CINCINNATI — A memorial for a missing child and a murdered mother was set up on Friday near the place where a key piece of evidence in the case was located.

Lit candles, a small Christmas tree, and a stuffed bear were arranged alongside a picture of Nylo and Nyteisha Lattimore near the Purple People Bridge on Christmas Day.

Twenty-nine-year-old Nyteisha Lattimore was found stabbed to death along Pete Rose Way in the early hours of Sunday, Dec. 13. Her boyfriend, 20-year-old Desean Brown, is currently being held at the Hamilton County Detention Center, charged with murder in the woman's death.

Authorities have been searching for 3-year-old Nylo Lattimore, who was last seen on Dec. 4. According to police, a stroller belonging to Lattimore was found near the bridge and later identified by her family, but no other sign of Nylo's presence had been discovered. Police suspect foul play in the boy’s disappearance.

A team of divers with the Hamilton County Police Association Underwater Search and Recovery Unit searched the Ohio River near Yeatman's Cove but, so far, have found no evidence related to the case.

Cincinnati's Homicide Unit is investigating Lattimore's death. Anyone with information is asked to call 513-765-1212.

CINCINNATI — Investigators are offering a reward for information that leads to the location of a 3-year-old boy who went missing in December.

A city administration official said in an email Tuesday that Crimestoppers is offering $2,500 for information in the disappearance of Nylo Lattimore, last seen Dec. 4, 2020.

Police found the toddler's mother, 29-year-old Nyteisha Lattimore, near the Purple People Bridge, dead from stab wounds on Dec. 12. Her boyfriend, 20-year-old Desean Brown, is currently being held at the Hamilton County Detention Center, charged with murder in the woman's death.

In the days following Nyteisha Lattimore's death, Cincinnati police announced they suspected foul play in the boy's disappearance.

Police asked that anyone with information about the case call Crimestoppers at 513-352-3040.

LAWRENCEBURG, Ind. —

The search continued Friday for two boys believed to have been thrown in the Ohio River and just after 8 p.m., a Dearborn County water rescue team came in with a boat after dogs sniffed out a "possible target."

Friday's search was supposed to end around 8 p.m. but after possible detection, lights have been lit in the area as investigators continue their work.

A few dozen volunteers joined North Star Search and Recovery and Ohio LandSAR in Lawrenceburg in search of 3-year-old Nylo Lattimore and 6-year-old James Hutchinson.

"It just felt like the thing to do. I'm a mom, and sitting at home, there was nothing I could do. So, I wanted to come out here and help search," said volunteer, Kelley Workman.

Peter Ehoodin also volunteered his time.

"It's the thing to do. I'm retired. I can't sit at home and watch it, so that's why I'm here," Ehoodin said.

Crews planned on searching 86 acres of land called the Oxbow.

"This was one of the main areas that we wanted to get to, and we absolutely could not get to it. We couldn't even get the water cadaver dogs in there," said North Star spokesperson, Tracey Campbell. "We kept thinking the water was going to subside. It would dry out, but then we'd get another day of rain."

Now, the floodplain near the Carol Cropper bridge is dry.

That's the bridge where Middletown police said James was thrown into the river by his mother and her boyfriend in February. Investigators said the couple tied a concrete block to his body before they threw him in.

Investigators in Hamilton County said Nylo was tossed in about 17 miles upriver by his mother's boyfriend in December.

"We're not going to stop until we succeed in our mission, and it's to bring those boys home," Campbell said.

OXBOW, Ind. — Crews have been searching for the bodies of 3-year-old Nylo Lattimore and 6-year-old James Hutchinson for weeks, but their search Friday for the two missing Tri-State boys ended with no sign of them.

The search was called off at 9 p.m. Earlier, search crews had a possible hit when three K9s marked a potential area of interest. Dearborn County Water Rescue began to investigate, but the team left the water at 8 p.m. Search dogs then lost the scent, and crews had to call off the search as darkness fell.

"Whatever it was, has broken free and gone down the river some," said Tracy Campbell with North Star International Search and Recovery.

There's no word yet on when the search will pick back up. Campbell said the result of Friday's five-hour search was disheartening.

"You hope, and do what you do, because you want to find and bring people some closure," she said. "But you know what? We'll keep trying."

Investigators believe the boys were both dropped in the Ohio River, and divers have combed the river for weeks. Now that early spring flooding has receded, crews are searching on land that had been underwater.

"If you were on the bridge, you may look down from the bridge, and think you're over water. You were. But part of it was land that was submerged by rain. So you may have thought you dropped something in the river," Campbell said.

The group of volunteers and search experts continued their operation in Oxbow, Indiana downriver of the Carroll Lee Cropper Bridge, hoping to cover about 86 acres on horseback and on the ground.

“It's big, a lot of land. That's not even covering the entire Oxbow area we want to cover. I'm not sure we'll have the people needed today to get it done,” Campbell said.

Investigators believe Nylo Lattimore was put in a body bag and thrown into the Ohio River by 21-year-old Desean Brown, the man accused of killing Nylo’s mother 29-year-old Nyteisha Lattimore in early December 2020. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.

Authorities said Hutchinson’s mother, 29-year-old Brittany Gosney, admitted to killing the boy after trying to abandon him in a Preble County park. As she attempted to leave him in the park, Hutchinson held onto her car, which dragged him as Gosney drove away, she told police.

She then took the boy’s body home to later drop it in the river near Lawrenceburg, Indiana. Gosney and her boyfriend, James Hamilton, face dozens of charges, including murder, involuntary manslaughter, gross abuse of a corpse, endangering children and tampering with evidence. Both have pleaded not guilty.