Deputies resume search for Zaden Mcknight

The search for the body of Zaden McKnight made an unsuccessful return Monday to the Riverview Park Apartments on Riverside Drive in Harrison Twp.

Montgomery County Sheriff's Office Maj. Daryl Wilson said deputies searched more than 500 individual apartments for any clues about McKnight, whom law enforcement presume is dead.

Dayton police say they believe Zaden and his mother, Nichelle McKnight, 25, were killed in March by McKnight's ex-boyfriend Antwan Anderson, who fatally shot himself about a week before McKnight's body was discovered behind the apartments near the banks of the Stillwater River.

"When his mom was located, we did a search assisting Dayton (police) with the case," Wilson said. "But we figured we would go a little further with that and look in the apartments on the west side of the street, as well."

Wilson said the apartment complex's new owners provided keys to all the units. "We didn't find anything," he said. "It was a day of not helping the family find closure.

"It gets harder even for the community," Wilson said. "Little Zaden's name and face is etched in all of our memories. So we continue to do what we can do to help with closure."

Volunteer groups have aided in the search along the river banks. Efforts have included a search this past weekend by a dozen people from the Ohio chapter of the national volunteer search organization, Texas EquuSearch.

"We will be wherever we think that little Zaden could be located. Not only is it us, but other law enforcement and the community," Wilson said. "We're not going to give up and I'm sure the community's not going to do that."

Tonisha Harris has been charged with receiving stolen property, theft and misuse of credit cards in connection with Nichelle McKnight's disappearance. Harris has a July 17 hearing scheduled in front of Montgomery County Common Pleas Court Judge Dennis Langer, who restricted public access to some court documents.

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