A Maywood couple was charged with first-degree murder Saturday in connection with the disappearance of 1-year-old Bryeon Hunter, who became the subject of an Illinois Amber Alert this week.
Lakeshia Baker, 22, was held without bond and bond was set at $750,000 for her boyfriend, Michael Scott.
It was not immediately clear if a body had been recovered.
Boats and bloodhounds searched the Des Plaines River earlier this week for the boy, but authorities said they had little hope they would find the boy alive.
Hunter's mother told police her son was snatched Tuesday from the area of Main Street and South Fifth Avenue at about 2:15 p.m.
Wednesday's search, done in poor weather conditions that included rain and lightning, turned up nothing, a sergeant said.
Baker told reporters Tuesday she and her son were attacked and beaten by three Hispanic men.
"They pulled up out of the alleyway and told me, 'Didn't we say we didn't want to see you here no more?' They pulled down my hair and pulled me in the car and started beating me and all I heard was my baby just screaming," Baker said. "They beat him too."
Baker, speaking with a swollen eye, said she and her son were taken to a wooded area a few blocks away where she was beaten again. She was then put back in the car that she described as a black two-door sports car with tinted windows, returned to the area where she and her son were abducted, and "kicked" out of the car.
Hunter was last seen wearing a blue, striped long-sleeved shirt, blue jeans and blue Nike shoes. He is 2 feet tall and weighs 30 pounds, officials said.
Officials on Wednesday said three Hispanic men suspected in the case had been cleared. Baker and her boyfriend were kept in police custody and questioned.
Anyone with information should contact the Maywood Police Department at 708-450-4471.