Zaylee Grace Fryar (4 mos.) 5/1/11 Nashville, Tenn.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – An Amber Alert has been issued by the TBI for a four-month-old infant after her mother's body was found in the Cumberland River.
Police are searching for four-month-old Zaylee Grace Fryar. She was last seen with her mother, Shauna Marie Fryar, on Sunday, May 1 at their home in Millersville.
Metro police said the body found in the Cumberland River on Saturday night has been identified through fingerprints as 28-year-old Shauna Marie Fryar. Fryar was reported missing to Millersville Police on Thursday, May 5 by her husband.
The woman's body was spotted by someone on the Shelby Street Pedestrian Bridge who called 911 on Saturday night. Dive teams recovered the body.
Dive Team Discovers Body in Cumberland
Police said there was no trauma to her body that suggested the cause of death, which remains undetermined. Police have also not determined whether Shauna died before entering the water. An autopsy is underway.
Metro police have been checking the area around the Cumberland River for Zaylee, though they said there is no evidence at this point that she is in the water.
"If we get more information then we may put boats in, but right now its just aerial and if it gets down to the point where we need to use divers we will," said Metro Police Lt. Steven Lewis.
Millersville police had originally issued an endangered child alert for Zaylee on Monday. It was upgraded on Tuesday after police identified Shauna's body.
Endangered Child Alert Issued For 4-Month-Old Girl
Fryar's husband, who is not Zaylee's father, told Millersville Police that he left their apartment around 9 p.m. Sunday, May 1, to go to the store. When he returned, his wife and Zaylee were gone, although her vehicle, cell phone, wallet and the child's diaper bag were still at the residence. He told police it wasn't unusual for her to be gone for days on end.
Detectives have confirmed that Fryar and the child were fine on Saturday, April 30, when they visited a relative in Pegram.
Zaylee has black hair and brown eyes and weighs 12 pounds. She also has a quarter size brown birthmark on her right leg.
Police said Fryar has a history of drug addiction, and that she may have been trying to obtain illegal drugs at around the time she was last seen.
In all, police said Fryar had seven children, including Zaylee, ranging in age from four months to 12-years who live with other relatives.
At this point, investigators said everyone is a suspect until they can figure out if they're dealing with an accident or foul play.
Zaylee's father was incarcerated in the Robertson County Jail at the time mother and daughter disappeared.
If you have information about the whereabouts of Zaylee, please contact the TBI at 1-800-TBI-FIND or Metro Crime Stoppers at 74-CRIME.


http://www.newschannel5.com/story/14619391/amber-alert-issued-for-4-month-old-after-mother-found-dead?redirected=true

Father Makes Plea For Missing Infant's Return

SPRINGFIELD, Tenn. - An impassioned plea from the father of a missing four-month-old whose mother was found dead in the Cumberland River.
"Anybody that have my baby, I need my daughter here with me," said Thurman McMurry.
McMurry spoke from his home in Springfield on Friday night.
An amber alert was issued for Zaylee Grace Fryar on Tuesday after police said her mother, Shauna Marie Fryar, was found dead in the Cumberland River. Her body had been found on Saturday night, but she was not identified until Tuesday.
McMurry was in jail at the time that Shauna and Zaylee disappeared, but knew something was wrong in the days before she was reported missing.
"I knew something was wrong when she did not answer the phone, let me know something," McMurry added.
Fryar lived with her estranged husband at the time, but McMurry said they were planning on getting married.
Fryar's husband, Michael Fryar, reported her missing on May 4, four days after he had last seen her. He told police that he left their apartment around 9 p.m. Sunday, May 1, to go to the store. When he returned, his wife and Zaylee were gone, although her vehicle, cell phone, wallet and the child's diaper bag were still at the residence.
Investigators said one of their biggest questions right now is whether Shauna Fryar died before or after her body hit the waters of the Cumberland River, but they won't know that answer until her autopsy is complete.
Police said Shauna Fryar had seven children, including Zaylee, ranging in age from four months to 12-years who live with other relatives.
Police said Fryar had a history of drug addiction, and that she may have been trying to obtain illegal drugs at around the time she was last seen.
If you have information about the whereabouts of Zaylee, please contact the TBI at 1-800-TBI-FIND.

http://www.newschannel5.com/story/14644661/father-makes-plea-for-missing-infants-return

Husband of missing baby's mom believes wife was murdered

MILLERSVILLE, Tenn. – The husband of a Robertson County mother whose body was pulled from the Cumberland River last weekend doubts she committed suicide and told Nashville's News 2 it's likely his wife was murdered.

Michael Fryar last saw his wife, Shauna, and her four-month-old daughter, Zaylee, at the family's home in Millersville on the morning of May 1.

"She was at the house. I was leaving for the store and I think she was feeding the baby," he recalled.

Fryar told authorities when he returned from the store, his wife and Zaylee were gone, although her vehicle, cell phone, wallet and the child's diaper bag were still at the residence.

On May 7, a passerby spotted a body in the Cumberland River in downtown Nashville. That body was later determined to be Shauna Fryar's.

Her infant daughter is still missing.

In an interview Thursday, Michael Fryar admitted that Shauna had struggled with drug abuse and may have been searching for cocaine at the time of their disappearance.

He told Nashville's News 2 the three of them lived in a trailer he rented in hopes of creating a safe place for the mother and daughter.



http://www.wkrn.com/story/14638221/authorities-investigating-millersville-moms-death-4-month

Missing Infant's Grandmother Speaks Out


MILLERSVILLE, Tenn. - One day after announcing Shauna Fryar's body had been found in the Cumberland River, the search for her four-month-old daughter is intensifying.

Millersville Police on Wednesday questioned anyone and everyone who knows Shauna and little Zaylee Grace Fryar. Metro Police, meanwhile, continue to scour the waters of the Cumberland River.
Amber Alert Issued For 4-Month-Old After Mother Found Dead

From their home in Springfield, Zaylee's grandmother and aunts are holding out hope she's still alive.

"We're praying about it, praying about my grandbaby," said Sandra McMurry.

Her son, Thurman McMurry, is Zaylee's biological father. He's not a suspect in the case because he's currently behind bars at the Robertson County Jail, serving time on an unrelated assault charge.

On Tuesday, Millersville police visited his jail cell to deliver the bad news, first about Shauna's death, and then about Zaylee's disappearance.

"I talked to him on the phone and he was sad. He was crying and I told him, 'just think good things about the baby, maybe she's still living,'" said McMurry.



http://www.newschannel5.com/story/14629073/zaylee-fryars-grandmother-speaks-out