10-28-2011, 09:37 AM
VIRGINIA BEACH— Police in Virginia Beach have found the body of a child which may be the 11-month-old girl who has been missing since Oct. 3.
The child's body was found in the parking garage of a hotel in the 1800 block of Atlantic Avenue. Police spokeswoman Grazia Moyers said investigators have not determined if the body is that of Janyiha Whiteman. Moyers said the medical examiner's office would identify the remains and determine a cause of death.
Lawrence Ray Smith, a 33-year-old Virginia Beach resident and the boyfriend of Janyiha's mother, was taken into custody early Friday morning on unrelated felony drug charges. Shortly after speaking to Smith in the 200 block of Atlantic Avenue, officers found the body in the fifth floor of the parking garage.
The girl's mother, Marie Whiteman, had left the child in Smith's care in mid-September when she went to jail on a probation violation related to a prior arrest on drug charges. Smith and Janyiha were last seen on Oct. 1 at the Colony Trailer Park on Virginia Beach Boulevard.
The case remains under investigation.
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