Missing Baby Lisa Irwin Follow-Up: Kansas City Lawyer Dropped

New York lawyer Joe Tacopina called off interviews of baby Lisa Irwin's two half-brothers scheduled for Friday. He gave no reason for the cancellation, according to Darin Snapp, a spokesman for the Kansas City Police Department. However, Tacopina did not indefinitely cancel the interviews. He said he would contact police next week to reschedule.

The boys, 5 and 8, were scheduled to be interviewed by child specialists to talk about the night baby Lisa disappeared and to be swabbed for DNA. The brothers were sleeping in the bed of mother Deborah Bradley the night of 11-month-old Lisa's disappearance, and reportedly heard noises in the house.

Police claim they want DNA samples from the two brothers to compare it to unidentified samples they have taken from the home after searches completed on Oct. 19, the Kansas City Star reported. Authorities will then have a better idea if there was an intruder present the night of baby Lisa's disappearance.

The brothers were already interviewed on Oct. 4 and there seems to be disagreement over whether they ought to be interviewed again. Cyndy Short, an attorney for baby Lisa's parents, was not supportive of the second interview.

I've done research and see more potential for harm than good with the interview, Short said late Thursday, reported The Kansas City Star. It won't happen tomorrow and maybe never.

Disputes over the brothers' interview may have caused a rift between Kansas City attorney Cyndy Short and New York attorney Joe Tacopina, both representatives of baby Lisa's family until late Thursday.

Short was fired by Tacopina late Thursday for unknown reasons according to The Star.

He's not in a position to fire anyone, Short told The Star. I work for the client, not him.

However, a statement released by Short's law firm Friday announced that she will no longer be speaking for the family of 11-month-old Lisa Irwin, reported CNN. She gave no indication of why she has been removed from the case.

The overnight shake-up has brought more confusion to a case already shrouded in mystery. 11 month-old baby Lisa has been missing for over a month. Her parents, Deborah Bradley and Jeremy Irwin, continue to maintain that she was kidnapped from her crib late Oct. 3. Police have investigated nearly 1,000 tips, but have no major suspects or leads.

One mystery in the case was that the night of baby Lisa's alleged kidnapping, three cell phones disappeared from the Bradley-Irwin home. Police have not released any information about the missing phones.

However, a Kansas City woman told Good Morning America Friday that she received a call from one of the missing phones the night Lisa disappeared.

I received a phone call, well my phone did, the night that baby Lisa went missing, Megan Wright told ABC News. It was apparently a 50 second phone call. I don't know who answered it or what was said or who was on the other end of the phone.

Wright said authorities have questioned her four times.

I told them that I'd been through the neighborhood with my ex-boyfriend, Wright said. I didn't know the family, didn't recognize the pictures, had never seen baby Lisa until I saw her picture on the news.

Wright is the most recent witness to come forward about the incident of that night.

Earlier this week, three witnesses came forward to discuss a mystery man they saw carrying a baby wearing nothing more than a diaper. A surveillance video from a local Kansas City gas station also showed a mysterious man leaving a wooded area.

Police have not commented on eyewitness reports or the surveillance video, but have instead continued their investigation by extending the search area. Authorities searched a local lake Thursday. Investigators used dogs and boats to search the area in and around the lake, which is less than 2 miles away from the Bradley-Irwin family home The search lasted approximately an hour, but nothing significant was found, police spokesman Darin Snapp told Fox News.

Bradley and Irwin also canceled a news conference and planned walkthrough of their home earlier Thursday.

Baby Lisa's parents claim the 11-month old mysteriously disappeared from their home late Monday night or early Tuesday morning nearly three weeks ago. Irwin, an electrician, maintains that he returned from work around 4 a.m. Tuesday to discover her daughter missing. The parents say they searched frantically for the infant early Tuesday morning, but found only the front door unlocked, a window opened, house lights turned on, and three cell phones missing.

An anonymous benefactor is offering $100,000 reward for the safe return or conviction of whoever took baby Lisa Irwin.