photo by: Clinton Bradley/Contributed Photo

Amiyah Bradley

The father of the 5-year-old girl whose body was recovered Saturday from the Kansas River said he hadn’t seen his daughter in 18 months and was worried about what he said was the deteriorating mental state of her mother.

Clinton Tyler Bradley, of Columbia, Mo., said his daughter Amiyah Bradley was the girl whose body was recovered Saturday morning from the Kansas River. The girl was born during a two-year relationship he had with Scharron Dingledine, he said.

Lawrence police arrested Dingledine, 26, of Columbia, Mo., Saturday afternoon on suspicion of first-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder, according to a news release from the department.

The charges stem from an incident that left Dingledine, her 1-year-old son and Amiyah in a car in the Kansas River north of the intersection of Sixth and Vermont streets. Dingledine and the 1-year-old boy were rescued and taken to Lawrence Memorial Hospital, where the boy remained Saturday.

photo by: Douglas County Sheriff’s Office

Scharron R. Dingledine

No information has been released about how the car ended up in the river. The car was found in a section of the river that is just west of the downtown Lawrence river bridges, but the car was in an area that motorists do not often travel. The vehicle was found in a portion of the river that is more than 50 yards away from a little-used, gravel access road that leads to a power plant.

Dingledine is currently being held without bail in the Douglas County Jail. There were no updates Sunday on the condition of the 1-year-old boy, said Lawrence Police Capt. Trent McKinley.

Bradley said Sunday he hadn’t seen his daughter in 18 months at the request of Dingledine, who was living in Columbia with the father of the 1-year-old boy.

photo by: Clinton Bradley/Contributed Photo

Amiyah Bradley

“She wanted him to be the father and cut me out of the situation,” Bradley said. “I respected her wishes and continued to provide financial support. Her new man was a great guy, and took good care of the kids. I thought when Amiyah got older and wanted to know her father, we could get back together.”

He and Dingledine first met in high school in Macon, Mo., Bradley said. They reunited and started a relationship in Columbia, Mo., a few years later. They separated, in part, because of Dingledine’s battles with depression, but he maintained contact with Amiyah until Dingledine ended visitations, he said.

Bradley said he had growing concerns about the welfare of Amiyah because of what he said was Dingledine’s worsening depression.

“I thought of taking some kind of action to get custody,” he said. “Now, I wish I had.”

He has started an online GoFundMe fundraiser to help pay for a funeral for Amiyah, Bradley said.

“She was a really sweet girl and a great big sister,” he said.

The father of Dingledine’s 1-year-old son, reached by phone Sunday, declined to be interviewed by the Journal-World. Attempts to reach other members of Dingledine’s family also were unsuccessful.