In the search for an on-the-lam mother and her possibly badly burned son, an Aurora police detective spoke on the phone with the woman and pleaded with her to get the 2-year-old boy treatment.
But, according to police, Ciarra Elem said no.
“The detective said, ‘Look, let a friend or a family member take the baby in if you’re worried. But let’s just get him to the hospital and get this checked out,”‘ Aurora police spokeswoman Shannon Lucy said Sunday. “And she refused.”
Authorities had no luck Sunday in their search for Elem, 20, or her son, 2-year-old Sahfonie. They checked addresses where they say Elem often visits, including apartment complexes near the Fitzsimons medical campus. But, police say, no one has reported seeing Elem in several days.
“She’s laying pretty low,” Lucy said.
The conversation with the detective took place Friday, with Elem talking on a borrowed cellphone, Lucy said.
Officials launched the search for Elem earlier Friday after deputies at the Arapahoe County Jail intercepted a letter Elem wrote to her boyfriend, who is an inmate at the jail. In the letter, postmarked May 14, Elem told her boyfriend that Sahfonie had third- degree burns on his chest from a hot iron.
But because Elem was afraid officials would take the boy from her if she took him to the hospital, she said in the letter, she decided to treat the boy herself, according to police.
“It is not looking good,” she wrote in the letter.
Arapahoe County Human Services spokeswoman Nichole Parmelly said Sunday that she couldn’t comment on whether her department has had contact with Elem or Sahfonie.
Elem has been arrested several times in the past two years on counts of drug possession and distribution, as well as on traffic and assault charges, according to Colorado Bureau of Investigation records.
Anyone with information on Elem’s whereabouts is asked to call Aurora Detective Dave Hellmer at 303-489-6246.
Staff writer John Ingold can be reached at 720-929-0898 or jingold@denverpost.com.
