A mother was arrested in California on Thursday, almost two years after her 5-year-old son was found dead inside a novelty suitcase in the woods of Indiana.
Dejaune Anderson was located in Arcadia, a suburb outside Los Angeles, and taken into custody on charges including murder over the death of Cairo Jordan, Indiana State Police announced Friday.
In late 2022, authorities said that Cairo’s body had been discovered inside a “distinctive Las Vegas-themed hard-shell suitcase” in southern Indiana.
Though he had been found in April, months went by until investigators were able to identify the body or any suspects in Cairo’s death.
“No family members, witnesses, or acquaintances came forward to identify the boy or provide any information,” police said at the time. “Leads from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children also proved unsuccessful, as well as tips called in by the general public.”
An autopsy revealed that Cairo died just days before his body was discovered, and that his death stemmed from dehydration caused by vomiting and diarrhea.
While police had identified Anderson as a suspect in the case, they noted that she “is currently at large, and her location is unknown.” But Dawn Elaine Coleman, who’d lived with Cairo and his mother, was soon arrested for her involvement.
Investigators said that the three resided in Louisville, Kentucky. According to an arrest affidavit cited by Georgia news station 11Alive, Coleman had walked in on Anderson lying on top of Cairo as he was face down.
Anderson allegedly asked Coleman to help put her son in a trash bag and then into a suitcase before driving to the woods of Indiana.
In the days leading up to Cairo’s death, Anderson posted on social media about her child being possessed by demons, according to 11Alive’s report.
“I can’t wait to tell this story about that exorcism,” read one post attributed to the mother.
When Cairo’s body was identified, the boy’s father said that words could not explain the pain he felt.
“I would have never thought in a million years that I would have to experience such a thing as this,” he wrote online in October 2022.
But the father, a Georgia resident, also noted that he’d received an immense amount of support from a community many miles away from him, saying that the people of Indiana saw Cairo as “family.”
Anderson remained on the run until Indiana authorities got “information from a concerned citizen” that led to her location, police said. She was taken into custody this week while attempting to board a train.
In addition to murder, Anderson is charged with neglect of a dependent resulting in death and obstruction of justice. It’s unclear when she will be extradited back to Indiana.
Last year, Coleman pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit murder and was sentenced to 25 years in prison.