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The body of a child found in Riverdale is that of a toddler reported missing Sunday in Chicago, family members of the girl have said.

Amierah Roberson, 1, was reported missing after her mother went to pick her up at from the 3500 block of South Rhodes and was told the girl was gone, said the girl’s aunt, Tamika Vaughen.

Chicago Police have upgraded the missing person report to a death investigation, said Officer Janel Sedevic, a spokeswoman in News Affairs. Chicago police are working with Illinois State Police, Riverdale Police and the South Suburban Crime Taskforce to investigate the toddler’s death, Sedevic said.

The Cook County medical examiner’s office would not reveal the identity of the body on Monday afternoon or give a cause of death. Earlier, officials from that office said the body appeared to be 1 to 4 years old, but wouldn’t say if she suffered any trauma.

On Monday, family of the child gathered at the home of the girl’s mother and grandmother in Calumet City to offer each other comfort and to grieve, Vaughen said.

“She was a very happy baby,” Vaughen said. “She didn’t deserve this at all.”

Family learned the child was missing on Sunday evening when her mother called them frantically, Vaughen said. The woman told her family that she left the girl with her boyfriend in Bronzeville and he was supposed to care for her.

When she went to pick up the girl around 5 p.m., the boyfriend told her Amierah was just there, then he turned his back and she was gone.

On Sunday evening, police searched cars and buildings in the neighborhood looking for the child.

The girl’s mother and her boyfriend are being held by police, Vaughen said. The two went to high school together and had been dating for about seven months.

“This is ridiculous. I can’t even believe it,” Vaughen said. Vaughen said authorities told the family the baby died from blunt trauma to the head.

In Riverdale, police were called around 3:25 p.m. on Sunday because someone spotted what appeared to be the body of a toddler, according to a statement from the suburb.

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Source: Chicago Tribune