DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — A search is underway in East Point for a missing toddler who hasn't been seen since Wednesday night.
Authorities said they are still searching for J'Asiah Mitchell after he went missing overnight.
Initially, DeKalb police said on Thursday morning that the 2-year-old was believed to have been kidnapped and taken the night before around 11:20 p.m. However in a later update, police said the preliminary investigation revealed that a kidnapping didn't occur in DeKalb County -- but the child is still missing. They added that officers are working through inconsistencies in the reporting of the alleged kidnapping.
Late on Thursday night, DeKalb Police said they arrested J'Asiah's father, Artavious North, and charged him with false statements and false report of a crime. Police said in addition to there being no kidnapping, there was also no armed robbery, which police said J'Asiah's 23-year-old father also falsely reported in connection to J'Asiah's disappearance.
"Our first priority remains on locating J’Asiah," DeKalb police said in a Thursday evening update.
At the time when police classified the case as a kidnapping, officials believed that the toddler had last been seen at the Aspen Woods Apartments off Flat Shoals Road in DeKalb County.
However, residents of the Elite at Lakeview Apartments in East Point told 11Alive that officers there arrived at their complex just after 3 p.m. Thursday and started searching and asking questions about the toddler and his father.
It's unclear what led authorities to launch the search at the East Point complex, which is about 30 miles away from the DeKalb County complex.
11Alive's crew was at the search scene in East Point on Lakeview Place Thursday evening, where authorities -- including game wardens, K-9 officers, drones and police -- were seen searching near the woods and a pond.
In an update Thursday night, our crew spotted at least a dozen investigators and East Point's crime scene unit at J'Asiah's father's apartment complex. We saw them bring out bags of evidence and then place them in an investigator's car.
Earlier in the day, 11Alive's Cody Alcorn spoke to Asia Mitchell, J'Asiah's mother, from Carrollton, who was in East Point as authorities searched for her 2-year-old son.
"He's a very sweet baby. He's a good baby, he's very smart," she described, adding that she just wants to be reunited with J'Asiah.
"Just try your best to bring my baby back home safe and just pray that he's OK," she pleaded.
Search for missing 2-year-old | PHOTOS
DeKalb police, which is investigating the child's disappearance, did say it contacted the Georgia Bureau of Investigation in reference to an AMBER Alert, but said the GBI advised the case "did not meet the criteria" because of a lack of descriptive information about an alleged abductor and vehicle, noting that agents assisted in getting an advisory out to the public.
J'Asiah was last seen wearing Buzz Lightyear pajamas, according to a missing child media advisory from DeKalb County's Homicide Unit. Police are asking the public and anyone who may have information on the 2-year-old to contact 911 or 770-724-7850.
DeKalb police said it's working with federal, state, and local law enforcement partners to follow up on all leads. The investigation is ongoing.
J’Asiah Mitchell | Gallery
