The father of a missing infant in Alabama has been arrested and charged with his 5-week-old son's death, just hours after appealing for his return on TV.
Caleb Michael Whisnand appeared in a press conference. The 32-year-old stood alongside 28-year-old Angela Nicole Gardner — his partner and the mother of Caleb Jr. — as she sobbed and begged for her baby's return. The couple's story as to how the child went missing was pretty bizarre, raising suspicions.
Caleb Jr. had been reported missing on Monday night. However, when speaking in the press conference, both Caleb and Angela told a story with a conflicting timeline to what they'd previously shared with authorities. They told police that Caleb walked away from the baby at a local gas station for a moment to pay, and when he came back, the infant was gone. While there aren't many answers just yet, it's become clear to investigators that he was responsible for his son's death.
A press conference regarding a missing infant took a turn when the baby's father seemed unclear as to how his 5-week-old son went missing just two days prior.
"I don't remember much," Caleb Whisnand said outside the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office on May 12.
Just hours later, it would be Caleb who was charged with the reckless manslaughter of his son, Caleb Jr. The baby's body was found buried in a remote area of Lowndes County. Caleb and the child's mother, Angela Gardner, reported him missing on the evening of Monday, May 10, after Caleb took the baby to the gas station.
According to Caleb, he quickly paid for gas and when he returned, the baby was gone. Angela was at home with an older child at the time. During the press conference, both seemed unclear on the timeline of events, differing from what they'd previously told police.
"If anybody's got anything, any places that I could have gone, anybody, you know who you are," Caleb pleaded.
"He went to go pay gas at the gas station and realized he was gone. And he let the police know, and me know, that he was missing," Angela said.
Shortly after the bizarre press conference, C.J.'s body was found. Police haven't revealed the cause of his death. It isn't the first time Caleb has been in trouble with the law. Just last year he was arrested for driving under the influence with Angela and her 2-year-old in the car. He was also charged with possession of methamphetamine and heroin, for which he has a court date in October 2021.
"Everybody was looking for this baby," Sheriff Derrick Cunningham told the Montgomery Advertiser.
"We want to let the community know that we brought closure. It's hard to sit here and take questions in a case such as this. We still have a lot of work to do. It's hard for us to put information out that we're still obtaining."
