Not Guilty Plea Filed in Case of Missing Girl

While the 19-year-old mother of a missing 3-year-old recovered Wednesday from giving birth in a hospital jail ward, her live-in boyfriend pleaded not guilty to felony charges of child endangerment.

Jeffrey Jones, 24, is being held in lieu of $200,000 bail. Simona Demery, also charged with felony child endangerment, is in custody at Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center. Officials postponed Demery’s arraignment to give her time to recover from the birth of her daughter, Destiny.

Meanwhile, police continued their search for Alicia Versluis, who disappeared Sunday during a family visit to Ganesha Park in Pomona. Her mother said she had been reading when she looked up to find Alicia gone.

Police arrested Demery and Jones on Monday after finding that they lived in a storefront in the 800 block of West Holt Avenue. Investigators said the storefront, formerly an herb store, had no running water and was unsafe for habitation. They also found a small amount of marijuana.

Authorities removed Alicia’s twin sister, Ebony, from the home.

Anita Bock, director of the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services, said that the family was known to the department, but that she had not had a chance to review specifics of the case.

Jones’s attorney, Frank H. Williams Jr., and two of Demery’s sisters said Wednesday that the couple did not endanger their children.

“I think the focus should be on finding that child,” instead of on how the family lived, Williams said after Jones’ arraignment in Pomona Superior Court.

Demery’s half sister Danielle Webster, 20, said the couple are poor but do all they can for the girls.

“Can’t we just find my niece before we let all this other [courtroom] drama happen?” she said. “She’s probably hungry and scared.”

Webster said Demery was a caring mother.

“She might not have a lot to give them, but she washed those babies up every day,” Webster said. “She loved them and they loved her.”

The twins’ father, Doug Versluis, arrived Tuesday from his home in Salt Lake City to speak with investigators. He is seeking custody of Ebony, officials said.

Alicia, who is African American, is about 2 feet tall, weighs 23 pounds and had her hair in a ponytail the day she disappeared. She was wearing a gray sweatsuit, a white T-shirt and pink-and-white Nike sneakers, according to her mother. Anyone with information is asked to call Pomona police at (909) 620-2155.