Mother believes baby Amiah Robertson still alive as search continues in Indiana

INDIANAPOLIS (WXIN) -- The mother of missing baby Amiah Robertson told reporters she believed her daughter was still alive after watching investigators unsuccessfully dig up the back yard of her babysitter's home.

“I know that she's somewhere out here and she's very scared,” said Amber Robertson, standing in the street near an alley behind the 200 block of South Holmes Avenue on the city's southwest side. “I want to be with her right now because I know how scared she is and I want to bring her home.”

No one has seen the 8-month-old girl since March 9, when Amber said she handed her child over to her boyfriend, Robert Lyons, who claimed he took the baby to the home of a babysitter.

Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department (IMPD) Deputy Chief Chris Bailey said the babysitter's house and property were searched by cadaver dogs after the case detective convinced a judge to sign a search warrant.

Amiah's mother stood in a neighbor's back yard Tuesday morning, fearful that a discovery might end the search for what happened to her daughter on a tragic note.

“I'm not going to lie, I felt as if my daughter wasn't here. I just kept having this feeling,” said Robertson in her first conversation with reporters since the early days after Amiah's disappearance. “I felt numb. I felt as if I couldn't go anywhere. I couldn't move.”

Deputy Chief Bailey said investigators feel Lyons has more to tell them about Amiah's disappearance.

“There are people that know exactly what happened to Amiah, where she's at, and they don't have the moral courage to come forward and say what needs to be said,” said Bailey. “We believe that Mr. Lyons played a part in this baby's disappearance and we want to know why and where the baby is.”

This week's search marked at least the third time Indianapolis Metro Police have visited the property on South Holmes Avenue in the search for Amiah.

On March 16, Robertson called officers to the alley behind the house, claiming Lyons struck her with his car as they argued over Amiah's whereabouts.

That's the first time Robertson told police her baby was missing, which later led detectives to visit the house early in the investigation.

Lyons was later arrested for battery for allegedly striking Robertson with his car.

He was jailed briefly and bonded out and remained free until his arrest Monday night on an outstanding Marion County check forgery charge in Warren County.

If you have any information about the disappearance of Amiah Robertson, call Crime Stoppers of Central Indiana at (317) 262-TIPS. Your information could be worth a $1,000 reward.