Tip proves fruitless in search for toddler +video

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Police officers on all-terrain vehicles and dogs trained to find human bodies searched a swath of woods in northern Richland County for a missing toddler on Thursday.

Police acted on a “substantial, credible” tip on the whereabouts of Amir Jennings, who was 18 months old when he was reported missing by his grandparents in December, said Jennifer Timmons, Columbia Police Department spokeswoman. The five-hour search was called off about 3:30 p.m. when police finished combing an 8.5-square-mile area with no results.

More than 50 officers from the FBI, State Law Enforcement Division, Richland County Sheriff’s Department and Columbia Fire Department participated in the search. The search was based out of a church parking lot on Dubard-Boyles Road, which is off Monticello Road.

The boy’s mother, Zinah Jennings, 22, is in the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center on a charge of cruelty to children. Zinah Jennings has not cooperated with police since her arrest in early January, and the tip that led to Thursday’s search did not come from her, Timmons said.

Timmons would not say who or what led police to search the area.

Meanwhile, Columbia attorney Hemphill Pride said his client, Zinah Jennings, is mentally ill and pregnant. She is not capable of taking care of herself, Pride said.

Jennings also faces prostitution and drug charges in East Point, Ga., after a November arrest.

The Associated Press contributed.

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