HOUSTON -- The mother, stepfather and babysitter of a missing 12-year-old Houston boy were being questioned by police Tuesday evening.
A car belonging to Jonathan Foster’s stepfather was also taken into police custody.
Jonathan was last seen by his stepfather around 1:45 p.m. on Christmas Eve, police said. A few minutes later, Jonathan's mother received a mysterious phone call at work, said Jonathan’s grandmother Mary Gifford.
"Someone called and said it was an emergency," said Gifford. "But by the time she picked up the phone, no one was there."
Jonathan's mother reported him missing around 9:30 p.m. on Christmas Eve.
An Amber Alert was issued Monday evening. Investigators waited three days to issue an Amber Alert following Jonathan's disappearance because of conflicting stories from the boy’s parents, police said.
On Tuesday around 9 a.m., a child’s burned body was found in a north Houston ditch along the Westpark Tollway, HPD Homicide detectives said. But police investigators have not connected the two cases.
Volunteers from Texas EquuSearch resumed their effort to find Jonathan at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday. On Monday, volunteers combed the woods near the railroad tracks at T.C. Jester and 43rd in northwest Houston until dusk.
"Please hold on, because we’re doing the best to find you," said Gifford, the missing boy’s grandmother.
Jonathan suffers from Attention Deficit Disorder and, according to his grandmother, gets easily confused.
"That’s why we want him home safe," she said.
The child has short red hair and an overbite. He was last seen wearing a tan shirt, blue jeans, a gray hoodie and white sneakers with a red stripe. He stands 5 feet tall and weighs about 100 pounds.
Anyone with information on his whereabouts is urged to contact authorities.
