PUBLIC SAFETY

Mom claims father buried Baby Janna

Justin L. Mack
justin.mack@Indystar.com

The mother of missing 3-month-old Janna Rivera says her relationship with the child's father turned violent about two years ago, according to a personal protection order she filed Monday.

Yolanda Rivera-Gonzalez alleges that Jeffrey D. Fairbanks, 45, would beat her at least once a month, leaving her scarred, bruised and afraid that she and her children were not safe when he was around.

Rivera-Gonzalez also alleges in the personal protection order that Fairbanks admitted to burying their daughter while she was at work on Friday. He said that Janna died while he was watching her and Rivera-Gonzalez's two older children, according to the order.

The couple's only daughter was reported missing to Indianapolis police on Friday. Authorities over the next few days searched countywide for the infant's body.

Authorities have described Fairbanks as a person of interest in the case, but no suspects have been named. No arrests have been made.

IMPD Lt. Richard Riddle said Tuesday that police would not comment on any statements made by Janna's parents.

Without Janna's body, her cause of death remains unclear, and officials will not speculate publicly on what happened.

Nothing is said in the personal protection order about how the infant lost her life.

Police said Tuesday that they continue to search for answers. Riddle said there were no new developments in the investigation.

Since Friday, both IMPD and FBI investigators have searched near Janna's home in 4100 block of Candy Apple Boulevard, the Mount Comfort Transfer Station, the South Side Landfill and an undisclosed location.

None of the searches have yielded anything of value, Riddle said.

Police continue to ask the community for assistance.

In the personal protection order filed against Fairbanks, Rivera-Gonzalez said the incidents of domestic violence with Fairbanks were too frequent to count.

She alleges that Fairbanks had choked her, pushed her and struck her. She also detailed one occasion in which she alleges that Fairbanks sprayed her with a fire extinguisher during an argument.

Rivera-Gonzalez writes in the order that she never went to the police out of fear that Fairbanks would retaliate.

Marion Superior Judge Patrick Dietrick approved the personal protection order Monday.

It is one of two active protection orders filed against Fairbanks. The other, filed in June 2013, is associated with a charge of domestic battery that Fairbanks is facing in Hendricks County.

A pretrial hearing for that case is slated for July 9, according to online court records.

Efforts to reach Fairbanks for comment were unsuccessful.

Call Star reporter Justin L. Mack at (317) 444-6138. Follow him on Twitter: @justinlmack.