UPDATES WITH DCFS STATEMENT
EDITORS: WILL COUNTY SHERIFF’S DEPT. AND FBI TO DISCUSS CASE AT 4 P.M. AT SHERIFF’S OFFICE
(JOLIET TOWNSHIP) The state Department of Children and Family Services is investigating the mother of a 1-year-old girl who disappeared Tuesday evening from her southwest suburban home.
Semaj ML Crosby was last seen by her mother about 6:30 p.m. in the front yard of their residence near Luana Road and Richards Street in unincorporated Joliet Township, according to the Will County sheriff’s office.
Semaj was last seen wearing a gray, long-sleeve shirt with a cat face; and blue jeans, according to the sheriff’s office. Her hair was in ponytails with white beads.
After a search of her home, more than 80 Will County emergency personnel and bloodhounds searched the Preston Heights subdivision, including a door-to-door search and helicopter air search, according to the sheriff’s office.
A second team of bloodhounds was called to the scene Wednesday morning from Cook County, according to the sheriff’s office. A pond in the Sugar Creek subdivision was also being searched.
The girl’s family is fully cooperating with detectives, according to the sheriff’s office.
Child welfare officials are investigating Semaj’s mother for an allegation of neglect, according to a statement from DCFS. Child welfare officials were at the home about 3:20 p.m. Tuesday and saw all three of the mother’s children, including Semaj and saw no obvious hazards or safety concerns, the statement said.
The agency has been working with the family since September 2016, including four unfounded investigations for neglect, and two other pending investigations for neglect opened in March 2017, according to DCFS.
Anyone with information should call the sheriff’s office at (815) 727-8575.
