$10,000 reward offered to find missing Lansing Township man, girlfriend says

LANSING TWP. - A $10,000 reward is offered by the girlfriend of a man who she said Monday has been missing for nearly a week.

Jasmine Hill said the reward will be given to anyone who can find Jerome Deshaun Ezell and bring him back home safe. Police are investigating Ezell's disappearance.

“He’s depending on me to find him," Hill said, "and I’m not going to stop."

Hill and Ezell's 5-month-old son, Jionni, was found the night of Nov. 7 by Hill in her car, which Ezell drove that day. The vehicle is a white Chevrolet Equinox that was found in Lansing Township parked in the 1100 block of North Fairview Avenue.

Township Police Chief Adam Kline said Monday there are no signs of foul play or any leads. The Lansing Police Department also is involved in the investigation.

Kline said police are aware of the reward to find Ezell and are working closely with his family to find him.

“It can spur information, but it can also spur lots of false information," Kline said of the reward. "It’s up to us to sort through it, sort through what we get and follow through."

Ezell's name is listed as missing in a communication network called LEIN (Law Enforcement Information Network) that can be accessed by police agencies nationwide, Lansing Police Public Information Director Robert Merritt said.

Hill said she believes foul play was involved. She lives with Ezell and their son in Lansing Township, near Michigan Avenue and St. Joseph Street. She doesn't know why her vehicle was found in the Groesbeck Neighborhood.

Hill said she found the vehicle at about 7:20 p.m. Nov. 7 unlocked with its keys on the passenger seat. She found her son strapped in his car seat behind the passenger seat. The car seat's base wasn't secured by the vehicle's seat belt.

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Hill said she found her son in good health with a dry diaper and a normal temperature.

“When I opened the door he just looked at me like 'I’m glad someone is here,'" Hill said of her son.

The child received medical treatment last week and was released from the hospital the night Hill found him, Kline said.

Police said last week Ezell, 27, was last seen Nov. 7 at about 10:45 a.m. in the 500 block of South Clemens Avenue driving the white Chevrolet Equinox.

Hill said Monday she last saw Ezell at about 9:30 a.m. that day after he dropped her off at work. Ezell had their son in the car at that time and planned to take him to day care about an hour later, she said.

Hill said the couple's day care provider is at a home near Michigan Avenue and St. Joseph Street. The day care provider and resident of the home told Hill that she received a text message from Ezell at 10:20 a.m. that said he was with his son in the car and on the way.

"He never showed," Hill said.

While at work that day, Hill said she texted Ezell at about 4:30 p.m. but didn't get a response.

About two and a half hours later, Hill said she noticed the OnStar navigation system in her car had been deactivated. She paid OnStar to reactivate it so the car could be located.

Township police, with the assistance of police from Michigan State University, East Lansing and the township's fire department used night vision equipment to search a nearby wooded area last week.

Ezell's son Jionni was born two months early on May 14 - Mother's Day. He helped Hill deliver the child in their Lansing Township home, she said.

“This is not the type of father to leave a child abandoned," Hill said.

Ezell is described by police as a 5-foot-4,170-pound black male who was last seen wearing wheat-colored Timberland boots, black jeans, a red shirt and a black leather jacket over it. He may answer to the name "Roni" or "E," police said.

Anyone with information about Ezell is encouraged to call police at (517) 485-1700 or Hill at (517) 214-6715.

Contact Eric Lacy at (517) 377-1206 or elacy@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @EricLacy.