Missing toddler recovered

"Something you may think is routine can turn out to be anything but," Porter said Monday in the living room of the North Las Vegas home she shares with her mother. "I’ve learned never to assume anything."

Still, Porter assumed the worst Friday when North Las Vegas police called to tell her that Isaiah was missing.

"I wondered if I ever would see him again," Porter said. "I started throwing up, and I couldn’t stop for a long time."

Fortunately, her fear — that she would have to identify her little one’s body — never came true.

At about 2:30 p.m. Saturday, San Diego police received a call from a California health care center that a child bearing a note with Isaiah’s name had been abandoned there in good condition.

Later that evening, after a quick flight from Las Vegas to San Diego, Porter had Isaiah back in her arms.

And 27-year-old Jamal Holdip, identified by Isaiah’s father, Jamar Jordan, as his son’s godfather, soon was in jail after authorities caught him trying to cross the Mexican border. North Las Vegas police plan on extraditing him to Nevada on charges of kidnapping and taking an automobile without permission.

"I can’t understand this at all," said Jordan. "It makes no sense."

As Porter watched Isaiah swing at golf balls in her living room, she seconded Jordan’s bewilderment.

"It’s just so bizarre," she said. "There has to be more to this."

Jordan and Porter, who were never married, have an informal shared custody arrangement and are in the midst of getting a court-ordered arrangement.

Jordan said Holdip, recently of Atlanta, was visiting him in North Las Vegas when the incident happened. Jordan said he and his girlfriend drove up to their North Las Vegas home on Shadow Tree Street. Holdip and Isaiah also were in the car.

"When we got out, Jamal got into the front seat and drove off with Isaiah in his car seat," said Jordan, who works at temporary jobs. "I thought maybe he was just going to the store, so I didn’t call police immediately."

About 45 minutes later, at around 11:30 p.m., according to police, Jordan called authorities and said Holdip had driven off with his son.

"We hadn’t had any fights or anything," Jordan said.

Porter didn’t find out about her son’s disappearance until North Las Vegas police Detective Jimmy Watson called her Friday morning with the news.

"I don’t know why Isaiah’s father didn’t call me right away," Porter said.

Jordan said he told police he received a call from Holdip Friday morning asking for money.

"But he didn’t say if I gave him money that I would get my son back," Jordan said.

North Las Vegas police spokesman Tim Bedwell said Watson worked through the family to get word to Holdip. Though Bedwell wouldn’t reveal who worked with police, Porter said Holdip’s cousin, Dion Binion, a casino employee, was instrumental in communicating with Holdip.

Binion said he contacted Holdip both through MySpace.com and cell phone.

"The police asked me to make sure to keep Jamal calm," said Binion, who even drove to California in an effort to find Holdip.

Binion, following instructions of police, asked Holdip to leave Isaiah at a hospital with a note.

Binion, too, is perplexed by his cousin’s action. "He did say he was set up by Jamar (Jordan) and his girlfriend, but he didn’t explain how."

Jordan said he did nothing to encourage Holdip’s behavior.

"My girlfriend and I did discuss moving to California for a fresh start," he said. "But that wasn’t anytime soon."

On Saturday, Porter had to cancel what was supposed to be her third operation for cervical cancer. When she talks of her son’s apparent kidnapping and the disease that has caused her to undergo chemotherapy three days a week, she grows somber.

"I don’t know what I could have done to anyone to deserve all this," said Porter, who had to leave her job as a medical file clerk because her cancer treatment often makes it nearly impossible to get out of bed.

When Isaiah threw a tantrum Monday and fell down on the floor screaming because he couldn’t get his way, Porter smiled, picked him up and kissed him on the cheek.

"I used to hate it when my son screamed before," Porter said, clutching Isaiah. "But I love that sound now. I never thought I was going to hear it again."