10/16/2026
Missing Lost And Trafficked
Lured Lost And Unsolved
Emma Baum remains missing more than two years after her disappearance, with no body recovered and no arrests related to her case in official reporting.
GARY, Ind.-Emma Baum, 25, of Portage, Indiana, was last seen on October 10, 2024, after being dropped off near the 2500 block of Connecticut Street in Gary, Indiana, where she was reportedly visiting the father of her unborn child, Antwon Butler.
She was nine months pregnant at the time and due to deliver imminently. A missing-person report was filed on October 28, 2024.
Extensive searches, family appeals, and media coverage (including by Fox News, USA Today, NBC Chicago, and others) have produced no sign of Baum or the child.
Public records and mainstream reporting show no charges have been filed against anyone in connection with her disappearance or any alleged homicide.
Butler was taken into custody around the time of the missing-person report on an unrelated warrant; authorities have consistently stated he has not been charged in the Baum case.
Her case is listed by sources such as the Charley Project as an open endangered-missing investigation.
Charleyproject
Claims that Marcietta “Pebbles” Banks made a detailed video confession (including a purported 13-minute-50-second interview with “Spin Diana”) about supplying items to help remove Emma Baum’s body from an apartment after a homicide originate primarily from posts and videos by the social-media account “Missing Lost And Trafficked” (MLAT).
These include references to messages or statements in which Banks allegedly said the baby’s father killed Baum, that she was asked to help move a body, and that she declined .
Banks told Spin Diana she gave Butler
supplies he requested to conceal Emma’s body before she was allegedly put in a dumpster.
Banks also stated that Jarvis Sanders Kevin Kizer helped Butler remove Emma from hee apartment after she was allegedly strangled.
MLAT has described sending related audio or statements to Gary police, but no official confirmation of a confession leading to charges has been reported. As of the latest available information, neither Baum nor any remains have been recovered, and no related arrests have occurred.
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The time since Baum’s last confirmed sighting (October 10, 2024) exceeds 730 days with no recovery or related arrest.
Potential Indiana charges based on an alleged role of supplying items to help remove/conceal a body after a homicide
The following is a general explanation of Indiana statutes that could apply in a hypothetical scenario in which a person knowingly supplied items used to move or conceal human remains after a violent or suspicious death, with intent to hinder investigation or apprehension.
These are not accusations of guilt against any individual; actual charging decisions require investigation, evidence, and prosecutorial discretion. No such charges have been publicly filed in this case.
Felony possibilities
Assisting a criminal (IC 35-44.1-2-5): A person who is not a parent, child, or spouse of the perpetrator and who, with intent to hinder apprehension or punishment, harbors, conceals, or otherwise assists someone who has committed a crime. Base level is a Class A misdemeanor. It becomes a Level 6 felony if the underlying crime is a Level 3–6 felony (or if criminal-organization membership is involved).
It rises to a Level 5 felony if the person assisted committed murder (or a Level 1/2 felony) or if a deadly weapon was provided. Supplying materials specifically to help remove or hide a body after a homicide could fall under “otherwise assists,” depending on knowledge and intent.
Altering a death scene (IC 36-2-14-17(b)): Knowingly or intentionally altering the scene of a death that occurred by violence or under suspicious/unusual circumstances, without permission of the coroner or law enforcement and with intent to hinder a criminal investigation, is a Level 6 felony.
Related obstruction-of-justice provisions (IC 35-44.1-2-2) can reach Level 6 felony level when a person alters, damages, or removes something with intent to prevent its use as evidence in an investigation.
Misdemeanor possibilities
Failure to report discovery or handling of human remains (IC 35-45-19-3): A person who discovers or handles remains when death appears to have occurred by violence, under suspicious/unusual circumstances, suddenly while in apparent good health, while unattended, or similar listed situations, and who knowingly or intentionally fails to report it to a public safety officer, coroner, funeral director, physician, or 911 within three hours, commits a Class A misdemeanor.
Failure to notify of a violent or suspicious death (IC 36-2-14-17(a)): Knowingly or intentionally failing to immediately notify the coroner or law enforcement of the discovery of a body of a person who died from violence or under suspicious/unusual circumstances is a Class B infraction; it becomes a Class A misdemeanor if done with intent to hinder a criminal investigation.
Penalties (approximate ranges under current Indiana law) include up to 1 year and a fine for Class A misdemeanors; Level 6 felonies typically carry 6 months to 2½ years; Level 5 felonies carry 1–6 years. Actual sentences depend on prior history, aggravators, and other factors. Defenses can include lack of knowledge that a crime occurred, lack of intent to hinder, or family-relationship exemptions under the assisting-a-criminal statute.
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