It's been one year since Cairo Jordan's body was found in rural Indiana
Here's what has happened since a mushroom hunter found the young boy's body inside a suitcase on April 16, 2022.
The three weeks before Derby season are also the best time to hunt for mushrooms in Kentuckiana. Morel mushrooms grow during the spring in wooded areas with warm rain, perfect conditions found in southern Indiana.
Jeff Meredith calls the woods of rural Washington County “heaven.” On April 16, 2022, he was out looking for mushrooms. He was hunting later than usual; he wasn’t sure why.
Meredith decided to cross the road where he was hunting and spotted something unusual, roughly 80 feet off the road, hidden in the trees -- a suitcase.
It was a bright, multi-colored “Las Vegas” print suitcase sitting somewhere it didn’t belong.
The boy in a suitcase 'Where're the parents?'
When Meredith saw the suitcase, his immediate thought was to call the police, but he hesitated. He said he would have felt like a fool for them to come out into the woods just for a suitcase.
So, he opened it. Inside he found the body of a 5-year-old boy.
"When I first saw that little feller, immediately, I felt that he was telling me 'Help me, I need help,'" Meredith recalled.
Indiana State Police (ISP) said the boy was possibly dead for a week and they couldn’t identify him.
“Nothing’s matched up,” ISP Sgt. Carey Huls said in April 2022. The boy’s description didn’t match any known missing persons reports across the country.
An autopsy report later found the boy died from an electrolyte imbalance, likely from complications caused by dehydration. Police said his toxicology report also came back negative.
For the residents of Salem, Indiana, news of this tragedy shook the community to its core.
“We’ve had our problems over the years, but nothing like this,” Salem resident Robert Frost said. “It makes you think, where’re the parents? Wouldn’t you miss your kid?”
An unknown 'Angel' Salem's love
Many in Salem felt that the young boy hadn’t been respected in life, so the community stepped in and made sure he got that respect in death.
“He’s now, in a sense, a member of Washington County,” Chaplain Todd Murphy, with the Washington County Sherriff’s Department, said.
The community began referring to the child as “Angel.”
They held a funeral and buried him under a blank headstone that read: “In loving memory of a beloved boy known but to God.”
A service for "Angel" in Salem, Indiana
For months, residents waited for some new information to come out.
Behind the scenes, Indiana police were following leads that were getting them closer and closer to the boy’s identity.
And then, it happened.
On Oct. 25, 2022, during an ISP press conference, police were finally able to identify the child, six months after Meredith found him in the woods.
His name was Cairo Ammar Jordan, of Atlanta, Georgia.
Cairo would have turned six just a day prior to that press conference, police said.
Who was Cairo Jordan? Shock and disbelief
Meredith recalled how it felt like the weight of the world had been lifted off his shoulders once he learned Cairo’s name.
“I just wish he was taken care of properly before this happened,” he said. “Before they threw him away. Boy, that still bothers me that somebody would have the audacity to throw somebody else away like they’re a piece of trash.”
In Georgia, Cairo’s family was grieving the young boy’s death.
His great-grandmother, Mary Jordan, told WHAS11’s sister station in Atlanta, WXIA, that she was in disbelief.
Jordan hadn’t seen Cairo in years, but whenever his mother brought him around, she never had any indication that something was wrong.
“He was such a happy baby though,” she said. “He was really happy here, I know his little face is so sad and sweet at the same time.”
Back in Indiana, not only did police learn Cairo’s name and how he died, but authorities also had their eyes on the child’s two suspected murderers – one of whom was his own mother.
History of endangerment Suspected killers
ISP said they had arrest warrants out for two women in Cairo’s murder: Dawn Coleman, 40, and his mother, Dejaune Anderson, 37.
The two women have a history of run-ins with law enforcement agencies across the country.
A month prior to Cairo’s death, records show Anderson led South Carolina state troopers on a miles-long chase going 30 miles over the speed limit.
Coleman and Cairo were both in the car at the time of the incident.
Two weeks later, Anderson was arrested again, this time in Louisville.
Surveillance video from the Oxmoor Center Mall shows her punching a Louisville security guard in the face after being suspected of shoplifting.
Anderson was also known to frequently post on social media about rituals, magic and "raising her frequency."
In many posts to social media, Anderson wrote about how a 100-year-old demon was living inside her son and how demons were using children as "avatars."
Days before Cairo's body was found, Anderson tried contacting an Indiana priest about doing an exorcism on the young boy.
The message read, in part: "I need to speak with you urgently. I have survived the death attacks from my 5-year-old throughout the 5 years he has been alive. I have been able to weaken his powers through our blood."
Who is Dawn Coleman? The self-described 'healer'
Dawn Coleman is a self-described "healer." She was also known for going live on social media almost daily.
People would join those live streams and pay for spiritual readings or ask her to speak with their ancestors.
In October, Coleman was arrested by police after being found in San Fransico and shortly after, extradited back to Indiana.
She has been charged with neglect of a child resulting in death and altering documents so they can't be used as evidence.
Coleman has also been charged with aiding in murder because police said she told them she walked into a bedroom and found Anderson on top of Cairo with his face in the mattress back in April.
"It was already done," Coleman allegedly said, adding there were trash bags already in the room and she helped put Cairo's body inside the suitcase.
Both Coleman and Anderson's fingerprints were found on the trash bags, police said.
Coleman has pleaded not guilty to her numerous charges.
In recent weeks, her lawyer filed a motion to dismiss the case against her, arguing that even though Cairo's body was found in Indiana, documents allege his murder actually happened in Kentucky.
He added the charges are unconstitutional because they fail to specify the acts that prompted Coleman to be charged.
The court decided because his body was found in Washington County, Indiana law said the county can have jurisdiction.
Additionally, no other counties involved have disputed if Washington County is the right place for the case.
Coleman's trial is expected to begin on May 2, 2023.
Nationwide manhunt Where is Cairo's mother?
While Coleman has been arrested and is awaiting trial, Cairo’s mother is still at large and has been for several months.
"We need the public's help. No matter where you live, anywhere in the United States, possibly out of the country, we could use help locating her for Cairo. Help us locate her for Cairo, so justice can be served for him," Huls said.
Anderson is described as being about 5 feet, 5 inches tall and 135 pounds. She had short, dark brown hair in her last known photo, but she is known to often wear wigs or hair extensions.
MUGSHOTS | Dejaune Anderson, Cairo Jordan's mother, is still on the run
Authorities say Anderson was last seen in the Echo Park area of Los Angeles, California; however, she is known to travel and has recently been to San Francisco, San Diego, Las Vegas, and Houston, Texas.
Anyone who sees Anderson, or knows of her whereabouts at this time, is asked to contact their local police department with that information.
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