Baby Lisa Irwin: Missouri National Guard Joins Search

Police also question handyman in connection with the case.

ByABC News
October 16, 2011, 8:45 AM

Oct. 16, 2011— -- The Missouri National Guard is joining the search today for a missing baby girl in Kansas City who vanished nearly two weeks ago.

Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon gave the order on Saturday to deploy guard members to assist in the search for 11-month-old Lisa Irwin.

ABC legal analyst Dan Abrams said the move is unique to the search efforts.

"Ordinarily I would say this is just another effort at canvasing particular areas as they have already done in the context of the search, but one thing that is kind of unique about this is that they picked a particular day and that is today and they've said it's just going to be a one-day search in a specific location, so it does make you wonder if they are doing it based off a specific tip," Abrams said.

Watch "Good Morning America" Monday for Dan Abrams' interview with Lisa Irwin's parents.

On Saturday, police searched an abandoned house near Irwin's home but they still have few clues about what happened to her.

Investigators found used diapers and baby wipes in the abandoned home, but police said they have doubts about whether they are connected to the little girl's disappearance.

ABC affiliate KMBC-TV in Kansas City reported Saturday that a passerby had looked in the house and alerted police.

The house was near an area where police were already searching for Irwin, who has been missing since Oct. 4, when her parents reported that she disappeared from her bedroom crib.

Kansas City Police Department Capt. Steve Young told KMBC-TV the diapers and wipers were found in the basement. He said crime scene investigators will be brought in, but "It just doesn't fit."

Police also questioned a local handyman in connection with the case, according to KMBC.

The handyman, nicknamed "Jersey" was taken into custody for a felony warrant and was question by authorities because he was seen in Irwin's neighborhood. But police said he was not considered a suspect, KMBC reported.

Earlier on Saturday, the New York City private investigator hired by an anonymous benefactor to help the search for Baby Lisa said he hopes the $100,000 reward being offered "opens up ... someone's eyes."

"Wild Bill" Stanton, a New York City private investigator, said Saturday that the same person who hired him is also offering $100,000 for information resulting in the baby's return.

"I hope this opens up someone's heart or someone's eyes, and they realize this is serious and that we need to get Lisa home safe and sound," Stanton told "Good Morning America," while standing outside the home of Deborah Bradley and Jeremy Irwin, Lisa's parents.

The FBI searched the woods near the family's home Friday and used metal detectors to scan their neighborhood.

The family has posted online videos, recorded when Lisa was 3 months old. Signs and pictures of the missing baby also have been displayed outside of her grandparents' home.

"I'd gladly give my life to bring Lisa home safely," Mike Lerette, Baby Lisa's cousin, told "Good Morning America." "We're hanging in there. Please, please, please keep praying."

Baby Lisa has not been seen since Tuesday, Oct. 3. Her father Jeremy Irwin said he returned home from his overnight shift and found his daughter's crib empty, the home's front door unlocked, a window screen busted open and the family's three cell phones gone.

Bradley has said that she was the last person to see her baby.

Jeremy Irwin's sister, Ashley Irwin, said last week that the family had expected Bradley to be arrested in connection with the baby's disappearance, but she also insisted that Bradley had nothing to do with the baby's disappearance.

Police officials have not publicly named any suspects. No arrests have been made.