Abandoned Well Searched for Baby Lisa
Kansas City Police Department Captain Steve Young responds to new developments in the case
A private security consultant says a wealthy family hired him to investigate the disappearance of a 10-month-old Missouri girl.
Bill Stanton on Wednesday wouldn't disclose who hired him to look into the case of Lisa Irwin, whose family reported her missing from their Kansas City home Oct. 4.
The baby's parents, Deborah Bradley and Jeremy Irwin, said Lisa was abducted from the family home. Jeremy Irwin discovered the child missing when he returned from work.
New York City-based Stanton wouldn't say how long he plans to be in Kansas City. He says he's here to help the investigation and that he's "hopeful this child is safe and alive."
A spokesman for the baby's family says Stanton also will be working with media covering the investigation.
Sgt. Stacey Graves with the Kansas City Police Department told FoxNews.com that investigators are following up on more leads Wednesday.
On Tuesday, dozens of emergency workers searched a well located under the deck of a vacant house in Kansas City, but were unable to turn up any evidence on the baby's whereabouts.
Three firefighters were lowered into the well but Kansas City police spokesman Steve Young told the Kansas City Star that they found nothing.
The property is about five blocks from the baby's home. Television footage showed crews looking below the backyard deck late Tuesday morning. The well was described as being 30 to 40 feet deep and 3 feet wide, the Kansas City Star reports.
The newspaper reported a firefighter said he felt something after being lowered about 11 a.m. into the receptacle designed to hold rainwater and other liquid. A different person was lowered down before noon.
Two large trucks with suction equipment arrived at the home to drain water from the cistern, and a Kansas City Power & Light truck also showed up at the scene.
A neighbor said the single-story house had been abandoned for about four years.
Young said the search was the result of a law enforcement canvass of the area, not a tip.
Lisa's parents reported their daughter missing last Tuesday after Jeremy Irwin returned home from work. They say someone must have crept into their home while the child's mother and brothers slept and snatched the girl.
Earlier Tuesday, Kansas City police denied a claim that the baby's mother, Deborah Bradley, is preparing to be arrested and charged in connection with the child's disappearance.
The baby's aunt, Ashley Irwin, had told ABC News that it was "inevitable" that Bradley would be arrested as police were spending more time focused on the family, rather than finding suspects.
Graves, however, said police have "no suspects" and "are continuing the investigation until Lisa is found."
FoxNews.com's Cristina Corbin and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
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