Missing 6-month-old baby found safe; father arrested

Detroit police say a missing 6-month-old baby has been found safe according to reports. 

The father, John Ellerbee Jones was arrested, while the baby Melondy Laira Jones, was recovered. John Jones, 35, had violated his parole. 

The alert was issued Tuesday morning for the father who had taken the child illegally.

Investigators say Jones, walked away from a home in the 15000 block of Linwood Street, near the John C. Lodge Freeway, pushing the baby in the stroller without the mother's permission. 

After a day long search in Detroit, the child and father were found around 4:00 p.m. Tuesday.

A neighbor of the parents of the missing girl, who only wanted to give her first name, said the two had been arguing for days and it came to a head Monday night.

"They've been arguing for the past three or four days - back and forth back and forth," Joy said.

She said the mother left with two of their children while the man, 35-year-old John Ellerbee Jones, walked off with the six-month-old. Jones is a wanted parole absconder

"She went that way with the little boy and he went that way with the baby," Joy said. "He said he was going over his mother's house and that was the last time I'd seen him."

Though the baby was not believed to be in any danger, Jones is a parole absconder. He's got several convictions on his record including homicide manslaughter with a motor vehicle a decade ago to assault and resist of a police officer just last year.

After almost 24 hours of searching, Detroit Police said the found Jones and the baby.

"Good news. The father was found, we have the child, he's in custody and the child is fine," Capt. Kenneth Balinski with Detroit's 12th Precinct said.

Police have not said where the child and the father were.