Shaylyn Ammerman: Indiana toddler’s death ruled by asphyxiation

The body of missing 1-year-old Shaylyn Ammerman was found Thursday evening in a remote area near Gosport, Indiana.

The discovery came nearly 36 hours after her father reported her missing from the home in Spencer, Indiana, he shares with his mother.

According to the Owen County Coroner, her preliminary cause of death is asphyxiation and the manner of death is a homicide.

Kyle Parker, 22 of Spencer, was taken into custody Thursday night and is currently being held in connection with this case.

Parker’s criminal history started within the last few years. His first known charges were two misdemeanor drug charges. He was accused of possession of paraphernalia and a synthetic or lookalike drug.

Months later, he was back in the court system. He was charged with criminal trespassing. A protection order was filed by his victim.

He was also picked up for possession of marijuana and illegal consumption of an alcoholic beverage.

Records indicate Parker has never been charged with a violent crime. That could change now with this case. He’s being held on two counts of obstruction of justice, a count of failure to report a dead body and a count of unlawful disposition of a dead body.

State police said Parker was at the home the night before Shaylyn Ammerman disappeared. There are several more persons of interest in the case, and police said it is far from over.

“Let me be really frank here. Please don’t feel like because we’ve found a body and we’ve made an arrest that this case is anywhere near over. This case is just getting started with more interviews, with more investigative tactics with everything that we have at our disposal we will use to bring those who are responsible for this little girl’s death to justice,” said ISP Sgt. Curt Durnil.

An autopsy has been scheduled for Friday.

State police said family members who were also in the home have not yet been cleared and the investigation could take weeks, if not months. Anyone with information is still urged to call police with tips.

Agencies/Canadajournal