Columbus police: No leads in missing kids case

Columbus Police say they have no leads in the disappearance of three Columbus children and their father, Eddie Harrington, as of early Wednesday morning.


Eddie Harrington. (Columbus Police Department)

CPD Lt. Mark Starling, who is leading the investigation, says the statewide Amber Alert is still in effect.

Starling said Harrington left his cellphone at his home, limiting their ability to track his whereabouts. He says that Harrington's credit card use is being tracked, in an effort to zero in on his whereabouts.

Investigators are interviewing Harrington's brother and family, and are working with the as children's mother, Agena Battle.


Agana and Aliyah Battle, Cedric Harrington. (Columbus Police Department)

Starling said several tips have been called in by people who said they'd either seen Harrington or the vehicle they are traveling in, but said that the leads proved erroneous.

Starling said that Harrington is driving a dark green, 2002 Chevrolet Impala, with Indiana license plate No.: 93-L-4740. The vehicle has a crack in the front windshield.


The car the four are traveling resembles the vehicle above.

The GBI, and law-enforcement agencies in several southern states are taking part in the search, as well as the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Billboards in Columbus are showing photos of Harrington and the three children.

Columbus Police are urging anyone who has seen the vehicle or its occupants to call them at 706 653 3231 / 3000 (switchboard).

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Dad who fled with kids sent threatening letter

A Georgia man who fled the state last week with his three young children sent a letter to his father stating that he was going to kill the kids, the FBI said Tuesday.

Eddie Harrington, 28, has been missing from the Columbus, Ga., area since at least March 6, when authorities in Tennessee issued a child abduction alert after he may have been spotted there.

He is believed to be traveling with his twin 23-month-old girls, and his 3-year-old son, according to the FBI.

At some point, Eddie Harrington sent a letter to his father in the Indianapolis area "indicating he was going to kill the kids," an FBI statement said.

Columbus police issued a felony child endangerment warrant for Harrington, and the FBI on Monday issued a federal unlawful flight to avoid prosecution warrant. He is believed to have left the state, and is headed for Indianapolis.

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(The Associated Press)

Missing kids' mom makes plea for their return

Agana and Aliyah Battle, Cedric Harrington. (Columbus Police Department)

Agena Battle, the mother of a three-year-old son and twin toddler daughters who were taken by their father five days ago from their Columbus home, is pleading for their safe return.

Battle told local tv station WTVM, that she cannot function without them:

"Please air this stating that they are still missing. I have not eaten or slept well since they've been gone. I need them home. I am crying for your help. I have tried to do my daily routine but I cannot function well with out them."

Police say they have received scattered reports of sightings of their father Eddie Harrington and the trio in Tennessee.

Eddie Harrington. (Columbus Police Department)

An Amber Alert for the children was announced in Georgia and surrounding states when the three were first taken from Battle's home last Wednesday morning.

The four were last seen traveling in a green, 2002 Chevy Impala, similar to the one above.

Click here for more details on the case.

Columbus: Amber alert for three missing children

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation put out the Levi's Call alert Wednesday morning for the trio - a male toddler and one-year-old twin girls.

Eddie Harrington. (Columbus Police Department)

The children's father, 29-year-old Eddie Harrington reportedly took them from their mother's home in Columbus in the early hours of the morning, according to Columbus Police Department officer, Lt. Mark Starling:

“They left this morning around 01:30; it's going to be involving a family domestic issue, and because of information left at the home, [there's] some concern on our part for the safety of the kids.”

Agana and Aliyah Battle, Cedric Harrington. (Columbus Police Department)

Starling says there were no signs of violence at the home, and the children's mother was not present when they were taken. Starling described the vehicle:

“He's driving a 2002 Chevrolet Impala, dark green in color, bearing an Indiana tag: 93-L-4740; it has a cracked front windshield.”

The car the four are traveling resembles the vehicle above.

Columbus Police are urging anyone who has seen the vehicle or its occupants to call them at 706 653 3231 / 3000 (switchboard).

More details of the case are available at the GBI website.

Bodies of missing children, father found

Aliyah, Agena and Cedrick (Columbus Police)

The local FBI office says a citizen notified authorities at midday when they came upon the bodies, and the vehicle they had been traveling in.

Law enforcement officials have notified the children's mother, Agena Battle.

The four were found in an industrial park in a rural, wooded area on the eastern part of the city.

The FBI would not confirm how the four died. Muscogee County coroner Bill Thrower declined to say if it was a murder-suicide, according to the Associated Press.

Battle reported 23-month-old twins Aliyah and Agena, their brother, three-year-old Cedrick, and their father, Eddie Harrington, 28, as missing on Wednesday morning, March 5th.

Eddie Harrington (Columbus Police)

FBI Special Agent Steve Emmett in Atlanta describes Harrington's last communication with Battle:

“He left behind a letter, to be found by his girlfriend, where he threatened to kill those children. A second letter was mailed to his father in Indianapolis.”

A Levi's-Amber Alert was announced after the four were reported missing, and searches began throughout Georgia, and the southeast.

The bodies were sent to the GBI crime lab for autopsy.

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Police: abducted children met violent end

The three children that were taken by their father from their mother's home in Columbus two weeks ago, died from gunshot wounds soon after the abduction, Columbus police said Thursday.

The bodies of the children, and that of their father Eddie Harrington were found in an industrial park near Fort Benning, east of the city.

Harrington had left a note at the house for the children's mother, Agena Battle, threatening to kill the three. He sent a similar note to his father.

They had been missing since March 5, and had been originally thought to have fled the state towards Harrington's father's home in Indiana.

Click here for previous GPB News coverage of this story.