Matthew Graham, a person of interest in a California manhunt concerning the disappearance of his 6-month-old daughter, was last seen at a gas station on Sunday afternoon in Shasta Lake.
Graham was reportedly walking south from the Shell gas station near the Shasta Dam and Cascade boulevards while wearing a baseball cap and a green T-shirt that read, “Thanks,
home of the Braves,” according to NBC Bay Area News.
While at the gas station, Graham purchased cigarettes, gave his name, and showed his ID,
gas station employee Amber Evers told the Los Angeles Times. Evers also added that the whole situation “was kind of bizarre” because Graham’s face was strewn all over the local newspapers. After he left the station, Evers called the cops.
Graham became a person of interest in the disappearance of his daughter, Ember, from her crib when he vanished over the weekend along with money, a phone, and a semiautomatic gun taken from his mother’s purse, according to the Times. A warrant was issued for his arrest on Saturday, noting that he “should be considered armed and dangerous” on suspicion of being a felon while violating the terms of his previous probation in connection with driving under the influence.
Ember’s mother, Jamie Lee Graham, believes that her husband is not responsible for her daughter’s disappearance reported on July 2.
“He loves her more than he loves me. He loves that little girl more than I've ever seen anybody
love somebody,” Jamie Lee said, according to KRCR News. “There's no way he did this. There's no way.”
Because Ember suffers from epilepsy and is required to take her medication twice daily, Jamie Lee is concerned because whoever abducted Ember left her medication behind.
Suspicion over Graham’s possible role in Ember’s disappearance arose after he relayed inconsistent accounts of his whereabouts on the night she disappeared, according to the Los Angeles Times. Although he reported her missing on July 2, saying he passed out after smoking marijuana all night and awoke to find her missing, authorities have found no “credible evidence” to support his claims.