HAMPTON, Va. – The mother of missing 2-year-old Hampton boy Noah Tomlin has been arrested in connection with the toddler’s disappearance, WTKR reports.
Charges against Julia Tomlin are pending, and she is in custody at the Hampton Police Headquarters. The investigation remains ongoing.
Police have presumed Noah to be dead.
Hampton Police focused on the city landfill on Thursday and Friday — four days after 2-year-old Noah Tomlin went missing.
Dozens of city employees are involved in a meticulous search for evidence at the landfill.
Police say there is nothing specific that lead them to the landfill, but say it’s a logical place for them to continue the search.
“We did four search phases in the immediate area of Buckroe Beach where Noah was last seen. The fifth stage is the landfill so from our previous experience in previous investigations, this is one of the elements that need to be explored for missing person cases,” Hampton Police Sgt. Reginald Williams said.
In a Monday Facebook video, Sult said Noah was reported missing at 11:35 a.m. He was put to bed Sunday night, and his mother hasn’t seen him since.
After a number of searches, police were unable to find Noah and called in additional resources. The Hampton Police Division received assistance from the Virginia Department of Emergency Management search team, and they have requested help from the Virginia State Police mobile command post.
The department also recently called in the FBI to assist with the investigative side of the case.
“We’re turning over every stone,” Chief Sult said. “We’re doing everything we can to bring this child home safely.”
Sult added they’re not ruling anything out until they find Noah and said while they’re taking this as a worst-case scenario, they’re hoping for the best.
As of Tuesday afternoon, there have not been any significant updates. Authorities are still looking and are putting a lot of effort, their searches have spread to the air and the water. On the ground, they are focusing their search on the area of Hampton between Salt Pond and a mile south of the child’s home.
In Tuesday’s briefing, police say they have not found any evidence that says whether or not the child walked away from their home or was abducted. They also have not said if the child has gotten out of the home before.
The toddler’s parents are no longer at police headquarters; they were there on a voluntary basis. There have been no charges against them and they are cooperating with law enforcement, police told News 3.
Responding to several inquiries they’ve received about police presence at the landfill, the Hampton Police Division said at this point they are “taking all efforts to search for, preserve and recover any evidence that could lead to Noah’s return.” Authorities said while they “do not have anything specific leading us to that location,” they are “making necessary efforts to preserve and identify potential areas that may be of future evidentiary value.”
Police continued to search the area in full force through Tuesday evening. In another press briefing late Tuesday night, police said they’re going to slowly shift their focus throughout different areas of the city after feeling confident they’ve “exhausted all reasonable efforts and all reasonable resources” in the current location.
