ATLANTA — As police continue their intense search for a 4-year-old boy still missing after allegedly being abducted by his father, new details show there may have been several missed opportunities to save that little boy.
11Alive's Hope Ford has been digging into the case for days and finds out the case could have been over months ago. There were so many times police were very close to finding Siraj Ibn Wahhaj, and possibly his son, Abdul-Ghani Wahhaj. In fact, Wahhaj stared down police, just 12 days after he disappeared with his son.
On Dec. 13, 2017, 200 miles away and less than two weeks after Wahhaj allegedly left Georgia with his son, Abdul, a Chilton County, Alabama trooper responds to a single vehicle accident.
That's where the trooper finds Wahhaj, Lucas Morten and seven children in the car. Wahhaj tells the trooper they are going on a camping trip to New Mexico. The trooper finds ammunition, and guns, but no camping gear.
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At the time, there was no Amber Alert issued for Abdul, because his mother and father are still married and share joint custody. Instead, a pick-up order was issued, which is only made available to local law enforcement.
So, the trooper let them go. This was the first missed opportunity.
Wahhaj settled into Taos County, New Mexico sometime in early 2018. His family member - Morten - builds a compound on the property of Jason Badger. Lucas believed he was building it on his property, which was next door.
A short time later, in February, Badger believes he sees a boy resembling Abdul, but doesn’t realize the boy is missing from Georgia - until May.
Another missed opportunity.
Badger tells police, and later on, surveillance begins on the compound.
PHOTOS | Inside the New Mexico compound
PHOTOS: Inside the New Mexico compound
On June 12, Badger files an eviction notice to remove them off his property. But, he already talked to Morten about a property exchange. So, the eviction notice was dismissed by the courts.
This was the third time authorities were so close to finding Abdul.
Finally, on Aug. 2, police received images of texts sent from one of the women on the compound, stating they were starving and in need of food and water.
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It was then that all five adults were arrested and 11 children taken into protective custody. But Abdul is still missing.
Wahhaj and the other adults arrested were scheduled to be in court on Tuesday in New Mexico, but none made an appearance.
Police there plan to hold a press conference talking about the search for Abdul.
