diggs said during a news conference today. "The bottom line is we found what we believe may be Baby Elaina." Authorities today said the box contained immature skeletal remains.
Rob Miller, chief of the special units division for the Lucas County Prosecutor's Office, said today that depending on the outcome of an autopsy, he would anticipate presenting the case to a Lucas County grand jury next week. "We're hoping to know the cause of death after the autopsy, which should occur today," Miller said. However, he did not release a time frame for its completion or a release of results.
A DNA comparison would likely be used to positively confirm the child's identity, which could take two to eight weeks, Miller said, adding that prosecutors would not wait that long to present the case to a grand jury. "Depending on the evidence, we would evaluate whether [the indictment] would be against one or both of them," he said, referring to the girl's mother, Angela Steinfurth, and her then-boyfriend, Steven King.
Chief Diggs said during the news conference that the state Bureau of Criminal Investigations will work over the weekend to try and determine the identity of the remains. He said that the investigation is still ongoing, and there were many details of the case he could not discuss.
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