Sources: Uncle passes polygraph after 17-month-old dies

"When he went to check on him, he [saw] my two-year-old grandson.  He was in the bed asleep.  The rest of the kids [were] sitting up watching cartoons.  He said he noticed Ziya wasn't in the room," said Bridget Elam.

Elam remembering a full house of grandchildren Friday when she says her little 17-month-old granddaughter, Ziya Turner, was nowhere to be found suddenly.

"He checked the whole house.  He checked everything in my house.  Like I said, it didn't dawn on any of us to check the closet because it never crossed our mind[s].  We were like cabinets, maybe the refrigerator, you know, bathroom, anywhere, you know, we just searched under the bed, we searched everywhere.  Then he said he came outside, he searched.  He searched the garage.  He searched under the house.  He didn't see her, so he got on his bike."

Ziya was found in a closet with clothes on top of her.  She was last seen with her cousins, who were watching television.  A 28-year-old was in her room on the home on Brinker Street, an 18-year-old in another part of the house, and the group of kids, Ziya's cousins, and a 21-year-old uncle left in charge.  He was interviewed by police.  In fact, he asked to take a polygraph.

Elam was adamant about what happened, saying the uncle did not fail the polygraph and was cleared and released.

"My son was never arrested.  My son was never in custody.  My son took it upon himself to tell the detective and the police if you all think I did anything to my niece, give me a polygraph test.  They took him to Dearborn.  The gave him one.  He passed his polygraph test."

Sources inside the investigation confirm for Fox 2 what Elam says, that 21-year-old uncle did not fail the polygraph.  In fact his story, they say, does check out.  So now the investigation begs this question, was this an accident at the hands of other children in the room?

The polygraph, sources say, was inconclusive.  The same sources tell us there were there were no signs of deadly trauma to the child's body.

"My gut is telling me it was an accident," said Elam.

Meanwhile, Detroit Police told us Monday there is no new information officially to be released.

So, as that family now plans for a funeral, there is a candlelight vigil planned for Friday between 9:00 and 9:30 p.m. on Brinker Street.

There will be a public viewing for Ziya Turner on Sunday, July 8 from 2:00 to 7:00 p.m. at Trinity Chapel Funeral Home, 20226 West McNichols in Detroit.  Her funeral is Monday, July 9 at 11:00 a.m.