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A photo of Braylen Noble hangs on the pool fence where his body was found as balloons sway in the wind at Hunter's Ridge Apartments in Toledo, Ohio, on Thursday September 10, 2020.
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Search warrant released in Braylen Noble case

THE BLADE/REBECCA BENSON

Search warrant released in Braylen Noble case

Days before a missing 3-year-old’s body was found in the swimming pool at the South Toledo apartment complex where he lived, Toledo police seized a vehicle, cell phones, and other property from his family’s apartment in case his disappearance turned out to be a criminal matter.

Toledo Police on Wednesday made public the search warrant they executed Sept. 4 at the apartment in the Gibralter Heights complex off Airport Highway and Byrne Road from which Dajnae Cox had reported that morning the disappearance of her son, Braylen Noble.

Among items seized during the apartment search, documents show, was a black 2012 Jeep Liberty belonging to Bobbie Johnson, the toddler’s grandmother.

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Officers also collected as potential evidence in the case six cell phones, two tablet computers, a claw hammer and a box of trash bags from a kitchen closet, and a cigarette butt found on a chair on the apartment’s balcony.

Amber Mercer hugs Serena McLane, 7, during a vigil for Braylen Noble on Sept. 9 at Hunter's Ridge Apartments in Toledo.
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Investigation has no new developments in Braylen Noble case

Braylen’s body was found in the swimming pool five days later following a search involving volunteers as well as police and rescue workers that reportedly included several previous checks of the pool as well as a wooded area and the Swan Creek ravine near the building.

Dr. Cynthia Beisser, a Lucas County deputy coroner, performed an autopsy and found “no anatomic cause of death and no gross evidence of trauma.”

“Drowning has not yet been ruled out as a cause of death, but further studies and investigation are needed before the final ruling is issued,” she said in a news release.

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Toxicology and other tests remain pending as the investigation continues. A cause of death remains undetermined.

According to the search warrant, Ms. Cox said she had last seen Braylen in the apartment with her mother. She told police Ms. Johnson had told her the boy, who was autistic and non-verbal, had gone into his bedroom and closed the door, but he was not there when Ms. Cox went into that room after re-entering the apartment from its balcony.

Police have not released any further details in the case.

First Published September 23, 2020, 10:43 p.m.

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A photo of Braylen Noble hangs on the pool fence where his body was found as balloons sway in the wind at Hunter's Ridge Apartments in Toledo, Ohio, on Thursday September 10, 2020.  (THE BLADE/REBECCA BENSON)  Buy Image
A balloon floats in the pool where the body of 3-year-old Braylen Noble was found on Wednesday at Hunter's Ridge Apartments in Toledo, Ohio, on Thursday September 10, 2020.  (THE BLADE/REBECCA BENSON)  Buy Image
THE BLADE/REBECCA BENSON
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