ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, Fla. — The attorney for the man named a person of interest in the disappearance of his girlfriend and infant told Channel 9 Thursday night that the pair is alive.
Attorney Mark O’Mara gave Channel 9 a picture of Jessica McCreery and her daughter, Penelope Hogarth, with a time stamp of May 14, 2015.
He said McCreery and Penelope are in good health, and that he has spoken to them and law enforcement.
O'Mara would not say where the mother and daughter are, and won't say if David Hogarth, McCreery's boyfriend and the father of the baby, knew where they went.
He said his client does know McCreery is fine, and is relieved.
O'Mara said the mother was worried about possible involvement with the Department of Children and Families.
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Police released a statement that read, "The Altamonte Springs Police Department is in possession of a photo which was provide to us by Mark O'mara, attorney for David Hogarth. The photo depicts Jessica McCreery and Penelope Hogarth standing on a porch of a residence, holding a piece of paper with today's date on it. While this recent photo proves detectives earlier suspicions true that David Hogarth does know their whereabouts, it still leaves many questions unanswered as we continue our investigation into their disappearances. Currently Altamonte Springs Detectives and FDLE Agents are working to authenticate the photos and hope to work with Mr. O'Mara and his client David Hogarth more tomorrow, to bring closure to this missing persons case."
Channel 9 reporter Tim Barber spokes to Jessica McCreery's mother, who confirmed the picture and news from O'Mara.
https://twitter.com/TBarberWFTV/status/599043105569042432
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement issued a missing child alert Thursday for the 7-month-old baby, who was last seen in Altamonte Springs with her mother.
Altamonte Springs police said they believe McCreery, 21, and her baby are in danger.
At a Thursday afternoon press conference, police said David Hogarth, is a person of interest in their disappearances.
"(Hogarth) is nothing more than a person of interest, who, for all intents and purposes, is not cooperating with our investigation," Robert Pelton of the Altamonte Springs Police Department said.
According to police, Hogarth told them, "You will never find them."
Police said McCreery and her daughter were last seen at a Publix grocery on May 7.
Hogarth retained attorney Mark O'Mara to represent him Thursday.
Channel 9 spoke to O’Mara’s assistant on the phone, who said O’Mara has been out of town working on another case and should be back Friday. He wasn’t willing to do a phone interview.
Hogarth bonded out of jail Wednesday after his arrest on drug charges.
The drug charges are related to a grow house investigation during which marijuana plants were found Tuesday inside the couple's home on Adelaide Boulevard.
Hogarth, 46, did not answer any of WFTV's questions about where the mother and child might be.
"I would be very surprised and even shocked once this guy bonds out of jail that he is not being watched by law enforcement 24/7," WFTV legal analyst and former Chief Judge Belvin Perry said.
Investigators searched Lake Adelaide behind the home on Wednesday. Their searched turned up nothing.
During a news conference, police had a message for McCreery.
"Jessica, if you're watching, please contact us. There's nothing more that we want than to hear from you that you and Penelope are OK," Pelton said.
Pelton stressed that McCreery has nothing to fear and that police will help her make sure she and her baby are healthy and safe.
In a domestic violence injunction from 2001, Jennifer Hogarth claims that Hogarth, her husband at the time, "was thinking of having his ex (girlfriend) killed so he would gain custody of their daughter. He had at one time planned to kidnap (his daughter)."
Channel 9 spoke to Hogarth’s ex-girlfriend, Kim Noyes. She is the mother of Hogarth’s 21-year-old daughter, Jessica Hogarth.
“He was violent. He had a short temper,” Noyes said.
Jessica Hogarth described a volatile relationship with her father. It wasn’t until Penelope and Jessica McCreery were reported missing that she learned that she had a half-sister.
“I just found out Penelope Hogarth is my sister,” she said. “My relationship with my father is very rocky. I will probably never see him again.”
She said drugs played a big role in her father’s life, and she believes he is capable of being involved in Penelope and Jessica McCreery’s disappearance.
Noyes said she had a tumultuous two-year relationship with Hogarth in the late 1990s. She said he was a “loser” and was very selfish and manipulative.
Perry said those past allegations are something at which investigators will now look closely.
"All of that information would be relevant and material to this current investigation and his particular patterns," Perry said.
Anyone with information on McCreery's and Penelope's whereabouts is asked to contact Altamonte Springs police.
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