HOUSTON – The search for a missing and endangered 2-year-old in Pasadena stretched into a second day.
On Friday, the search expanded from Memorial Park to Milby Park and Moore Bridge Jackson Hill Cemetery in Pasadena. With the help of the Harris County Precinct 2 Sheriff’s Office, crews also checked a bayou and wooded areas.
Texas Equusearch founder Tim Miller said they’ve cleared a lot of areas and now know where Nadia Lee is not located. He said time is not on their side and it may take a miracle to find Nadia alive.
“My biggest fear is we’re not going to have an ending,” Miller said. “And we know that if something did happen to her, the better chance there’s going to be to have evidence. The better chance there’s going to be to determine the cause of death.”
KPRC 2 spoke to Nadia’s aunt who is Jyron Lee’s sister on Friday. She said she’s praying Nadia is found alive and well.
“We just really want her home and reunited with her sisters so that way she just can be in a safe, stable environment,” the sister said.
Lee, 26, is accused of murdering the mother of his five children, Nancy Reed, in a southeast Houston motel on Tuesday. Houston police said the strangulation death happened in front of the two young children.
Lee’s sister said, while speaking with Child Protective Services, she realized Nadia was nowhere to be found.
“I reported her missing,” the relative said. “CPS called me and when they asked, when they said the two children were in custody, I did tell them it was another child involved and that the 2-year-old was missing. And that’s when they confirmed Nadia was missing.”
Lee’s sister said her family had been in contact with CPS in the past concerning Nadia and some of the other four children, ranging in ages from 1 to 6. She said she was in contact again Wednesday with the agency after her brother allegedly strangled Reed in front of two of their children.
“Last thing we heard was that Nadia was OK and that they placed eyes on her. And that she was fine,” Lee’s sister added. “They were doing paperwork for her so that way she can come and be with the family. When we woke up the next day, we seen missing posters and stuff of her.”
She told KPRC 2 that the exchange with the agency left her family confused about Nadia’s whereabouts. She said her brother and his longtime girlfriend were violent toward each other in the past and that, at any moment, either could have walked away.
“We all know that they were very toxic towards each other but harming the kids is something that we’ve never seen coming, honestly. It’s shocking to even process that he could have done something to the baby,” she said. “He really loves his daughters. Like he really do. He loved them and I knew that they love him.”
It is unclear whether the search for the endangered child will continue over the weekend.