US parents upset with search for missing baby

A Missouri couple whose infant daughter vanished 7 1/2 months ago expressed frustration Monday with the pace of the investigation. Deborah Bradley and Jeremy Irwin of Kansas City, who appeared on the NBC "Today" show with their attorney, said the key to their frustration is what they see as a lack of answers from investigators regarding a charge made to a debit card stolen from Irwin about a month after their 10-month-old daughter Lisa disappeared Oct. 4. Irwin said a $69.04 charge was made to a British Web site offering to legally change a person's name online. Two other charges were attempted. Kansas City police said it appeared to be a simple case of a stolen card and do not consider it a promising lead. A former FBI criminal profiler told NBC News the length of time between the child's disappearance and the card theft is one of the reasons investigators may have discounted its importance in the case. "I am a mess,'' Bradley told NBC. "I am frustrated. It has been almost eight months, and we're not getting any answers. We understand that the FBI and the KCPD have a job to do, but we need answers. We need Lisa. The answer to us that we are looking at is unacceptable. "I'm unhappy with what they're telling me. It's been too long. With this [stolen card] development, they've had it for a long time, and we still haven't heard anything.'' Irwin discovered the door unlocked, the lights on and Lisa's crib empty when he came home from work at 3:45 a.m. Oct. 4. Bradley has said she had several drinks that night and has no recollection of when she last checked on the child. Joe Tacopina, the couple's lawyer, criticized the investigation, saying police were not aggressive enough in following up a witness' report that he saw a man carrying a baby in a diaper about the time Lisa disappeared. A local handyman with a history of break-ins was questioned by police but was not named a suspect. "[The police] missed massive opportunities, including three witnesses that identified a man holding a baby that matched Jersey John's description after midnight with just a diaper on,'' Tacopina said. "It's inconceivable that that wasn't followed up on immediately.''