Father of missing St. Louis boy hires private investigators in

ST. LOUIS -- An attorney for the father of a missing disabled boy said his client has hired private investigators to help find young Christian Ferguson.

John Rogers, a criminal defense lawyer, said Dawan Ferguson has cooperated fully with the St. Louis police and has given them multiple statements about the 9-year-old boy.

"We continue to be apprised of leads in the case," he said, following a morning news conference. "We, Dawan and myself, and family have hired private investigators who are trying to develop leads."

Asked why Ferguson was not at the press conference, Rogers said he didn't want his client talking to the media. He said Ferguson is grieving.

On Friday, as the day before, volunteers joined police in a desperate rush to locate the boy, who disappeared early Wednesday. His condition requires daily medication. Without it, family says, he will not survive.

St. Louis Police Capt. Harry Hegger told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch it is doubtful the boy is still alive. Hegger also told KSDK-TV that Ferguson stopped cooperating with police on Thursday.

Hegger heads the investigation into Dawan Ferguson's report that someone drove off with his parked SUV after 6 a.m. Wednesday with his son Christian in it.

Searchers set up a command post near Christian's mother's home in the suburb of St. John. They used dogs to hunt for the boy in another suburb, Ferguson, where the empty SUV was recovered Wednesday.

Many of the helpers paused for a prayer vigil Thursday night at the intersection where Ferguson said someone drove off while he was out of the vehicle to use a pay phone.

Christian has a rare disorder that inhibits his ability to process protein. It dictates his diet and medicine regimen.

Dawan Ferguson, 30, has custody of Christian and a brother, although their mother, Theda Thomas, said she had been trying to take them back.

Alexsis Johnson, 14, who lives near where the SUV was found, told a reporter she saw it parked early Wednesday, about the same time Dawan Ferguson said it was being stolen about five miles away.

Rogers, Ferguson's attorney, would not discuss the details of why his client stopped to use a pay phone, when police said Ferguson was carrying a cell phone.

Christian's maternal grandparents, Theodore and Sandra Wilson, have doubts about Ferguson's account of what happened.

"If he was carrying him to the doctor why did he stop? We don't understand why he'd stop if the baby's in dire need of medical help," Theodore Wilson said.

Sandra Wilson added: "I'm going over and over it in my mind. There's lots of questions that need to be answered. Did it really happen?"