A 2-Year-Old Indiana Girl's Body Was Found in a River. Her Dad Will Now Spend Decades in Prison for Her Death.
Jeremy Sweet (left) was sentenced in connection to the death of his daughter, who went missing in November 2021.
Jun. 13 2024, Published 3:00 a.m. ET
The search for a missing toddler in Indiana ended four days after she was last seen alive with her father, and now, authorities say her father will spend decades in prison in connection with her death, RadarOnline.com has learned.
On Nov. 24, 2021, Jeremy Sweet, 41, was confirmed to be with his 2-year-old daughter, Emma Sweet — but the pair vanished, Front Page Detectives reported.
The more the child's father talked with police, the more his stories changed, officials said.
Two days later, on Nov. 26, 2021, duck hunters reported finding Sweet’s truck submerged in the White River in Barthlolomew County, WLWT reported.
“Prior to us being called to that scene, the mother had filed a missing persons report on both Emma and Jeremy on Thanksgiving Day,” Bartholomew County Sheriff Matt Myers said.
An arrest warrant was obtained and Martinez-Hernandez was taken into custody on June 14, officials said.
Sweet was inside the vehicle alive and suffering hypothermia, but rescuers did not locate Sweet's girl in the vehicle.
A diver later found what is believed to be Emma’s jacket downstream, and her body was located and recovered three miles away from the truck on Nov. 28, 2021.
When talking with police, Jeremy gave multiple stories, none of them being the same.
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Detectives spoke with Jeremy the day after his daughter's body was found and he admitted to police that he used methamphetamine and marijuana on Thanksgiving Day.
According to the Bartholomew County Sheriff's Office, Jeremy gave multiple stories about what happened to his daughter and none of the stories were the same.
Jeremy will now spend 40 years behind bars after pleading guilty to the death of his daughter.
“When we first made contact…it was that he had dropped Emma off [with someone],” Sheriff Myers said, according to WXIN. “Right after that he says she was on the hood of the car of his vehicle her coat was wet, so he took the coat off and that’s where she got swept away.”
He added of the alleged multiple claims that “none of them match.”
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According to the sheriff, investigators allegedly found a needle and drug paraphernalia on Sweet, WXIN reported.
At the time of the incident, the sheriff said, Sweet was out on bond for unlawful possession of a firearm by a serious violent felon, and possession of methamphetamine.
On June 11, Sweet pleaded guilty in the case and he received a 40-year prison sentence for the role he played in his daughter's death, WXIN reported. “This is a complete tragic, senseless loss of life,” Bartholomew County Prosecutor Lindsey Holden-Kay told WXIN. “It should’ve never happened. They were decisions made that day that this was so preventable.”
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