Mom of 10 Sends NASA on Insane Chase for Baby She Left in Pieces

Mom of 10 Sends NASA on Insane Chase for Baby She Left in Pieces

Noah Tomlin was born on May 2nd, 2017, in Hampton, Virginia, to 32-year-old Julia Lyanna Tomlin. Noah was a cute little boy with big blue eyes and wispy light-colored hair. Relatives described him as quiet, loving, and very cuddly. By the time Noah was two years old, Julia had 10 children ranging from age 7 months to 15 years. Noah and his two siblings lived with their mother in the Bayside Mobile Home Village in the Buckroe Beach neighborhood of Hampton.

Noah’s mother, Julia, was born on November 1st, 1984. She moved around a lot but lived most of her life in Hampton Roads, which is a metropolitan area of Newport News, Virginia Beach, Norfolk, and surrounding neighborhoods. This area takes its name from the body of water flowing through it, also named Hampton Roads. Julia went to Norview High School but did not graduate, and records show her education stopped after 9th grade.

Julia had been living on Atlantic Avenue in Buckroe Beach since July 2018. Hampton Police had been called to the trailer many times, though records for these calls were not available to the public. Julia reportedly had problems with drugs and alcohol. She had also been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, attention deficit disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder.

In 2009, Julia was charged with assault and battery of a family member. Police said that Julia and a man she had children with were involved in an argument that turned physical when he tried to end the relationship. The man had scratches and cuts on his face and arms, but four months later the charges against Julia were dropped, according to reports.

In 2010, Julia spent five months behind bars after she pleaded guilty to child neglect. She was charged in April of that year after CPS called Newport News Police to her apartment because her one-year-old daughter had burn marks on her back, shoulders, and arms in a pattern that looked like injuries from an electric stove burner. Julia told police she had put her daughter on the stove to feed her but wasn’t sure whether or not she had turned off the stovetop. She said she was taking care of another child when her daughter fell on the stove. Julia said she cleaned the baby up and put her to bed. Either she or the girl’s father, Justin Samuel Jones, sought medical attention for the burns. It’s only after the burns turned into angry red welts and started to blister that the police were called.

Four days later, Julia was also found guilty of resisting arrest and being drunk in public after an incident. In October of 2010, Noah entered foster care shortly after he was born, though it is unclear specifically why that happened or when he was returned to Julia’s care. Some of his other siblings were already in foster care after the hot stove incident.

However, on June 24th, 2019, Julia called police at 11:36 a.m. to report that two-year-old Noah was missing. He’d last been seen when she put him to bed at 1:00 a.m. that morning. During a press conference, Hampton Police Chief Terry Sult said that Noah was believed to be wearing a diaper and a white and green pajama shirt. After police searched the mobile home park where Noah’s family lived, they reached out to state and federal agencies for assistance. Chief Sult said, “We’re turning over every stone. We’re going to do everything we can to bring this child home safely.”

In the following days, police searched the area near Noah’s home and eventually extended their search range well beyond what a toddler could walk on his own. Investigators said they were considering everything from Noah just walking away on his own to foul play or an abduction. A neighbor said she’s used to seeing Julia around outside chasing her kids and that Noah, in particular, had gotten out a lot.

Crews searched on ground, by air with drones, and in the water using divers, since Noah’s neighborhood was near a river and the ocean. Police checked trash dumpsters, underneath buildings and sheds, in the water, and in houses. They also checked ring doorbell cams for any sign of the toddler.

After two days with no leads whatsoever, the mobile command post left the area on Wednesday. Search crews began focusing on a landfill on Big Bethel Road, about 10 miles from Noah’s home, while other crews had extended the search beyond state lines. The landfill search was called a preliminary measure in the search for Noah. Hampton Police Sergeant Reginald Williams said it’s a step that they had planned from the very beginning that’s going to help them check off some boxes throughout the investigation. Authorities said there was no specific information that had led them to the landfill, but rather past experiences with these kinds of searches.

So let’s pause for a moment and think about just how appalling it is that police know from past experience to automatically check the landfill in cases of missing children. Now, despite this bleak update, officials said they didn’t want the public to give up hope that Noah would be found alive. Chief Sult said what they know today has not changed much since the first announcement; they are still very hopeful that Noah will be found safely, without harm, and brought back home. He said that the Virginia Department of Emergency Management search team had been brought in, along with state and FBI investigators. They searched the same areas multiple times with different teams so that they would have different eyes checking for anything they might have missed. Chief Sult said at the end of the day, it affects the police officers and the first responders as well. It’s the emotion in their face through all the dirt, the filth, the tiredness from searching landfills, and all the other stuff. The investigations go on 24 hours a day. The fatigue can set in, but nobody wants to drop it; they want to find Noah.

On Thursday, June 27th, local news anchor Dan Kennedy of 13News posted this update on his Facebook page: “Statement from Noah’s mother: I wanted to share a brief statement that Noah Tomlin’s mother texted me last night. This is the first time the public has heard from her. ‘I’m working real hard with law enforcement to help find my baby. I can’t have my location known or whereabouts of my other children for their safety.’ The Hampton police chief said the parents have been cooperating with the investigation. Their home in Buckroe was still taped off last night. In fact, our crew spotted crime scene technicians bringing bags of potential evidence from the home. Day four of the search begins this morning. Stand by for updates.”

Julia also spoke to Channel 10 On Your Side via text. She said Noah can’t walk well, he’s possibly autistic, he loves everybody, and is very affectionate, but she didn’t share any other information.

A prayer vigil was planned for the missing toddler that weekend in the spot where the police mobile command center was originally located in Buckroe Beach. Attendees were encouraged to wear green to honor little Noah while they prayed for his safe return. However, before that vigil could take place, the police made a sad announcement. On Friday, during a news conference, Chief Sult said, “Tonight our hearts and prayers continue to go out to the loved ones of Noah Tomlin. Unfortunately, to date, Noah has not been found. Based on the highly coordinated investigation, we believe him to be deceased. This leaves us a little bit speechless, but the search for Noah continues. We’ll never give up hope.”

He went on to announce that they had arrested Noah’s mother, Julia Tomlin, aged 34, in connection with Noah’s disappearance. He also said the authorities were intensifying their search efforts to find Noah with a more specific focus. He said, “We ask that everyone keep Noah and those that love him in your hearts and your thoughts as our officers and agents continue their tireless efforts to find him. We all pray that we will still find him safe, but that’s just not the way that it’s pointing at this point.”

Julia’s other children had been removed from her home with CPS involvement. A number of her other children had already been in the care of family members for some time. On Saturday morning, police confirmed that Julia was in custody at the Hampton City Jail and had been charged with three counts of felony child neglect.

That evening, the candlelit vigil for Noah was held, only now with a less hopeful note. About 100 people showed up to pray and demand justice for 2-year-old Noah. Many people wore green or carried green balloons, the color that Noah was last seen wearing. Others wore shirts that said “Justice for Noah” or “Where is Noah?” One woman attending the vigil revealed that she had actually fostered Noah before he had been returned to his biological mother.

“Take you guys, a lot of people don’t know me, I’ve been anonymous this whole week. We got Noah is my baby. I had a lady text me last night, the woman who brought him to me, and she told me that she refers to me as the mother of many. When I was 20 years old, I gave birth to my daughter and I asked God, ‘Why can I never have any more babies?’ I had another one, and his name is Noah. That baby never called me anything but ‘Mommy.’ I’ve tried to remain anonymous. I’m sorry, but if you heard the news channel with the caregiver who took care of Noah… the one memory, the thought I’ve got of that baby is he crawled up on my couch the first night that I got him. I’m sorry, I’m pulling my oxygen. And he looked at me and just smiled, never seeing me a day in his life. And I said, ‘Noah, we’ll stay up all night long if you want to,’ and we did. Bless his little heart, and those blue eyes… you couldn’t tell him no, although I call him ‘no no’ because that’s all he said was ‘no no.’ But he sat on the couch with me and held my hand, and he just grabbed my hand like as if to say, ‘I know I’m safe.’ This whole week has been… I don’t want to say hell, there’s a preacher here, but it’s all right, we all feel the same way. It’s been awful y’all. Yes. I just now came out of the house yesterday, wow, because I missed that baby. I look at his porta-crib, I look around the house. I’ve got three grandchildren who never question ‘Who’s this little white baby?’ because my grandbabies are biracial; they just took him into the fold. That’s their little boy. My four-year-old granddaughter said, ‘Ma, see Noah?’ I said, ‘Where’s Noah at?’ She said, ‘He’s standing here at the TV with me.’ I’ve seen a lot of signs that Noah is probably not with us anymore, but I’m going to tell you this, and I don’t say this often. I know and I rest assured that if he did go to heaven, that my daddy and my two brothers who are deceased have got him, and they said, ‘We got him until you get here.’ That baby couldn’t walk, all he could do is crawl around the house. The army couldn’t crawl as good as that baby. But for the short time that we had him, he was loved. He was loved dearly. My daughter has been sick as a dog, she’s had to take off work this whole week. Thank God I don’t work; all I’ve done is embrace my grandkids, embrace any baby I can get. You got one you can’t take care of it? Bring it to me. Wow. If anybody had Noah, bless, bring him, drop him off in a crowd somewhere. He’ll crawl up to you, he’ll hug you, he’ll kiss you and he’ll say, ‘Mommy, you need to call Ma.’ That’s what my grandkids call me. Somebody knows how to get in touch with Ma, Ma will get that baby. He don’t have to have a stitch of clothes on, he don’t have to have nothing. I don’t have no money, but I’ve got a heart. Amen, amen. And the one thing I want to say, and this is really bothering me. There’s so many children in this world and in this country that are being neglected, that are being looked over. Yes. Somebody has got to do something about CPS, not just CPS, but anybody. If you know, if you think that a child is being mistreated, if you notice something, anything, just the teeniest thing, it’s better to say something because your mouth is the best thing you’ve got.”

Julia made her first court appearance on July 1st. She appeared in a Hampton courtroom walking with a limp. She told the judge that she was disabled and earned $771 a month. She said that she lived at her Buckroe Beach mobile home with three other people, so she did not specify if these were adults or children.

On July 3rd, 10 days after Noah’s disappearance, the police announced that they had found a body that they believed belonged to the missing toddler. The body was found at the Hampton NASA Steam Plant, a facility near the Wythe Creek that incinerates waste to produce energy. Police officers searching through the garbage at the Steam Plant found the remains of a child at 8:50 a.m., though a formal confirmation was still needed to determine whether or not this body was Noah. The little boy had been stuffed inside a Huggies diaper box which had been triple bagged before being tossed in the trash. It should be noted that investigators had sifted through more than 2 million pounds of garbage by hand during their search. Firefighters had to monitor carbon dioxide and methane levels while officers searched and would call the officers back if the levels got too dangerous.

Chief Sult described how city officers waded through the trash for days, saying, “You’re dealing with conditions that are high humidity, high temperature. In this case, at the Steam Plant, they’re in a confined space. When you get into that and you smell the odors and you’re in the midst of everything and you realize what you’re there for and you’re going through literally millions of pounds of garbage…” He said that the search for the little boy took a toll on our community and our first responders. “There are officers who are shedding tears. I was holding one of our employees in my arms this morning that was crying. It will take time for all involved to recover and heal.”

Hampton Police Division released the staggering list of all of the organizations that made searching for Noah possible, and they are: the Hampton Division of Fire and Rescue, Hampton Emergency Management, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Virginia State Police, York County Sheriff’s Office, Poquoson Police and Fire Department, Norfolk Police Department, Newport News Police Department, Virginia Department of Emergency Management, NASA, ICE, Customs and Border Patrol, US Air Force Office of Special Investigations, Virginia Port Authority, Marine Incident Response Team, Tidewater Search and Rescue, Hampton Roads Incident Management Team, Chesapeake Fire Department, Hampton Public Works, Hampton Waste Management, and Hampton Parks and Recreation. It should be noted that very few missing people get the attention of even half of this list.

In the following days, Noah’s paternal grandmother, Cindy Jones, shared a post on a community Facebook page. It read: “I know everyone is wondering why Noah’s father and family have stayed quiet throughout this past week of hellish speculation, conjecture, and innuendo. Nevertheless, we are now prepared to speak out and explain our position on why we have remained in the background until now. Additionally, before we relay our sentiments on this shocking and horrendous situation that two families find themselves entangled in, everyone needs to remember that Noah had nine—yes, nine—siblings that are also innocent victims. And it is because of the other nine children involved that we ask the public to take care with what they post on social media as the older children are privy to everything that is being posted. It is severely upsetting, adding to the stress of them finding out their brother has died at the hand of their mother. Please have care and think before you post and ask yourself, ‘Would I want my child to read this if the tables returned?’ We have chosen to remain silent until now because we have Julia Tomlin’s three oldest children. We adopted them in 2011 after she signed away her parental rights after going to jail after being convicted of felony child abuse. We adopted the three older children, who are our grandchildren and who we fostered for 6 months prior to the adoption’s finalization. There is also a set of twins, one of which was the victim of the stove burn. The twins found a new life and home with an unknown family. There are also three more boys who all reside with their fathers. The baby is now in foster care and we pray that she finds a loving family. All in all, it is the nine other children that everyone should consider in the aftermath of the tragedy. Please be sensitive in what is said and/or written. People can speculate, spew hatred and venom, or they can opt to send prayers and well wishes till the entire situation comes to light and the truth in its entirety comes out. Please understand that the children are wounded and devastated. It was our true belief and hope beyond hope that Noah would be returned home safely and that his disappearance was nothing more than a sickening prank that had gone awry. We sincerely thought that Julia had arranged to have someone hide Noah as a means of upsetting Noah’s father and getting back at him for changing his plans of going to her house the morning of his return. Instead, he decided to come straight to see his parents and older three children on his return to Virginia from California on Saturday, June 22nd. Noah’s father had been residing in California for the past 2 years and did not find out about Julia’s pregnancy until he had moved for work. We genuinely believed that Julia was vying for attention, as it would not be the first time that Julia had caused drama and chaos for unseen slights. Unfortunately, our worst fears came to fruition as we all found out this past Wednesday, July 3rd. There is much more of this story to be told, but as I asked of you all, I must abide by our wishes and not post anything that would be hurtful to the children. I do want to say that our hearts are broken and the sadness is stifling. There’s a cloud of sorrow over our home. We pray that all who have sent love and support to us know that it has been a great comfort to our family to know that so many people care. Additionally, for those who have sent donations, we wish only to see Noah’s siblings be the beneficiaries and recipients of the goodwill of the public who has been so very generous. Thank you so very much, Cindy.”

On July 10th, Julia was transferred to the Hampton Roads Regional Jail in Portsmouth. Three days later, on July 13th, the Virginia Department of Forensic Science in the Medical Examiner’s office confirmed via DNA analysis that the remains found in the NASA Steam Plant belonged to Noah.

A memorial for Noah had been created around a tree near his home at Buckroe Beach. Teddy bears, flowers, toys, candles, and handwritten notes were placed around the tree to show love and support. However, just a few days after Noah’s body was officially identified, the memorial tree caught fire and went up in flames. The local fire department did not believe that the fire was intentionally set, but rather a sad side effect of having lit candles placed near so many flammable objects in a windy location. Regardless, to have the memorial go from a beautiful tree to a charred mess was upsetting and heartbreaking for community members who were simply trying to show their love for little Noah.

Noah’s grandmother, Cindy Jones, said the police had released his remains to her family and that they planned a private burial service for immediate family and first responders. A public memorial service was scheduled for July 27th in Buckroe. The family requested that memorial donations may be made to local social service agencies in the form of stuffed animals or toys for children during the holidays.

Hampton Police confirmed that the Jones family had been named Noah’s legal next of kin. However, it was not clear for certain who Noah’s biological father was, as Cindy Jones wrote in her Facebook post earlier. She believed her son Justin Jones is Noah’s father. Justin was not involved in his life because he didn’t know Julia was pregnant until he had moved to California. According to Cindy, he returned to Hampton on June 22nd, a few days after Noah’s disappearance. He was arrested June 25th and charged with violating a probation and had since been in the Virginia Peninsula Regional Jail. He had also been charged with a felony second offense for failure to register for the sex offender registry. He was required to register as a non-violent sex offender after he was found guilty of sexual assault of a girl who was 13 or 14 years old in 2008. According to court records, he was not sentenced to any jail time for the offense.

Julia was denied bond during her hearing on July 29th, and then her preliminary hearing was pushed back to December to give the defense and prosecuting teams the time to review the medical examiner’s report, which was soon due to be released in October.

Noah’s biological father spoke with Channel 13 News. As we said before, Cindy Jones already identified her son Justin Jones as Noah’s father. However, the news chose not to publicize his name or use his picture because of comments he had already received online. They stated that the person they interviewed has been confirmed through court records as the father of Noah. However, we were unable to determine for certain whether Justin Jones was confirmed as the father in these reports. In any case, the North Carolina man interviewed said he didn’t know he was Noah’s biological father until it was too late. He said, “I got people blaming me for his death saying I should have been there, I should have done something. Well, how can I do something if I didn’t know he was mine?” When asked if things could have been different for Noah if he had known he was the father, he said, “I know they would have been different.” He suspected he was the boy’s father back in 2017 but claims Julia said Noah was not his and to never contact her again. Then, just weeks after Noah disappeared, he said a family member reached out because Noah looked like him. However, he followed Julia’s wishes and stayed away. Then, after the news of Noah’s death, he decided to take a paternity test. He said, “Oh, I’m beyond angry. I would have taken full custody away from her because of her drug use.” He said the drug use was the reason he never looked back after breaking up with Julia, but if he had known Noah was his son, he would have fought for him. He said, “In my opinion, she should rot beneath the jail.”

On October 31st, Commonwealth’s Attorney Anton Bell announced that Julia was being formally charged with homicide and unlawful disposal of a body. The medical examiner had determined that Noah died from blunt force trauma and battered child syndrome. The autopsy revealed Noah had multiple fractures, including to his skull, and that two severe skull fractures caused his death. There were also injuries to his body showing consistent violence. Noah’s body was in such an advanced state of decomposition when his remains were found that only his liver and left leg were recognizable. An anthropologist had to be brought in to help the medical examiner piece together the remaining fragments of bones. Prosecuting attorney Bell said, “The type of injury this child suffered was as if a child had fallen several stories. His abuse was of such a nature that his bones stopped growing. There was evidence of that. There was no question in my mind that this child was tortured. Justice looks like Julia Tomlin being held fully accountable, and that’s prison. She should never hold a baby again.”

Noah’s remains also showed that he had several prior injuries that were significant and severe, including a fractured jawbone, a fractured rib cage, and signs of shaken baby syndrome. The medical examiner said Noah’s growth had been stunted. Attorney Bell said it was evident from the autopsy that he had stopped eating at some points, and that would have been consistent when a child who was in severe pain, and as a result of this severe pain, it would have been too painful for him to eat.

Julia was also facing child neglect charges relating to her other two children in her home, ages 8 months and 3 years old.

At Julia’s preliminary hearing in December, 14 people testified against her. One of these was FBI Special Agent Liza Ludo, who interviewed her on June 28th, five days before Noah’s body was found. Julia told Agent Ludo that on June 24th, Noah had drowned and hit his head while in the bathtub, that she attempted to give him CPR. She then moved his body to the bed, where she realized that he was dead. She later recanted the statement, saying that she just said this to prove a point. Julia also said that during the interview that she packaged Noah in an empty diaper box and wrapped it in trash bags. She then called a friend named Timothy Carter to throw the package away. Show the agent that Tim did not know what was in this package. This interview was evidently what led investigators to focus their search on area landfills.

Another witness named Brad Bailey told the judge that he was the father of one of Julia’s other children and that he had brought her drugs the night before she reported Noah missing. He said, “She had called me the night before like 10 times that day trying to get me to get her drugs.” He stayed in the home for a while after giving her the drugs in order to visit with his child. He testified that she was the only adult in the home, that he saw Noah in the living room with two of his siblings. Julia later confessed to FBI investigators that she did use drugs at night.

Another witness named Brian Null said that on the same day there was some question whether he could be Noah’s father. That evening, he brought his daughter to meet with Noah. He said when he asked Julia if he could see Noah, she told them he was asleep. He asked if there was any way he and his daughter could peep in Noah’s room without waking him, just to see him again. Julia responded, “Well, he’s asleep.” Prosecutors believe Noah may have already been dead at this point.

The officer who found Noah’s remains also testified, stating that the sight and smell of the little body was so horrible that he had become overwhelmed and had to leave the scene. Other officers testified about the search process in the Steam Plant, describing how they cut open bags of trash and sifted through the contents by hand or with rakes.

Julia’s trial was supposed to begin in March of 2020 but was delayed when the defense team asked for a psychological evaluation. In July, a judge ruled her fit to stand trial, and her new trial date was set for April of 2021. She was denied bond and would remain in custody until her trial. However, her trial was delayed again when new attorneys from the public defender’s office were assigned to her case. When her new defense team asked for more time to review the evidence, the circuit court judge agreed with the prosecution that the defense was taking too long and dragging their feet. He ordered those attorneys off the case and appointed a new attorney. This switch further delayed Julia’s trial.

Unexpectedly, in December of 2021, Julia pled guilty as charged for the crime of second-degree homicide. She also pled guilty to one count of child neglect and concealing a dead body. The other charges of child neglect would not go forward because of lack of case law. The sudden change in plea was not part of a plea arrangement, and prosecuting attorney Anton Bell had been prepared to go forward with a full jury trial the following month. However, when Julia suddenly wanted to enter a guilty plea, he had to accept it.

During a court statement, attorney Bell described again how Julia had initially said she put Noah to bed and when she woke up, he was gone. She then changed her story, saying she was high on drugs and left Noah unattended in a bathtub when he drowned. She told the official she put Noah’s body inside a Huggies box, wrapped it in trash bags, and called a friend to bring cleaning supplies and to dispose of the bag. She insisted that her friend was unaware of the contents of the bag when he tossed it in the dumpster across town.

However, attorney Bell said even that story isn’t the whole truth, because we know with the autopsy results that Noah died from blunt force trauma and battered child syndrome, not drowning. Noah’s body was beaten so badly it was as if he had fallen from a multistory building, and his skull was cracked in half. Investigators had also found Noah’s blood on the walls of his bedroom, as well as on sheets and a baby shirt that were found in the trash. Attorney Bell described the case as a pattern of child abuse that spiraled. When asked to describe Noah’s remains in more detail, he did not get into specifics but said, “Imagine a baby with no arms, no limbs, and only a few strands of hair from his head.”

However, Julia’s sister Teresa said that her sister is innocent and only pled guilty out of fear. Teresa claimed that on the morning of his death, Noah had fallen off of his bed and hit his head on a nearby toy chest. Teresa seemed frustrated that she wasn’t able to testify on her sister’s behalf during the trial, saying, “She’s so terrified because the whole nation is after her. I had to change my name for 3 months. I know the truth and they wouldn’t let me give it.”

On July 25th, 2022, Julia’s sentencing hearing was held. During the sentencing, her attorney told the judge his client had a hard upbringing and she turned to drugs at a young age. He said that she suffered violence from her own parents and from a boyfriend when she was a teen. He said that on the day Noah died, Julia said her memories are fuzzy and she isn’t sure what happened because she was under the influence of drugs and alcohol. Prosecuting attorney Bell summarized the case, saying, “This child was beaten profusely. This child’s body couldn’t take it anymore. Death was a welcome friend to Noah because his body could not take anymore. The abuse was just so profound.”

One of Julia’s daughters took to the stand during the sentencing hearing. She asked the judge to give her mother the maximum penalty. She told the judge, “My mother, Julia Tomlin, has never been fit to be a parent. She’s only cared for herself and has never prioritized the needs for any of her children, even when she had claimed to be doing so. All of her children have been removed from her care and should have never been returned to her care.” She also said that her brother Noah received the worst from her in the two short years he lived. He had witnessed pure hate and cruelty from the woman who was supposed to love and protect him.

Under Virginia law, the maximum sentence for second-degree homicide is 40 years. The maximum for felony child neglect is 10 years. The maximum for concealing a dead body is 5 years. Chief Judge Michael Gaton told Julia that he didn’t know if he could live with himself if he did not issue the maximum amount of time allowed under the law. Therefore, he sentenced her to the harshest penalties, served consecutively, for a total of 55 years in prison. She’s currently held at the Fluvanna Correctional Center in Troy, Virginia.

Noah’s remains were cremated and interred at the Parklawn Memorial Park in Hampton beneath a small granite marker adorned with a bronze teddy bear. The makeshift memorial near his home in Buckroe Beach is gone, including the tree the memorial had formed around. Just a bare patch of ground shows where the living tree once stood, now gone forever. Noah Tomlin was a sweet little boy with his whole life ahead of him, but just like the tree that once stood over his memorial, he too is gone forever.