Missing Baby Lisa: Parents Once Again Cooperating With Investigation, Police Say

Oct. 8, 2011 — -- The parents of a missing 10-month-old Missouri baby once again are cooperating with the investigation into the girl's disappearance, a police official said tonight.

Kansas City, Mo., police captain Steve Young said detectives were meeting with the family, but there still were no suspects or solid leads into the whereabouts of Lisa Irwin, who has been missing from her Kansas City home since Monday night.

"They're talking with us and that is absolutely the best thing," Young said.

FBI agents also were meeting with the missing girl's parents, Jeremy Irwin and Deborah Bradley, ABC News has learned.

On Thursday, Young said Irwin and Bradley no longer were cooperating with the investigation, though the parents maintained that they continued to cooperate and only were taking a break.

Missing Baby Lisa: Leads -- but None Solid

Though police said there were no solid leads in the case, they appeared to be pursuing a number of investigative avenues, many of which they would not comment upon directly.

Today, a crime scene investigation team from the Kansas City Police arrived at the home of the parents of the missing girl and searched the front and rear yards with metal detectors, though they would not say what they were looking for.

Police also continued to go door-to-door in the neighborhood looking for clues.

"We have a list of every residence in the neighborhood," Young said. "We don't just knock and move on. We track it. We log who we've spoken to. We log which houses haven't had an answer at the door."

On Friday, investigators questioned a teenage neighbor of Lisa's parents and forensic experts took a DNA sample, a source told ABC News. That neighbor apparently was at the home the day Lisa vanished and knew the access code to the family's garage.

Investigators are also looking into reports from the West Coast, where a couple was seen with a small child fitting Lisa's description, relative Mike Lerette told ABC affiliate KMBC-TV.

"They're pursuing surveillance tape on a couple with the baby in California," said Lerette.

FBI special agent and ABC News consultant Brad Garrett said the lead involving the teenager likely was a more helpful than the tip from California.

"I can tell you based on experience of working high-profile abductions that you get leads from literally all over the world. Is that possible? Of course it's possible. Is it likely? I don't think so," Garrett said. "I think this situation is probably going to stay within the Kansas City area."

Earlier on Friday, the FBI and police searched through a landfill for a second time, but found nothing.

What Happened to Kyron Horman, Holly Bobo, Others?

Baby Lisa Goes Missing

On Tuesday, Jeremy Irwin said he came home from working an overnight shift and found his daughter's crib empty, a window open and the family's three cell phones gone.

"The windows were open and lights were on and she was nowhere to be found," Irwin told "Good Morning America" Thursday. "We've been going over everything in our minds. We just don't have any idea."

Irwin said that his front door was unlocked when he returned home from work as an electrician at 4 a.m. to find his daughter missing.

Parents Questioned in Lisa's Disappearance

On Friday, Lisa's mother, Deborah Bradley, said that police accused her of having done something to her child.

"From the start when they've questioned me, once I couldn't fill in gaps, it turned into 'You did it, you did it,'" Deborah Bradley told "Good Morning America." "They took a picture down from the table and said, 'Look at your baby! And do what's right for her!' I kept saying I don't know ... I just sat there. I didn't even ask to leave. I just let them keep asking questions."

Bradley also said police accused her of failing a polygraph test. Police said they could not comment on this claim, but said Bradley is "free to say whatever she wants."

Garrett said such accusations may be an interrogation technique.

"One of the things you do when intervening in an interrogation is try to push people's buttons as much as possible because people who are guilty ... especially in a situation as emotional as a child being killed, either accidentally or otherwise ... [pressure can] push people over the edge ... and I think that's what they were trying to do," Garrett said. "Obviously they have some consideration that she was involved in this."

The parents told "GMA" they had not ended their cooperation with police

Irwin said that he only needed to take a break from the intensive questioning.

"We were in interrogated for a really long time Tuesday there again, answering questions. ... I just couldn't take it anymore," he said. "I told them I had to have a break -- no more questions today. I asked to be let go, and they let me go from police station. An hour later was when we saw the press conference from them."

Both parents denied on "GMA" that they had any involvement with their daughter's disappearance, and reiterated their willingness to cooperate.

Young welcomed any possible renewal of cooperation from the parents.

"If they say they're willing to continue speaking with detectives, I say great. Our door is open," Young told ABCNews.com. "Their involvement in the case is the best thing for this case. Our only goal is to find this little girl."

ABC News' Dan Harris, Michael S. James and Leezel Tanglao contributed to this report.