Jozlynn Mari Martinez, 2, missing from Grand Rapids, Michigan, 2/22/2010 Man sentenced for her murder

[ka8lhi]

An Amber Alert is being issued by the Grand Rapids Police Department, after a 2-year-old girl is reported missing by her mother.

Jozlynn Mari Martinez was last seen in bed on 2/22/10 at 11:00 p.m.  When the child's mother woke up the next morning she was gone.  The suspect also took $2,800 in cash from the mother's purse.

Jozlynn Mari Martinez is hispanic.  She is 2'9" tall and weighs 22 pounds.  She  has brown eyes and brown hair, with a bald patch on her right side.  Jozlynn has a scab on her chin and walks with her feet turned inward.

The suspect: Jeffery Lynn Malmbert.  Lambert is a white 40 year old.  He is 5'11", 170 pounds, with black hair, brown eyes, and a tattoo of a red rose on the top of his left forearm.  He was last seen wearing a blue GVSU hoody, gray/white/black winter coat, gray/blue pants.

If you have any information call 911 or the Grand Rapids Police Department at 616-456-3604.

http://www.upnorthlive.com/news/story.aspx?id=421297


*edited to add photo

[ka8lhi]

 An Amber Alert was issued for Jozlynn Martinez. The 2-year-old is thought to be with Jeffrey Malmberg of Grand Rapids (Courtesy photo, Feb. 24, 2010)

Jeffrey Malmberg is suspected of kidnapping Jozlynn Martinez from Grand Rapids. (courtesy photo, Feb. 24, 2010)


Amber Alert suspect found, girl missing
2-year-old Jozlynn Mari Martinez

Updated: Thursday, 25 Feb 2010, 2:01 AM EST
Published : Wednesday, 24 Feb 2010, 3:12 PM EST

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) - In the case of an Amber Alert issued for a 2-year-old Grand Rapids girl, Jozlynn Mari Martinez remains missing and a suspect who police believed had the child has been located in Lansing.

Jozlynn was last seen in her bed at 11 p.m. Monday. Her mom, Consuela Martinez, woke up at 9 a.m. Tuesday and noticed the girl and the suspect, Jeffrey Lynn Malmberg, were gone from the home they shared in the 900 block of Nagold.

Malmberg, Martinez's boyfriend of about 1.5 years, was arrested by Lansing police at around 6:45 p.m. Wednesday and driven back to Grand Rapids.

"I don't know where she is, who she's with," Martinez said. " ... I'm scared."

Police initially said Malmberg took the child and $2,800 in cash from Martinez's purse.

Martinez, 21, believed Malmberg had taken Jozlynn on errands and would be returning. Though she checked with family and friends throughout the day, Martinez was not able to locate her daughter or her boyfriend.

"Yeah, I think they were running errands and everything, because they do that a lot, and all of a sudden, they never came home," Martinez said. "You would never expect somebody to come in your home and take your child."

Jozlynn is Hispanic, about 2-foot-9, weighs 22 pounds and has brown eyes, brown hair and a scab on her chin. She also has a spot on the right side of her head where hair isn't growing.

"There's no explanation why she's not home," GRPD Lt. Paul Warwick told 24 Hour News 8. "We can only assume that something may have happened, but we don't know that at this point."

24 Hour News 8 spotted FBI agents going door-to-door on Nagold Street talking to neighbors.

Our crews also saw the girl's mother being taken into police custody for questioning late Wednesday night.

Another 7-month-old child, fathered by Malmberg, is fine and with Martinez.

In 1997, Malmberg was charged with a misdemeanor for possession of marijuana. In August 2009, he was charged for larceny in Walker, according to his criminal record.

Martinez filed a personal protection order against him in February 2009 -- which was violated twice, once in May and the second time in July. Malmberg served seven days in jail.

The PPO was vacated or dropped in August 2009. Martinez said it stems from arguments over keeping Brian, the child the couple shares.

"I just want my baby home," Martinez said.

If you have any information about this incident you are asked to call 911 or the Grand Rapids Police Department at (616) 456-3604, or contact Silent *******.


http://www.woodtv.com/dpp/news/local/grand_rapids/Amber-Alert-issued-for-Grand-Rapids-girl

*edited to add photo

[ka8lhi]

Police say mother of missing Grand Rapids 2-year-old is 'witness' not suspect
By Nate Reens | The Grand Rapids Press
February 25, 2010, 2:41PM

Consuela Martinez mug.jpgConsuela MartinezGRAND RAPIDS -- Police today refuted Consuela Martinez's statements that she's a target in the investigation surrounding the disappearance of her 2-year-old daughter, Jozlynn.

"We consider her a witness at this time," Grand Rapids police Capt. Jeff Hertel said. "She came down here (the police station) voluntarily and left on her own.

"She cooperated for many hours and answered our questions. I think she's had, everybody's had, a long morning and is tired."

Martinez said this morning that she was questioned by investigators for nearly 12 hours.

"They're basically accusing me of doing it," Martinez said. "They said it had to be somebody close to her, but I didn't have nothing to do with it.

"I want my little girl back. I feel like they think I did it."

Martinez, 21, has not been charged with any offense.

Her boyfriend, Jeffrey Malmberg, is accused of kidnapping and larceny for the alleged $2,800 theft from Martinez's purse.

Martinez reported to police Tuesday night that Malmberg took the child.

When he was arrested near Lansing on Wednesday, Jozlynn was not with him.

Consuela Martinez said police have taken her 7-month-old son, Brian, into child protective services custody. She is currently in a court hearing to determine if the child will stay in state custody.

The boy is Malmberg's child, but Jozlynn's father is John Mark Rittenhouse, 26. Efforts to reach Rittenhouse have been unsuccessful.

http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2010/02/police_say_mother_of_missing_g.html

[ka8lhi]

Mother of missing Grand Rapids 2-year-old to appear in court for abuse and neglect hearing

GRAND RAPIDS -- Consuela Martinez, the mother of missing toddler Jozlynn Martinez, is set to appear in Kent County Family Court this afternoon for an abuse and neglect hearing that led to authorities taking her 7-month-old son into protective custody.

The hearing before court Referee Deborah McNabb will begin at 2:30 p.m. and will determine if the 21-year-old's son will remain out of her 915 Nagold St. residence.

Authorities placed Brian, the son fathered by abduction suspect Jeffrey Malmberg, into state custody this morning. Malmberg, 40, is jailed on kidnapping and larceny charges.

Nicole Paulsen, Consuela Martinez's aunt, said she's concerned officials are focusing too much on the boy's well-being instead of placing a priority on finding the 2-year-old girl.

Grand Rapids police Capt. Jeff Hertel said more than a dozen officers have been working around the clock to locate Jozlynn.

Detectives, paired with FBI agents, knocked on every door in the couple's neighborhood and conducted cursory searches of all homes, Hertel said.

"We're doing everything we can to find her," he said.

http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2010/02
/mother_of_missing_grand_rapids.html

[ka8lhi]

Grand Rapids kidnapping suspect arrested twice for restraining order violations against missing girl's mother

GRAND RAPIDS -- Last year, kidnapping suspect Jeffrey Malmberg was arrested twice for violating the personal protection order taken out against him by Consuela Martinez, mother of missing 2-year-old Jozlynn Martinez.

In May, he was arrested for approaching the 21-year-old mother as she ate at Degage Ministries, then made threats against the then-pregnant woman while riding in a patrol car, according to police.

"You know I never laid a hand on that b----, but that is going to change now," Malmberg said as he rode to the Kent County Jail, in a car driven by Grand Rapids Officer Nathan Fynewevers, according to court records. Malmberg is the father of Martinez's 7-month old son, but not of the missing girl, the family said.

Martinez asked for the PPO last February, saying Malmberg, homeless at the time, had been following her and sneaking into her home, Kent County Circuit Court records show.

She said "he raised his hand to me," and "bent my arm behind my back trying to break it."

"He has threatened my life if I were to keep (him) from his child," Martinez wrote.

In May, Malmberg asked to have the PPO lifted, writing, "Consuela comes to me and used to let me stay at her place, and she put me in jail for no reason and lied on the police report."

He was arrested again in July -- for violating the PPO and having alcohol in a park -- and spent a week in jail. A Grand Rapids officer on bike patrol said he saw Malmberg at a Heartside Park picnic table with Martinez, and saw Malmberg stow a 40-ounce Magnum Malt Liquor in a baby carriage.

In August, Martinez's request to have the PPO lifted was granted.

"He's willing to seek help for the issues that (led me) to get the PPO issued in the first place," she wrote.

In a separate case, Martinez in 2008 received a court order to have a 25-year-old man tested for paternity, and the test showed the man was not the father. In 2007, that same man was arrested for assault and battery, and a PPO was filed against him by Jozlynn's father.

http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2010/02/grand_rapids_kidnapping_suspec.html

[ka8lhi]

Kidnapping suspect denies involvement in disappearance of 2-year-old Grand Rapids girl

GRAND RAPIDS -- A suspect in the disappearance of 2-year-old Jozlynn Martinez denies any involvement with the alleged kidnapping, police said today.

Jeffrey Malmberg, 40, has cooperated with investigators since his arrest Wednesday night in Lansing, Grand Rapids police Lt. Paul Warwick said. Malmberg is expected to be arraigned today at 1:30 p.m. in Grand Rapids District Court on accusations of kidnapping and larceny. (Update: Hearing delayed.)

Police said they have followed a number of leads and conducted multiple interviews trying to locate Jozlynn, but have yet to identify the whereabouts of the girl.

Authorities have searched the home that Malmberg and the child's mother, Consuela Martinez, share at 915 Nagold St. NW. They did not say what, if anything, was located in the residence.

Warwick said police and FBI agents are searching for the girl. They've conducted a neighborhood canvass to try and determine when people last saw Jozlynn.

Consuela Martinez told authorities she last saw her daughter about 11 p.m. Monday and that she was not in the house at 9 a.m. Tuesday when the 21-year-old mother of two awoke.

She reported the girl missing Wednesday after repeated attempts to find Malmberg and the child were unsuccessful.

Police have questioned Martinez, who told The Press that she feels she is a suspect in the case. The woman has since been released and has not been charged.

http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2010/02/kidnapping_suspect_denies_invo.html

[ka8lhi]

My comments - this is looking more and more like all the other rotten cases... 

[Nut44x4]

Oh I agree ka8! I agree 

[ka8lhi]

Neighbors react to news of missing girl's death

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (NEWSCHANNEL 3) – Friday saw big developments in the case of a missing girl.

 

On Friday, police canceled the Amber Alert for Jozlynn Marie Martinez and shifted the search for her from her Grand Rapids neighborhood to a trash incinerator.

 

Police say the boyfriend of Jozlynn's mother, Jeffrey Malmberg, told them the girl is dead and he threw her body away.

 

“Despite our efforts, we haven't been able locate Jozlynn's body,” said Chief Kevin Belk of the Grand Rapids Police Department.

 

Police have been searching for Jozlynn since Wednesday when her mother told them she'd disappeared along with her boyfriend Malmberg.

 

Now, Malmberg is behind bars and little Jozlynn's body is nowhere to be found.

 

On Friday afternoon, Malmberg faced a judge and was arraigned on theft and kidnapping charges. His bail is set at one million dollars.

 

At the time of his court appearance, police didn't give any indication of what evidence they had to charge Malmberg with Jozlynn's disappearance, but we now know he told officers that he knows Jozlynn was dead, because he got rid of her body.

 

There's a lot police won't say about their ongoing investigation, like how Malmberg claims Jozlynn died, or what evidence they have to corroborate his story. They do however say they believe Jozlynn died at her home sometime overnight on Monday.

 

“This suspect has told Grand Rapids Police and FBI investigators that Jozlynn Marie Martinez died on Monday evening at 915 Nagold and that he disposed of her body in a nearby trash receptacle,” said Chief Belk.

 

The jarring news about the fate of Jozlynn sent investigators to the Kent County Waste to Energy facility to search through more than 200,000 pounds of garbage for her body.

 

“The two day search involved nearly 70 investigators,” said Chief Belk.

 

Neighbors who were praying for Jozlynn's safe return say this is an outcome they did not expect.

 

“I didn't think that somebody actually killed her,” said neighbor Emily Billings. “I just thought maybe he took her somewhere and someone was holding her and was afraid to come forward. I never thought that she'd be dead.”

 

Still, it's an ending that everyone feared, but an ending that brings no relief.

 

“You worry about your own children,” said a neighbor who did not wish to be identified. “You worry about people breaking in. Every little noise this last week has woken me up in the middle of the night.”

 

For the neighbors, their nightmares end, but for Jozlynn's mother, Consuela Martinez, her nightmare is just beginning.

 

“I wouldn't know what to do,” said Billings. “I hope the mom's doing okay.”

 

Grand Rapids Police say their investigation will continue. They will also continue to search at the Kent County Waste to Energy plant. Chief Belk says the garbage they wanted to inspect was incinerated prior to their search and that there's a good change they'll never find Jozlynn's body.

http://www.wwmt.com/articles/margin-1373179-bottom-react.html

[MuffyBee]

http://www.freep.com/article/20100226/NEWS06/100226065/1001/NEWS/Police-say-missing-Grand-Rapids-toddler-is-dead

Police say missing Grand Rapids toddler is dead
February 26, 2010
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -- Police Chief Kevin Belk says 2-year-old Jozlynn Martinez, who disappeared earlier this week from her home on Grand Rapids' west side, is dead.


Belk says Friday that 40-year-old Jeffrey Malmberg told investigators that Jozlynn died Monday night at the home, and he placed the child's body in a nearby trash container. Malmberg lived with Jozlynn's mother, Consuela Martinez, but was not the toddler's father.

The Grand Rapids Press says police have searched the Kent County waste dump for the girl's body but have not found it.

Malmberg was arrested Wednesday night in the Lansing area and was charged with kidnapping Jozlynn. He also was charged with larceny for allegedly taking $2,800 from Martinez's purse. He remains held on $1 million bond in the Kent County Jail.

[MuffyBee]

http://www.examiner.com/x-1168-Crime-Examiner~y2010m2d25-Jozlynn-Martinez-news-Hearing-delayed-for-man-accused-of-abducting-2yearold-girl


 Jozlynn Martinez
(Family Photo)

[theboyzmom]

I was just reading the story and the comments on a local news. Here is the link http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2010/02/man_tells_police_he_threw_body.html

This man and the so called mother should be killed and thrown in a trash bin themselves. I just can not imagine the horror at knowing you may have burned up the body of this little girl. how sad for the trash people. How could anyone just throw the body away?   

[Nut44x4]

Mother of Jozlynn Martinez talks to ex-boyfriend in jail

Updated:3/1/2010 5:38:05 PM
Grand Rapids (WZZM)- The mother of a missing two-year old girl came face-to-face with the man accused of taking her child.

Two-year old Jozlynn Martinez is presumed dead, but her body still hasn't been found.  Over the weekend, Martinez visited ex-boyfriend, Jeff Malmberg at the Kent County Jail in hopes of learning more about Jozlynn's disappearance.

"The way he told me he was sorry for it, there was no remorse. No real, I'm sorry", says Connie Martinez. She does not believe that Jozlynn's death was an accident. Malmberg was babysitting the night she disappeared. "He says he was in the bathroom and she fell down the stairs."

Sometime Monday night, or Tuesday morning, Malmberg says he found the little girl, dead, at the bottom of the stairs. He did not call 911. "So, not responsive means they could be knocked out unconscious. They might not be breathing. There's still something he could have done."

Martinez says Malmberg also old her that he brought Jozlynn's body to the corner of 4th and Stocking. That's where he says he dumped her body in a trash bin. By the time Grand Rapids police got the information, the garbage had been picked up and taken to a waste facility. After an extensive search, they still couldn't find a body. The family fears they never will.

"I keep praying every day since I found out that she's been missing", says John Rittenhouse. He's Jozlynn's biological father. He just arrived from Arizona. Although he hasn't seen his daughter for several months, he feels bad that he wasn't there to protect her. "Because knowing I wasn't there like a father should be."

The family now waits for any new information about Jozlynn. Although investigators believe Malmberg's story that she's dead, the family prays that it's not true.

Grand Rapids police said again Monday that they do not believe the mother had anything to do with Jozlynn's disappearance.

They also said the search at the waste facility, is over, but the investigation continues. Police got some surveillance video from a convenience store in the area of Stocking Avenue, where the body was supposedly dumped.

Grand Rapids Police said they are still working with the Kent County Prosecutor's office. That means there could be more charges coming, very soon.

http://www.wzzm13.com/news/news_story.aspx?storyid=119025

[Nut44x4]

Boyfriend: Girl fell down stairs, died 

Jozlynn's mother talks with Malmberg at jail

Updated: Sunday, 28 Feb 2010, 8:08 PM EST
Published : Sunday, 28 Feb 2010, 6:01 PM EST

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) - A man lodged at the Kent County jail in connection with 2-year-old Jozlynn Martinez's disappearance told the child's mother his version of what happened to the toddler.

Consuela Martinez, 21, sat down with boyfriend Jeffrey Malmberg on Saturday during his visitation hours to hear his side of the story.

Jozlynn fell down a set of stairs at the couple's Nagold Street home in Grand Rapids on Monday night and died, Malmberg told Martinez. He panicked and decided to dispose of the child's body in a nearby commercial Dumpster, he said.

"When he went in the bathroom, (Jozlynn) was sitting on the bed," Martinez said after talking to Malmberg. "When he got out of the bathroom, he heard a noise ... and went downstairs and found her laying there."

Malmberg said he was sorry, Martinez told 24 Hour News 8 on Sunday.

Jozlynn went missing Monday night, police said, and by Wednesday, an Amber Alert was issued. Friday evening, Grand Rapids police held a news conference and announced Malmberg told investigators the girl was dead.

Police won't comment on how Jozlynn died. Her body has not been found.
http://www.woodtv.com/dpp/news/local/grand_rapids/Boyfriend-Baby-fell-down-stairs-died

[Nut44x4]

Posted: 7:42 PM Mar 4, 2010

Murder warrant issued in toddler's disappearance
Grand Rapids, MI

Prosecutors have issued a second-degree murder warrant against a 40-year-old man suspected of kidnapping and killing his live-in girlfriend's 2-year-old daughter.

Authorities say Jeffrey Malmberg is to be arraigned Friday in the case involving Jozlynn Martinez, whose 21-year-old mother, Consuela Martinez, reported her missing Feb. 23. The toddler's body has not been found.

Grand Rapids Police Chief Kevin Belk said last week that Malmberg told investigators he put Jozlynn's body in a trash container after the toddler died Feb. 22 at their home. Belk said Thursday that Malmberg admitted to pressing the girl against the ground until she stopped breathing.

Malmberg was arrested Feb. 24 and originally was charged with kidnapping and larceny.

Police haven't disclosed a motive but say Consuela Martinez isn't a suspect in her daughter's disappearance.

http://www.wndu.com/michigan/headlines/86430767.html

[MuffyBee]

http://www.examiner.com/x-1168-Crime-Examiner~y2010m3d6-Jozlynn-Martinez-update-Accused-murderer-Jeffrey-Malmberg-says-I-loved-her

Jozlynn Martinez update: Accused murderer Jeffrey Malmberg says ‘I loved her’
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Jeffrey Malmberg, 40, who’s been charged with murder of 2-year-old Michigan girl, Jozlynn Martinez, claims he loved the toddler.

During a Saturday interview with WOOD-TV, Malmberg said “I loved her” and that Jozlynn was his “princess.”

Initially, Malmberg told authorities Jozlynn died accidentally by falling down the stairs on Feb. 22, and that he disposed of her body by placing it in the trash. He later admitted to police that he knelt on her chest until she stopped breathing.

Nonetheless, Malmberg maintains Jozlynn’s death was an accident and that he is ‘…not a monster.”

During the interview, Malmberg also said he keeps a newspaper clipping with photos of Jozlynn and her mother, Consuela Martinez, with him in his cell and kisses it every night.

He and Martinez have a 7-month-old son and Mamberg claims the two were to be married Mar. 20.

According to recent reports, Martinez was planning to throw Malmberg out of the home they shared. In addition, she had filed orders of protection against him on multiple occasions in the past, which he reportedly violated.

[MuffyBee]

http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2010/03/mother_of_jozlynn_martinez_sti.html
Mother of Jozlynn Martinez still baffled by Jeffrey Malmberg's motive after he is charged with 2-year-old's murder
By John Tunison | The Grand Rapids Press
March 05, 2010, 7:34PM
Rex Larsen | The Grand Rapids PressConsuela Martinez, right, holds her sister, Tabitha, while being visited by friends Mike Buschert, left, Joann Lyons, and Warren Buschert II, who stopped by to offer support. Jeffery Malmberg, Martinez' live-in boyfriend, was arraigned Friday on charges of second-degree murder for the death of 2-year-old Jozlynn Martinez. Consuela, told her friends, "It feels good to hold a little one in my arms again."

GRAND RAPIDS -- Surrounded by family and friends, Consuela Martinez tries not to dwell on the former boyfriend accused of killing her 2-year-old daughter.

She doesn't know why he allegedly would put his knee on the little girl, leaving her unable to breath until she died, then put her body in a nearby commercial Dumpster.

"We have no clue. He won't answer our questions," Martinez said Friday on the back porch of her mother's apartment.

Jeffrey Malmberg, now accused of second-degree murder in the Feb. 22 death of Jozlynn Martinez, was arraigned Friday on the charge in Grand Rapids District Court. Malmberg said little during the brief hearing.

He has been held in the Kent County Jail since Feb. 24 on kidnapping and larceny charges -- counts now dismissed -- and Judge David Buter left his $1 million bond the same Friday.

The case has proven sensational and disturbing for the Grand Rapids community as observers struggle to comprehend any motive behind the alleged killing and body dumping.

"I've been shocked. I've been crying for days now," said 20-year-old Joann Lyons, a friend of Consuela Martinez who showed up at her door Friday to offer comfort.

Police and prosecutors have not divulged any theories about a motive, worried it might damage the prosecution.

In a brief testimony for a warrant earlier this week, a Grand Rapids Police detective described how Malmberg allegedly admitted the killing.

"The suspect, Jeffrey Malmberg, made a statement to police that on Feb. 22 at approximately 6:30 p.m. at 915 Nagold St. NW, Apt. 2, he put his knee on the chest of Jozlynn Martinez, age 2, and held her down which caused her to stop breathing.

"Jeffrey states that he then disposed of the body by first putting Jozlynn into a garbage bag, then putting the bag containing Jozlynn's body into a Dumpster," the detective told a judge.

Police said Malmberg also admitted to taking about $2,800 from Martinez's purse and fleeing the area.

He was arrested Feb. 24 in Lansing after police issued an Amber Alert for Jozlynn. Police searched trash at the Kent County Waste-to-Energy facility, but have not found the girl's body.

At her mother's apartment Friday, Martinez said she knows some people have criticized her parenting skills and questioned her relationship choices. She said the comments hurt.

"I loved Jozlynn so much," she said. "I gave her everything."

She was not home when Jozlynn died and was out collecting her income tax money, she said Friday. Although Martinez earlier reported seeing her daughter in bed sometime after 11 p.m. on Feb. 22, she said she might have been mistaken.

"I could have sworn I heard her rustling," she said.

Buoyed by friends and family Friday, Martinez talked about moments she'll miss in her daughter's life.

"I was going to get her a potty trainer," she said, holding her young sister, Tabitha. "She was going to be 3 this year and I won't get to see her on her birthday."
COMPLETE COVERAGE


Martinez visited Malmberg in jail three days after his arrest, trying to get answers surrounding her daughter's disappearance. At the time, Martinez said Malmberg told her the girl died falling down stairs and he panicked, putting her in the trash.

She doesn't plan on seeing him again.

For John Rittenhouse, the biological father of Jozlynn, anger boils in him when he thinks about Malmberg.

"I really wish we had capital punishment. He is cold and he doesn't care," Rittenhouse said.

The Martinez family has established a fund at Huntington National Bank to accept donations to fund efforts to find the girl's body and pay for an eventual funeral.


Rex Larsen | The Grand Rapids PressJeffrey Malmberg listens to the charges against him during his video arraignment for the death of 2-year-old Jozlynn Martinez.

[Nut44x4]

Police searching landfill for the body of missing girl

March 08, 2010 2:54 PM
KENT COUNTY, Mich. (NEWSCHANNEL 3) - Members of the Grand Rapids Police Department and agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigations have begun searching the South Kent Landfill for the body of Jozlynn Martinez.

Police say the search began at 9:00 am Monday morning at the landfill, which is located at 300 100th Street in Byron Center.

Two-year-old Jozlynn Martinez went missing in February. Her mother's boyfriend, Jeffrey Malmberg, has been charged with the girl's death.

Police are searching through tons and tons of garbage after they say one or two trucks that were picking up garbage in the area where Malmberg says he dumped Jozlynn's body went to the South Kent Landfill instead of to the incinerator.

Police have about 30 people involved in the search, and while they say it's a long-shot that they'll be able to find Jozlynn, they want to find her if possible.
 
http://www.wwmt.com/articles/landfill-1373525-police-body.html

[Nut44x4]

Search called off for missing girl
 
March 10, 2010 6:07 PM
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (NEWSCHANNEL 3) – Police are calling off the search for the body of a missing two-year-old girl.

Police have been searching for Jozlynn Martinez for weeks. At first, they had hoped to find her alive, but after Jeffrey Malmberg confessed to killing the girl, police have been searching for her body.

The most recent search efforts have focused on a landfill in Kent County, where Grand Rapids Police and the FBI have spent three days sifting through garbage.

After the third day of searching that landfill, it appears the search is over, and Jozlynn's body has not been found.

Police said all along that the search at the landfill was a long shot, but there's still disappointment.

It has been a hard week for officers from the GRPD and the FBI, instead of wearing a badge and gun, they were wearing protective biohazard suits and going through potentially hazardous materials.

About two dozen workers have been going through more than fifty tons of trash, having to scoop the garbage out of the ground and then spread it out on a flat surface to allow the officers to go through it.

There is still quite a bit of doubt as to whether Jozlynn's body made it to the landfill, much of the trash that came from the neighborhood where she lived was incinerated, and police still aren't 100 percent certain that Malmberg is telling the truth.

Lead detective Capt. Jeff Hertel of the GRPD spoke to Newschannel 3, expressing disappointment that the search did not yield results.

“We have not located her,” said Capt. Hertel, “we're a little bit disappointed.”

With the search at the landfill completed, Capt. Hertel says there's nowhere else to go to try to find Jozlynn's body.

The next step in the process will be a court hearing where police will have to show there's enough evidence to prove that Malmberg committed murder.

http://www.wwmt.com/articles/margin-1373654-bottom-newschannel.html

[theboyzmom]

No matter what kind of parent this girl was, it must be awful that she can not even bury her child. The comments on our local paper have been very critical of her.