Charges filed against father in girl’s death
Note: This story has been updated
Charges have been filed against 39-year-old Jeremy Sweet, the father of 2-year-old Emma Sweet whose body was found Sunday in East Fork White River.
According to reports from the Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department, Sweet was served an arrest warrant Wednesday on charges of neglect of a dependent resulting in death and unlawful possession of a syringe.
He and his daughter had been reported missing on Thanksgiving Day. Duck hunters found him Friday morning inside his submerged truck in the river. But she was not in the truck with him.
According to the probable cause affidavit filed in Bartholomew Superior Court 1, Sweet did not initially tell his rescuers about anyone else who had been in the truck with him.
At Columbus Regional Hospital, Sweet told investigators that he had gotten lost on a dirt road, got his truck stuck and then went over an embankment into the river. He said that he removed Emma from her car seat after the truck went into the water. At one point, he said he and Emma fell into the water. He said Emma’s coat was wet so he took it off of her. And that he and Emma spent the night on top of the truck.
He said he last saw Emma standing on the roof of the truck calling for her mother.
Sweet also admitted to investigators that he had used methamphetamine and marijuana on the day before Thanksgiving. During his water rescue, officers discovered he was carrying a syringe and a corner cut baggie.
According to the court documents, an autopsy MOnday was inconclusive on whether the girl drowned or died of hypothermia. Bartholomew County Coroner Clayton Nolting has ordered a forensic autopsy. Results are expected to take around 4-6 weeks.
Sheriff Matt Myers thanked all the agencies and groups that helped with the search and investigation including deputies, detectives and administrators with the sheriff’s department, reserve deputy, chaplains from the sheriff’s department and Columbus police, CRH medics, Indiana State Police including troopers, divers and aviation, Columbus Polce Department, Indiana Department of Natural Resources, Columbus Fire Department, Columbus Township Fire and Rescue Department, Southwest, Wayne Township, Clay Township volunteer fire departments, fire departments from Danville, Amity, Cataract, the Bartholomew County Coroner’s office, Bartholomew County Emergency Operations Center, Deputy Prosecutor Greg Long in the Bartholomew County prosecutor’s office and 31 Wrecker.