It’s been 55 days since 16-year-old Iyana Sawyer was last seen leaving Terry Parker High School. JSO spent weeks searching the Otis Road Landfill for the pregnant teen.
Investigators have concluded that search. Police are still investigating this as a missing person case.
Mark Baughman has been in law enforcement for some 35 years. In his experience, the First Coast News crime analyst believes the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office had a solid reason to search through a landfill that sees nearly 60,000 pounds of debris dumped daily.
“Obviously they had something very credible, something very substantial that led them out there.”
A source tells us they believe Sawyer died the day she went missing according to that piece of evidence. To date, the sheriff’s office says they’ve received three tips connected to Sawyer’s disappearance through crime-stoppers. The last coming on January 24th.
Baughman weighed in on what he believes could be what led investigators the Otis Road Landfill in Baldwin.
“It could’ve been some forensic evidence, it could’ve been some witness statements or it could’ve been even the suspect who may or may not have told somebody. It may have been recorded in some fashion proactively or from a jail call which led them ultimately to looking in that landfill,” Baughman said.
Sawyer’s uncle, Jonathan Quiles, still remains in jail on an unrelated sexual battery charge. Jonathon Quiles has not been charged in connection to his niece’s disappearance.
During his last court appearance, Prosecutors argued Quiles was responsible for sexual battery against Sawyer and that he’s the father of Sawyer’s baby based on DNA evidence found.
With Jonathan Quiles in jail, Baughman understands why police or prosecutors are not rushing the investigation.
“He can’t obstruct or change or affect the case from inside a jail cell very much, so there’s probably no rush for the prosecutors or police at this point. They are going to keep collecting evidence, they are going to keep doing interviews and eventually when they feel good enough, they are going to come out and charge him," Baughman said.
We reached out to John Phillips, the attorney representing the family of Iyana Sawyer, and were told they have no comment at this time.