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Family waits to hear if boy is relative

Jonesboro - Family members of Laura Trandel said Friday that authorities were attempting to identify the child known as Eli Quick with the birth certificate from the boy Laura gave birth to in February of 1996.

The certificate from Swedish Covenant Hospital, which reads Timothy Robert Trandel, could provide the answers in a case of confused child identification that has left investigators frustrated and uncertain as to where the child originated.

DNA evidence proved Friday that the boy was not Tristen "Buddy" Myers, a blonde-haired, blue-eyed North Carolina youth that disappeared from his great-aunt's home more than two years ago.

Eli was brought to a Chicago hospital because Ricky Quick, the man who identified himself as Eli's father, said he was having behavioral problems. Hospital workers became concerned after Eli was unable to provide any details about his family.

Quick first told authorities his wife gave birth to the boy, but later told ABC news that he had an affair with Trandel, 27, who gave him the boy and told him it was his biological son.

Trandel's family disputes Quick's statement that the two had and affair, and said instead that Laura gave him boy when he was four months old because she believed the Quick family was a good Christian family who desired a boy after conceiving three girls.

Laura's mother, Sandy Cesewski, said she was there when Timmy was born and that part of the reason Laura gave him up was because of the lifestyle the two were leading. She said at the time she and Laura were both mixed up in drugs and prostitution.

Timmy was the fourth child of the six Trandel mothered. The oldest, 11, and two youngest, 4 and 2, live with Trandel's sister Cheri in Anna. Two other children came between the oldest and Timmy. The girl was adopted and the boy lives with his biological father.

The family has been unable to locate Trandel, who left Jonesboro without saying goodbye April 1.

A family friend who answered the door at Cheri's home Friday said Cheri was waiting to hear from DCFS. Calls to her home went unanswered Sunday.

Cesewski said since Laura moved to Jonesboro about 5 and 1/2 years ago she had turned her life around. She said Laura had gotten her GED and Certified Nursing Assistant license. She said Laura worked the entire time she was in Jonesboro and had stopped using drugs.

"She really turned her life around," Sandy said. "She really did good down here."

Her stepfather, Tim Cesewski, said he believes Laura left because she didn't have a lot of friends in the area and was restless.

He said after Eli is identified as Timmy that he would like the boy brought to Anna-Jonesboro to his biological family.

"If we can get him, we should bring him back," Tim said. "Family looks out for family."

"I just want him to have a good life. I would like it to be with us - but if it can't be, I would like it to be a good life," Tim said.

Reporter Sara Hooker can be reached at shooker@dailyegyptian.com.