Washington County, Indiana – Everyone was in total shock in April of this year when an Indiana mushroom hunter came across a suitcase containing the body of a young boy in a heavily wooded area of Washington County. This is not something authorities have to deal with very often, and the case prompted multiple law enforcement agencies to work together for months to solve the incident.
Indiana State Police have coordinated with several other agencies, including authorities in California and Georgia and federal agencies, and the results of the multi-state investigation arrived in October, when two arrest warrants were issued for the mother of the victim, 37-year-old DeJaune Ludie Anderson of Atlanta, Georgia, and Dawn Coleman. Coleman was arrested on October 19 in San Francisco, while Anderson is still at large.
The 5-year-old boy found in a suitcase was identified as Cairo Jordan of Georgia. Several law enforcement agencies were working around the clock to unwrap what had happened before the victim was found in Indiana. Shortly after Coleman was arrested last month, authorities provided more details on the case.
New court documents released this week provide additional details from Coleman about Cairo’s death. Coleman told police that she had been caring for the 5-year-old boy while Anderson was in jail in Louisville for shoplifting and assault. Coleman then said that she had picked Anderson up from jail and stayed at a family member’s home in Louisville.
Per Coleman’s story, Anderson was obsessed with the idea that her 5-year-old son was possessed by demons, and she was thinking about exorcism to “save the boy from the demons.” Just several days after Anderson was released from jail, she allegedly performed what appeared to be an exorcism on the boy. Coleman found the boy’s dead body in Anderson’s bedroom with his face down on the mattress. Coleman says she tried to save the boy, but it was too late.
Coleman and Anderson then took the boy’s body, put it in a suitcase, and drove to Washington County, where they left the suitcase in the heavily wooded area. The investigation conducted by the authorities showed that both Coleman and Anderson’s cell phones were in the Washington County area, close to the location where the boy’s body was found. In addition, surveillance video from a property owner shows Anderson’s car stopping on the road where Cairo was found.
Anderson and Coleman were initially charged with neglect of a dependent and obstruction of justice. The arrest warrants were issued on October 14. A subsequent murder warrant for Anderson was issued on Oct. 25. Coleman was located and arrested last month, while Anderson is still at large, and police efforts to locate her have been unsuccessful so far. After hearing Coleman’s story of what had happened earlier this year, she was also charged with murder.
Authorities seek help in locating Anderson. She is around 5 feet, 5 inches tall and weighs 135 pounds with dark brown hair. Authorities have reason to believe that she was last seen in the Los Angeles area.
This is a developing story. We will update the case as new details emerge. Stay with us!
