NEVADA, MO (KCTV5) -
Lisa Wills was eagerly anticipating the birth of her first grandchild.
But now she and police have many unanswered questions after a Missouri teen who was apparently ready to give birth disappeared and turned up almost a week later no longer pregnant.
"I feel like somebody has taken a knife and stabbed my heart," Wills said. "I am praying he is out there somewhere alive and someone knows where the baby is."
Because no charges have been filed, KCTV5 is not identifying the 17-year-old girl.
KCTV5 learned Tuesday night that the girl has agreed to a medical examination to determine whether she recently gave birth or not.
Wills said the girl became pregnant by her 18-year-old son James "Jimmy" Hume. The couple had their fights and lived for a time with Wills and her family in El Dorado Springs, MO.
Wills said the girl had resisted seeing a doctor and had even lied about going to the gynecologist.
"I begged her to go to the doctor. I begged her over and over and over," Wills told KCTV5.
She said she was so concerned about the health of the baby that she called Missouri social workers and an attorney. But she said state officials told her that the mother had the right not to go to the doctor.
"There was nothing I could do. I felt helpless," Wills said.
Some have questioned whether the girl was actually pregnant, but Wills has no doubts.
"I even touched her belly," she said, adding that her son felt the baby kick during the holidays. "I know she was pregnant."
But she hasn't seen the girl since just before Christmas when a final fight between Hume and the teen resulted in the girl moving out of their home.
Wills said she reconnected through Facebook recently with the girl.
"We were getting along and everything. On Tuesday, I got a text from her saying the baby was fine and she went to the doctor and everything was good. She said it was just a waiting game now," Wills recalled. "I got a text Tuesday night saying she was leaving town to visit somebody's little girl who had cancer."
Kelsey Paige Herring let the teen live with her starting four months ago. She received a similar text, saying the teen was visiting a relative battling leukemia.
Wills said she tried unsuccessfully to reach the teen on Wednesday, knowing that the baby could be born at anytime.
At 11:20 a.m. Thursday, Wills said she received a text from the teen. She said she was in the hospital after her water had broken and she began bleeding. She said the doctors couldn't find a heartbeat and the outcome looked dire.
Wills frantically tried reaching her to find out what hospital she was in.
"My grandchild was dying. I wanted to be there. She never answered back," she said.
Then at 12:35 p.m. Thursday a text came back to Wills. Both she, Herring and others received the same text. That text said, "At 11:52 I gave birth to a five-pound, 2-ounce 13-inch baby boy. Rest in peace, baby."
Wills remembers her reaction.
"I fell to the ground and started crying," she said. "It's heartbreaking when you think your grandson is dead. I said, 'Why.' But she never answered me. I asked her to bring the baby back so we could say goodbye. She never answered me."
Instead, Wills said the girl changed her telephone number so she could no longer reach her. She called an attorney but was told because her son wasn't married to the girl that there was nothing she could do. As a result, Wills said neither she nor her husband contacted police.
But the authorities eventually were alerted. A national missing persons alert was issued for the girl and her baby, but the alert was canceled after the girl was found on Sunday. She was no longer pregnant.
Wills said police talked to her son on Sunday night and that he is cooperating with authorities.
"He wants his baby back if he's still alive," Wills said.
Nevada Police Department Officer Lukas Gibson told the Springfield News-Leader that several friends and relatives received suicidal texts from the girl after she had said the baby died.
In addition to talking to Hume, Gibson said police interviewed the girl's boyfriend who lives in Pleasant Hill. Wills said the girl had said she was planning to marry him on June 23.
Gibson said the girl has not provided information about where the baby is.
However, authorities indicated Tuesday night that the girl is now talking to investigators.
Nevada Police Sgt. Jeff Baker said authorities are trying to determine if the teen had seen a doctor.
Authorities in both Nevada and Pleasant Hill are working to determine whether she was pregnant or not. It wasn't immediately clear whether the girl received a medical examination while she was in police custody Sunday and Monday.
Cass County prosecutor Teresa Hensley said through a staff member Monday her office wanted a follow-up investigation, according to the Associated Press.
Herring is among those wanting answers. Both she and Wills provided KCTV5 with pictures of the girl appearing to show her in various stages of her pregnancy and showing off her growing belly.
"Nothing is adding up right. None of the information she has given me in the past four months is," Herring said. "It is scaring me and I want to know where the little one is."
The uncertainty is agony for Wills. She said she would have a nervous breakdown if not for the support of her church, friends and family.
"I feel like my heart has been torn apart. This would have been my first grandchild. I was so looking forward to it," Wills said.
While she maintains hope, Wills know this story may have a tragic ending.
"In reality I don't think it's still alive," Wills said. "I think she probably dumped it somewhere. I hope it's not that case."
A sobbing Wills struggled to regain her composure.
"I plead for her to tell us where the baby is and what she did with it. I still love her," she said. "She will always be the mother of my grandchild. I just want to grab her and say, 'Tell us where the baby is.'
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